10 Incredible Songs From Musicians Who Knew They Were Dying
When faced with their own mortality, these musicians wanted to go out as they lived.
Many people use music as escapism from the trials and tribulations of everyday life, allowing themselves to be swallowed up by the worlds their favourite albums create. When doing so, the listener will often forget about the very human aspect their music has.
While a musician's art may last forever, the man or woman behind it still faces the very real concept of death the same way you and I do. Through fortune or misfortune (depending on your own stance on mortality), some artists know their own end is coming before we the audience, and sometimes their own band mates, could even begin to theorise.
Be it age or illness, these musicians refused to face their impending doom quietly, opting to continue to do what they did best throughout their lives right until the very end. In doing so, almost complete with artistic clarity, they go on to produce some of the finest output of their discography.
Whether it was for their fans, their families, or even just to spite the reaper himself, these individuals put themselves through the rigour just to entertain the world, one final time.
10. Stuck Inside A Cloud - George Harrison
"Just talking to myself, crying as we part. Knowing as you leave me, I also lose my heart."
Like the rest of his former Beatles bandmates, George Harrison ventured into a career of a solo musician following the band's demise in 1970. Harrison infused classical Indian music with a rock sound he had carried throughout his career. This all came to a sad end when he passed away in November 2001 following a four year battle with cancer.
Harrison had been working on a follow-up to 1987's Cloud Nine for over a decade, but was repeatedly met with delays or setbacks. When he was told that his cancer was terminal, Harrison worked harder than ever on the album, enlisting the help of his son Dhani and friend Jeff Lynne of ELO fame. The end result, Brainwashed, would finally be released a year after Harrison's passing.
With an affinity towards the number seven, Dhani opted to put personal favourite Stuck Inside a Cloud as track seven on the album, almost honouring it the same way his father would have.
Though actual correlation between the song and Harrison's diagnosis is up for debate, the overall theme of the track does point towards something of a poignant reflection of one's life and references Hindu symbolism, of which Harrison proudly converted to in the late '60s.