Three faces of motherhood in death: Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston & Donna Summer

Popular music’s relationship with the subject of death has been extensively intertwined and increasing curiosity for an insight into this final rite of passage is increasing. This paper explores the extent to which journalistic coverage through music obituary writing both reflects and shapes the reality of a life lived and also sheds light on a society’s views of death (specifically a gendered one). Whether joining the ’Forever 27 club’ (Winehouse) or death through reckless behaviour (Houston), the last year as offered two particular case studies which allow us to uncover dominant discourses in the press’s coverage of their deaths. The research illustrates emergent ideologies of celebrity culture and thirst for ‘reality’ platforms, as well as attempt to understand the wider construction of gendered cultural meanings and preoccupations with death in modern society. Exploring these texts tell us about the mediation of these ‘unexpected’ deaths and our consumption of them. An obituary covers both real geographical journeys through a biography as well as placing importance on a final location where a body is found and yet our connections to popular musicians are about shared imagined communities. This paper will take these complexities to task.