55 Haunting Photos Of Famous People That Were Taken Shortly Before Their Deaths

View Gallery

The saying goes that a picture is worth a thousand words. That adage is especially true when it comes to the last photos of famous figures.

Even if you consider seeking out these kinds of photos to be a morbid pastime, these final images of historical icons serve as an apt reminder that even the best and brightest of us are not immune to the inevitable. The same goes for powerful people, and the perpetrators of unspeakable crimes.

Take a look at 55 last known photographs of some of history’s most famous — and infamous — figures in the gallery above.

The Eerie Final Photographs Of John Lennon Just Before His Murder

Paul GoreshOne of the last photos of John Lennon captures the former Beatle signing an autograph for his soon-to-be killer, Mark David Chapman, near The Dakota in New York City. Chapman fatally shot Lennon later that night.

While the above photograph of John Lennon may not be the very last one taken of him before he was murdered, it is certainly well known, and for good reason. Not only does this photograph capture Lennon on the day of his death, but it also captures his killer, Mark David Chapman.

The photo was taken on Dec. 8, 1980, when Lennon was 40 years old. That same night, he and his wife Yoko Ono went to a listening session at the Record Plant in New York City. Around 10:50 p.m., they returned to their home at The Dakota, an upscale apartment building near Central Park.

As they neared the building, however, Chapman, who had been waiting outside for hours, stepped forward and shot Lennon four times in the back. Chapman, disturbingly calm, remained at the scene and began reading The Catcher in the Rye while waiting for police to arrive and arrest him.

Perhaps most chilling, he had gotten his victim’s autograph earlier that day on a copy of the Lennon-Ono record Double Fantasy.

Lennon was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, but he was pronounced dead on arrival. Chapman later said that he had killed Lennon to gain notoriety and because, despite being a Beatles fan, he viewed Lennon as a “phony.”

Given that Lennon had spent much of his career trying to spread a message of peace through his music, the particularly grim and violent end to his life felt like the end of an era, both musically and culturally.

David Bowie’s Secret Battle With Liver Cancer And His Sudden Death

InstagramOne of David Bowie’s last photos shared on social media, posted just two days before he died. Part of the caption reads: “Why is this man so happy? Is it because it’s his 69th birthday or that he has released his 28th studio album today…”

When David Bowie died on Jan. 10, 2016 — just two days after his 69th birthday — it was a shock. Bowie had just released his last album Blackstar, but unbeknownst to the general public, he had also been fighting an 18-month battle with liver cancer leading up to the release.

Only his closest friends and family members were aware of his illness, and the secrecy surrounding it gave his passing a somewhat surreal and theatrical quality — the end of his life, in a way, imitating his art.

Blackstar, which was released on Jan. 8, 2016, was critically well-received and immediately praised for its haunting, experimental sound. The album’s songs were also noted for their deeply cryptic lyrics. In hindsight, however, the album almost seemed like a parting gift from Bowie: a meditation on mortality, legacy, and transformation. The song “Lazarus,” for example, featured the lyrics, “Look up here, I’m in heaven,” which many fans felt, following his passing, were somewhat prophetic in a way.

Even more eerie, the music video for the song featured Bowie in a hospital bed, with his eyes bandaged over, seemingly floating between life and death.

A music video that David Bowie released shortly before his death.

David Bowie died in New York City, where the English rock star had lived for years. Despite his fame, he was known for keeping a relatively low profile in his later life, especially after he retreated from the public eye following a heart attack in 2004. His death sparked an immediate global response, including tributes from fans, other artists, and even politicians. The world had lost one of its greatest artists, and many grieved the tragic loss.

But what made Bowie’s death especially poignant was how carefully orchestrated it had all seemed. It felt almost as if he had planned his final artistic statement with the same level of care and detail he had applied to every persona and reinvention throughout his career. In the most Bowie way imaginable, his death was a final transformation and last performance.