Life is a short and fragile thing. While you’re living your own, you might not realize just how delicate it is until you experience tragedy. It’s easy to get caught up in your own life to the point of forgetting that it won’t last forever. These photos are a good reminder of our own mortality. Shortly after each of these pictures were taken, life-changing tragedy struck. The photos below are the very last pictures ever taken of each of these celebrities before they passed away. For every picture that you see, there was also a tragedy.
1.) This is the last picture taken of Freddy Mercury in 1991, before he died of bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS.
2.) Tupac Shakur sits with his manager Suge Knight before he was shot to death in a drive-by on September 13, 1996.
3.) Before taking her final flight, Amelia Earhart posted for photos in 1937.
4.) This photo of Adolf Hitler was taken approximately two days prior to his death. He was standing outside of his Berlin bunker, surveying the damage a bomb had done.
5.) Accounts of Abraham Lincoln’s last photograph are varied. This picture was taken before his assassination in 1865 and was found in General Ulysses S. Grant’s photo album.
6.) Albert Einstein poses for a photograph in March of 1955 at his home in Princeton, New Jersey. A month later he died from an aortic aneurysm.
7.) A week before Amy Winehouse’s death on July 23, 2011, she was spotted walking near her home in North London.
8.) Heath Ledger smiles on the set of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus before overdosing on pain killers.
9.) This is the last known photo of Chris Benoit, taken on a cell phone in Dr. Phil Astin’s office on June 22, 2007. His wife was already dead at the time this was taken.
10.) The man who shot John Lennon, Mark David Chapman, appeared in the last photo taken of the musician. He was asking for an autograph.
11.) This is supposedly the last photo of Anne Frank. She stands with her sister Margot in early-to-mid 1942. This was taken before her family were discovered and arrested on August 4th, 1944.
12.) Bob Marley hangs out with his family in Munich, Germany, before he passed away from cancer on May 11, 1981.
13.) Elvis Presley pulls into Graceland with Ginger Alden on August 16, 1977, after visiting the dentist.
14.) James Dean stands with his allegedly haunted Porsche, which he only owned for 9 days, before his death. Many blame the car, “Little Bastard.”
15.) Biggie Smalls appears in a photo with Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, right before his death after the Soul Train Music Awards.
16.) Jim Morrison and his girlfriend Pamel Courson pose for a picture in Saint-Leud’Esserent. Five days later he was found dead.
17.) Jimi Hendrix poses with his favorite instrument, “Black Betty,” the day before he died.
18.) The Who drummer, Keith Moon, died on September 7, 1978. He overdosed on a drug prescribed to combat alcoholism. This is him at dinner.
19.) These pictures of Kurt Cobain were taken by Jesse Frohman. Soon after, Kurt committed suicide in 1994.
20.) This picture of Lucille Ball was taken on the red carpet at the 61st Academy awards in March 1989.
21.) Marilyn Monroe visited Frank Sinatra and Buddy Greco the weekend before her death on August 5, 1962.
22.) Princess Diana is in the back seat here, looking back at the paparazzi. Seconds after this picture was taken, the Mercedes she was in crashed.
23.) Richard Pryor poses with Eddie Griffin shortly before his death on December 10, 2005.
24.) Jackass star Ryan Dunn was drinking with his friends hours before the high speed crash that killed him and his passenger.
25.) Steve Irwin poses with marine biologist Chris Jones on his boat two days before his death in 2006.
One day, each of us will exit this mortal coil. We may not know when or where that will happen, but that won’t stop it from happening. Take a moment to appreciate the life you’re living. Hopefully, these celebrities took a chance to do the same before passing away. Click below to share this reminder to appreciate your own life.
