Some final words can be strange, some final words can be normal, but all of them are ones that we’ll remember for a long time to come.
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs spent his final hours at home in Palo Alto. He had his family close by, including his sisters Mona Simpson and Patty, as well as his children and his wife, Laurene. He apparently looked at everyone in the room and then said his final words.
‘Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.’ That was all he had to say before he passed away. He had no long speech or anything. He just said the same three words while the people he loved stood around him.
James Brown
It was on Christmas Day 2006 when singer James Brown passed away in an Atlanta hospital. He was seriously ill with pneumonia, and his manager, Charles Bobbit, stayed with him through the night. Brown apparently said before he died, ‘I’m going away tonight.’
It’s not like Bobbit immediately took it as a prediction, he probably thought Brown was just saying strange things because he was sick. But he did go away. Brown gave three long sighs and passed away early on Christmas morning.
Frank Sinatra
Just two words, that’s all Frank Sinatra had to say when he passed. He said, ‘I’m losing.’ Sinatra was at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on May 14, 1998, after suffering a major heart attack. His wife, Barbara, was beside him while the doctors tried to help him.
One account claims he said, ‘I’m losing it,’ but that doesn’t seem to be true. It doesn’t matter, really. He didn’t give a grand show-business exit when he passed, and instead, went for something a little more ordinary. Not something you’d expect for such a star.
Bob Marley
Like so many others, Bob Marley said his final words to his family while he was in the hospital. He gave his farewell message to his son, Ziggy, in a Miami hospital. Ziggy said his father called him over and told him he had a song for him.
His father said, ‘On your way up, take me up. On your way down, don’t let me down.’ Ziggy took those words to mean that his father wanted him to uphold the family legacy. He left shortly after and was told that his father had died.
Desi Arnaz
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had already been divorced for years by the time he passed away. But still, their last phone call was pretty personal, especially since Arnaz was dying from lung cancer. Their daughter, Lucie, had to hold the phone near him because he was so weak.
Naturally, Ball kept telling her ex-husband that she loved him, and he answered by saying the same thing. He said, ‘I love you too, honey. Good luck with your show.’ That was exactly 46 years after they’d married. He died two days afterward.
George Harrison
It’s natural for people to turn to God during their final moments. But George Harrison, a member of the Beatles, had been speaking about spirituality for decades before his death. His wife, Olivia, and son, Dhani, released his final message after his death on November 29, 2001.
He said, ‘Everything else can wait, but the search for God cannot wait, and love one another.’ It seems that, as his final words to the public, he wanted us all to become more religious. Kind of sweet, really.
Eric Dane
The thing about Eric Dane’s last words is that we actually have footage of them. Yes, he prepared his farewell in advance for Netflix’s Famous Last Words. It’s a program that records interviews to be released after a famous figure dies.
Dane spoke directly to his daughters, Billie and Georgia, saying, ‘You are my heart. You are my everything. Good night. I love you. Those are my last words.” He was clearly a family man, and he wanted his words to last. They certainly will.
Vincent van Gogh
Painter Vincent van Gogh was badly wounded in July 1890. So badly, in fact, that his brother Theo hurried to Auvers-sur-Oise, France, to be with him, and he tried to reassure Vincent. He said family would help and that things might improve, because they really could.
Vincent disagreed. He answered in French, ‘La tristesse durera toujours,’ which translates roughly to ‘The sadness will last forever.’ His breathing apparently got worse afterward, and Theo stayed beside his brother until he eventually died.
Thomas Edison
In October 1931, inventor Thomas Edison was at home in New Jersey, nearing the end of his life. He was slipping in and out of consciousness the entire time. One of those moments included him apparently looking toward the windows and saying, ‘It is very beautiful over there.’
He passed away shortly afterward. Nobody knows what he was talking about, whether he was talking about the actual view out of the windows, or whether he could see something nobody else did.
Truman Capote
It figures that Truman Capote’s final words are a little confusing. He was a famous writer and had written several true-crime pieces, after all, and he died on August 25, 1984, at the Los Angeles home of his friend Joanne Carson.
One account claims he said, ‘Mama. Mama. Mama,’ despite his mother dying several decades previously. Another account claims he said his childhood nickname, ‘Buddy.’ We just don’t know which one was real. Maybe that’s part of the mystery.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
13 celebrities who got away with serious crimes
Being famous seems to come with its own set of rules and that’s especially in terms of the law. Some celebrities have been involved in some pretty serious crimes but somehow dodged the full consequences that most of us might face.
