Spare a thought for the talent we lost in 2018
THIS CHRISTMAS has come and gone and we are into that blurry week in-between where people struggle to know what day it is.
The kids are feral, spoiled and fighting over wrapping paper and boxes while toys remain untouched near the wilting tree. All the while adults feast on cold cuts and drink wine the minute the sun starts to set at 4pm, watching Indiana Jones battle Hitler’s minions.
It is also a time when we start to think about the year just passed and when it comes to the world of showbiz, it was definitely one to remember. We watched Conor McGregor slowly unravel and face charges in New York for attacking a bus full of UFC fighters.
Love Island whisked us all away to a paradise where we watched beautiful people preen, fight and prove that a good body and zero personality does not guarantee you a happy ending.
We had Ant minus Dec and Westlife’s return. We had break-ups galore as both Jason Byrne and Paul Byrom split from their wives. Even Daniel O’Donnell was not immune to some scandal as it emerged he has not spoken to his sister Margo in over four years after a mystery falling out.
But perhaps what will stay with me about 2018 is not the showbiz gossip, but the huge celebrity figures that we lost. The year started off with probably the most shocking death, when Cranberries frontwoman Dolores O’Riordan died on January 15 aged 46.
IT was later determined the singer had accidentally drowned in a London hotel room bath after drinking alcohol. The band — Noel and Mike Hogan and Fergal Lawler — posted a message on Twitter saying they were ‘devastated’. ‘The world has lost a true artist today,’ the statement said.
Later on in the year we would also lose concert promoter and musical visionary John Reynolds. The 52-year-old nightclub owner, concert promoter and one of the original shareholders in Boyzone who kept largely out of the limelight while being a central figure in the entertainment business for over two decades. He was best known as proprietor of the Pod nightclub in Dublin, founder of the Electric Picnic music festival, and is credited with putting up the cash which allowed his friend Louis Walsh to finance Boyzone’s first single.
He also promoted a memorable series of concerts at Lissadell House in 2010 featuring the comeback of Leonard Cohen.
Internationally, nobody was mourned more than the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin who died on August 16 aged 76 after a battle with cancer.
On a personal level I am still reeling from the death of one of my heroes, former chef turned travel writer and general antiestablishment poster boy Anthony Bourdain. The chef and host of shows including The Layover and Parts Unknown star was found dead in a French hotel room in June, aged just 61.
Celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson and Gordon Ramsay all paid tribute to him, with Oliver writing on Instagram: ‘He really broke the mould, pushed the culinary conversation and was the most brilliant writer… he leaves chefs and fans around the world with a massive foodie hole that simply can’t be replaced.’
Another death was that of light entertainment legend Dale Winton. Winton who was found dead on April 18 at a house in north London, which he had moved into just weeks earlier.
The much-loved Supermarket Sweep star was found to have died aged 62 from natural causes. Dale was good friends with Louis Walsh and I bizarrely got to spend an evening with him over a meal in Florida. He was irreverent, witty, and funny but possessed a deep sadness and was always plotting his return to prime time television which would unfortunately never happen.
We also said goodbye to Burt Reynolds, Ken Dodd and Vicar of Dibbly star Emma Chambers. And the Irish country music scene paid an emotional goodbye to the singing legend that was Big Tom.
As we prepare to bid farewell to another year and to welcome 2019, spare a thought for those who didn’t make it.