As most of you will be aware 2023 has seen the passings of David Crosby, Gordon Lightfoot, Glenda Jackson and, most recently, Tony Bennett who died on Friday.
However, these public figures share one other thing in common. My Dad and I saw all four of them live in New York in 2019.
We saw Tony Bennett at Radio City Music Hall on April 13, 2019 (the day before my Dad's 78th birthday). Sixteen days later, we went to the 92nd Street Y to see Glenda Jackson in conversation. And then sixteen days after that, we saw Gordon Lightfoot at the Town Hall in Times Square. Just under three months later, in August 2019, Dad and I attended David Crosby's concert at Damrosch Park outside of Lincoln Center.
Like I said, I find this eerie. But however eerie it might be there is no causal relationship between seeing these people in person in 2019 and their deaths this year. It is a coincidence. Indeed, I also saw The Monkees at the Beacon Theater in March 2019 by myself. Micky Dolenz is still with us, but Michael Nesmith passed away in December 2021. I'm mindful of the fact these four people were over the age of 80 at the time of their deaths with Bennett just shy of his 97th birthday. Save for Jackson, all of them had well documented health problems and it is astonishing that they lived as long as they did.
I'm sure Spinal Tap members Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer along with director Rob Reiner and their special guest Elvis Costello who we saw at the Beacon Theater for a 35th anniversary screening of This is Spinal Tap exactly two weeks after we saw Tony Bennett and exactly two days before we saw Glenda Jackson have absolutely nothing to worry about. Ditto for now 20-year old jazz pianist Joey Alexander who we saw at the Blue Note Cafe in Greenwich Village that June.
Well, at least I hope so.
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