Music legend David Bowie did not know he only had a few months left before his death.
The “Space Oddity” singer was diagnosed with liver cancer 18 months before his death on January 10, 2016 – two days after he dropped his 26th and final studio album, Blackstar. His family confirmed that he wanted to “go without any fuss,” so they did not hold a funeral or memorial service where his fans and colleagues could have offered their goodbyes.
“There is no public or private service or a public memorial,” a source told The Mirror. “There is nothing.”
Ed Sheeran has dug his grave in his backyard, although he remains strong and healthy amid his skyrocketing career.
The “Photograph” singer told GQ Hype that he would not call it a “crypt,” explaining that he built a chapel where he would want to bury himself in the future.
“It’s a hole that’s dug in the ground with a bit of stone over it, so whenever the day comes and I pass away, I get to go in there,” he said. “People think it’s really weird and really morbid, but I’ve had friends die without wills, and no one knows what to do.”
The 32-year-old uses the chapel as a place of mourning where he can remember the people he lost in his life, although he also welcomes his pals’ weddings there.
Instead of having a funeral, Jackie Collins wanted her loved ones to celebrate her life when she died.
The best-selling author died after her six-year battle with b—— cancer. Despite her struggles with the dreaded illness, she prepared a big party after the cremation.
Her close friend Christopher Biggins said the Hollywood Wives star did not want people to mourn her, so she organized the event instead.
Joanna Lumley, 77, planned her funeral and chose her preferred coffin.
In a 2014 interview with Saga, the On Her Majesty’s Secret Service actress said she wanted to be laid to rest in a cardboard coffin so she could have an entertaining journey after her demise in the future.
“I’m going to have put in all kinds of things for the journey,” she said. “I think we could jam a bit more in our coffins than we do.”
Lumley also wanted to have books while traveling to the “next bit.” She started creating her plans after her visit to the Malaysian state of Sarawak in Borneo.
At the age of 22, Justin Bieber already planned his funeral. Rather than the usual tombstone, the “Ghost” singer wants to have a solar-powered video screen and a moving 3D hologram.
Daily Star Sunday said that Bieber prepared it for his estate, as well, and his official final send-off.
“At first, Pattie laughed off Justin’s elaborate funeral and estate plans as just another of his passing whims,” one insider said. “But it’s now become clear that about planning his own funeral but everything from his will to his legacy.”
Bieber was diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder called Ramsay Hunt syndrome in June 2022, forcing him to cancel the remainder of his tour dates.
Things did not go smoothly for Kim Cattrall when she revealed one of her funeral plans.
The S– and the City actress wants to be buried in Liverpool, although she has been spending her life in the U.S. and Canada. She revealed in 2016 that she wants to be laid to rest in her family’s grave in the Holy Trinity Churchyard.
She has also prepared a gravestone with her name.
“There is a headstone waiting with my name, my birthdate and then a dash and space for the date of my death,” she told The Mirror. “It’s a family grave and there is space left for me.”
However, the family members were said to be furious because of the headstone, where she called herself “The Liverpool Cleopatra.”
Even at his funeral, Prince wanted things to be as private as they had always been.
On April 21, 2016, the legendary musician died at the age of 57 following an accidental overdose of the opioid fentanyl. His family held a low-key service where his favorite dishes – including pasta, hummus and beans – were served to his close friends and family members.
Everyone reportedly bid goodbye as the event closed with his song, “Purple Rain.”
Celine Dion let go of her husband, René Angélil, after he died following his throat cancer battle on January 14, 2016, two days shy of his 74th birthday. He was taken to Montreal’s Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery for a private graveside ceremony.
According to the “To Love You More” hitmaker, her husband of over two decades wanted the funeral at the Notre-Dame Basilica, where he proposed to her.
Sarah Harding started planning her funeral as soon as she learned that her cancer was terminal.
In August 2020, the late Girls Aloud member opened up about her cancer diagnosis after initially denying the pain she felt around her chest. She soon dropped her autobiography, Hear Me Out, where she detailed her funeral plans.
“It’s strange, I keep thinking about funerals at the moment,” she wrote. “It might sound morbid, but it’s hard not to at this stage: cemeteries, plots, burials, what kind of send-off I’d like and how it would all go. It’s all there front and centre in my mind.”
Harding planned a big party to express her gratitude to everyone and a charity gala with proceeds to help cancer research. She also wanted to have “FFS” on her grave – meaning, “For f—‘s sake!”
The Season 7 episode 14 of Keeping Up With the Kardashians revealed that momager Kris Jenner bought a burial plot at Hollywood Forever and asked her daughters to help her with her plans. She also began searching for her caskets and buying more plots for her family.
Meanwhile, Khloé Kardashian said she wanted the family to get cremated instead.
“But if we’re all getting buried, then what happens if like Disneyland is like, ‘I have all this money, I can buy that place,’ and they just start building on top of things?” she asked.