Celebrities who died in front of their fans

Perhaps the most famous example on this list occurred late at night on December 8, 1980, when John Lennon was shot by Mark David Chapman outside his apartment in New York City.

Earlier that evening, John had stopped to sign an autograph for Mark and had returned home six hours later to say goodnight to his young son, Sean. 

Mark then shot the 40-year-old several times, and John passed away shortly thereafter. The killer later claimed that he murdered John due to a desire to become like the protagonist of J.D. Salinger's novel, The Catcher in the Rye, who had raged against hypocrisy and "phonies".

Mark was enraged by John's previous comment that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus", and by the singer's lavish lifestyle. He was discovered at the scene of the crime, calmly reading The Catcher in the Rye.

Heavy metal guitarist Darrell Abbott, best known for being part of the band Pantera, was performing with his new band, Damageplan, on December 8, 2004, when a man named Nathan Gale came through the crowd and shot him at point-blank range.

Nathan went on to kill three other people before a police officer shot him dead. According to a friend, the killer believed that Pantera had stolen some of his songs as well as his identity. 

His mother later shared that Nathan had been discharged from the military as he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.

Christina was an up-and-coming star who had placed third on The Voice in 2014, and she was known to be dedicated to her fans. On June 10, 2016, the 22-year-old singer had just completed a gig in Orlando, Florida, and was doing a meet-and-greet with fans.

When it came time to meet her fan Kevin James Loibl in the crowd, he shot her as she was opening her arms to hug him. "The one guy in front of us was walking up to meet her," recalled another fan, Destiny Rivera, to the Daily Mail.

"Her arms were open, waiting to greet him with a hug. Then there was a sound of three pops, like balloons. People had brought balloons to the show, and the security guards were popping them, so at first I thought it was that." 

Christina's brother tackled Kevin to the ground, and the attacker shot himself. The budding star died shortly after being taken to hospital. It later came to light that Kevin was obsessed with Christina and had undergone a physical transformation in the hopes that she would notice him. 

Kevin had gotten laser eye surgery and hair plugs, and had turned vegan for her, but reportedly became enraged when he saw photos of Christina with her boyfriend.

Owen Hart was a WWF (now WWE) superstar when he passed away in front of a massive crowd in Kansas City during a stunt. On May 23, 1999, the 34-year-old was being lowered from the rafters of the arena down to the ring via a harness, which had a quick-release mechanism.

Tragically, the stunt went wrong when Owen fell 24 metres and landed chest-first on the ring rope, causing internal bleeding from blunt force trauma. The accident was not televised, but the show continued despite announcer Jim Ross telling the audience of Owen's death, in a move that drew criticism.

"When Owen died, they scooped him out like a piece of garbage, and they paraded wrestlers out to wrestle in a ring that had Owen's blood, where the boards were broken from Owen's fall and where the guys could feel the dip in the ring from where he fell," his widow, Martha Hart, later told CBS Sports.

British comedian Tommy Cooper was performing live at a variety show that was broadcast to around 12 million people when he suddenly collapsed onstage. 

Viewers believed it was part of his set and continued laughing, until he was dragged off the stage and the next act came on to replace him. 

The 63-year-old had suffered a heart attack and was pronounced dead on arrival at Westminster Hospital.

The British actor, best known for starring in 19 Carry On films, died onstage while performing in the play The Mating Season on April 26, 1976.

According to his co-star, Olga Lowe, Sid had been laughing backstage just moments before his death. "I came on, said my first lines and he answered as normal. Then I sat on the sofa with him. I said my next line, and he didn't answer," Olga told the Daily Express.

"I thought it was a gag. Well, you would with Sid. He was such a rascal...Ten minutes earlier, he had been the same old laughing Sid." The comedian had suffered a heart attack on stage and had slumped over on the sofa, passing away at 62.

Nick Menza, the former drummer of the heavy metal band Megadeath, was just 51 when he collapsed onstage while performing with his new band, OHM. 

On May 21, 2016, three songs into their set at The Baked Potato jazz club in Los Angeles, Nick fell to the ground in front of his fans and was rushed to hospital before being pronounced dead. His cause of death was later determined to be a heart attack.

The budding French star was performing to a crowd in south-west France during a festival on July 19, 2017, when she stepped on a defective piece of equipment and was electrocuted, causing her to collapse. 

Barbara was known to perform barefoot, and the electric shock had sent her into cardiac arrest.