THE ARTISTS WE LOST

Memorable quotes from musicians, actors and others who died last year

Discover those memorable quotes from musicians, actors and others in the arts who died last year.

It’s always difficult to lose a favorite actor or a beloved musician. But in 2020, a year of crisis upon crisis, some of those losses were especially painful, brought on by a pandemic that killed hundreds of thousands of people in the United States alone. The artists on this list could help us better understand the time we’re living through, or at least help us get through it with a smile or cathartic cry. Here is a tribute to them, in their own words.

“All I know is that rock ’n’ roll guitar, like blues guitar, should be melody, speed and taste, but more important, it should have emotion. I just want my guitar playing to make people feel something: happy, sad, even horny.” EDDIE VAN HALEN • GUITARIST, BORN 1955

“As long as you keep yourself in love with people, you can transcend time.” BETTY WRIGHT • SINGER, BORN 1953

“I don’t consider myself an artist. I consider myself a very opinionated man who uses words as fighting tools.”

LARRY KRAMER • WRITER, BORN 1935

“When I dared to challenge the system that would relegate us to victims and stereotypes with no clear historical backgrounds, no hopes or talents, when I questioned that method of portrayal, a different path opened up for me, the path to my destiny.”

CHADWICK BOSEMAN • ACTOR, BORN 1976

“The older you get, I have to say, the funnier you find life. That’s the only way to go. If you get serious about yourself as you get old, you are pathetic.” DIANA RIGG • ACTRESS, BORN 1938

When I get to heaven I’m gonna take that wristwatch off my arm What are you gonna do with time After you’ve bought the farm? JOHN PRINE • MUSICIAN, BORN 1946

“My life has been a quest for knowledge and understanding, and I am nowhere near having achieved that. And it doesn’t bother me in the least. I will die without having come up with the answers to many things in life.” ALEX TREBEK • TV HOST, BORN 1940

“I want people to enjoy what I do, and understand what I’m doing is for their enjoyment. And that’s all I can ask for.” REGIS PHILBIN • TV HOST, BORN 1931

“I’m horrified at the notion of autobiography because I’m already constructing the lies I’m going to tell.” JOHN LE CARRÉ • AUTHOR, BORN 1931

“The way I am is that I put everything I have into whatever I’m doing or thinking about at the moment. So it’s not right when people say I’m self-absorbed. I think I’m just absorbed.” ELIZABETH WURTZEL • AUTHOR, BORN 1967