[2011 Year In Review]: Iconic Deaths

2011 was truly a great year. Many things went right, a testament to humanity as a whole. When thinking back though, as much as we would love to focus on Justin Beibers Christmas CD and Kim Kardashians wedding, there are more macabre things we must pay attention to. I’m referring to the many high profile deaths that plagued the year, both literal and figuratively. Lets take a look back at many of the lives we lost this past year.

I’m going to start this one off with a banger; I’m talking about the death of Osama Bin Laden. May 2nd, the world became alive as the death of one of the most famous figureheads of the decade shot across the world. Over the next week, people would call our celebrations barbaric, but no one really cared. On December 15th, the U.S. declared the end of the War on Terrorism, our biggest folly. The war that had a choke hold on America finally over.

Steve Jobs said farewell in October, leaving Apple to fend for itself. Only time will tell if his departure will lead to us saying goodbye to Apple within the next few years.

Amy Winehouse passed away in July, leaving us with Back To Black, her final studio album.

Nate Dogg passed away in march, a discerning piece of news. His death, surprisingly, did not get too much coverage.

Two people killed in past years, Michael Jackson and Kaylee Anthony, had trials against their alleged murders close this year. Casey Anthony got a verdict of not guilty, something that sent most of America on a rampage, while Conrad Murry will do 4 years of jail time for his role in Michael Jacksons death. Writers Opinion: they both got off too easy.

The Hip-Hop genre continues to rot into obscurity, with Kanye and Jay-Z releasing Watch the Throne, a move I see as nothing more than a farewell from the two giants of the genre to a bedridden patient they’ve realized they can’t revive. I’ll be the first one to say it: If anyone’s going to pull the Hip-Hop game out of its own grave it’s going to be J. Cole. And he’s got a long way to go.

Finally, the international superstar Happy Feet, an emperor penguin that swam 2,000 miles to New Zealand where he was nursed to health before being re-released into the wild may have died somewhere in the pacific this year. Scientist can’t be sure, but the tracker they placed on the young penguin is no longer transmitting a signal.