For the rare few that get to experience it … fame is fleeting. A hit single, or random guest spot on the reality TV show of the moment gives a few fame mongers their 10 minutes before they slip back into mediocrity. Some, like Amy Winehouse, wither and self-destruct tragically under the white hot supernova of celebrity, while an elite group of others ride the ups and downs of fame most of their adult lives…think Tom Cruise or music phenoms like Madonna.
Then there are the very very select few for whom fame extends… even grows… into their deaths. In life they were celebrities, but in death Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Jimmy Hendrix, Elvis… more recently Michael Jackson, they’ve become iconic.
Included on that eclectic list are Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace, aka Biggie Smalls.