Sad news today that American icon Dick Clark has passed away at 82. Clark, former longtime host of the immortal New Year’s Rocking Eve, suffered a massive heart attack this morning.
Clark was a media personality and entrepreneur who had his hands in just about everything, including radio programs, game shows, a chain of music-themed restaurants, and of course, the legendary TV shows American Bandstand and New Year’s Rocking Eve.
Seriously, you would have had to grow up in an underground bunker for this man to have not had some impact on your life. Maybe you listened to his Top 30 Countdown radio show -- perhaps necking in the backseat of your high school BF’s car to that year's hot ballad. Or perhaps you watched him on American Bandstand, where Madonna performed “Holiday” and proclaimed she wanted to “rule the world" (and did!). Could be you yukked it up to an episode of TV’s Blooper’s & Practical Jokes. And there's a good chance you yelled “Ten ... nine ... eight ...” to the ball dropping on New Year’s Eve, as Clark led the count, and then leaned in to kiss someone special.
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Face it, Clark was there for at least one milestone in your life.
As for myself, Clark unwittingly had more of an impact on my life than most. One New Year’s Eve, when I was 13 years old, I was up at midnight, watching the ball drop in Times Square on the tiny black-and-white TV in my bedroom. I was so mesmerized by the scene unfolding before my eyes and so gutted that I wasn't a part of it that I vowed to move to Manhattan when I was an adult.
About a decade later, I did make that move, and I still reside in New York to this day. Ironically, however, I have never been to Times Square on NYE. Please, I’m not a tourist! I will say that I don’t know if the broadcast would have moved me so much if Ryan Seacrest had been hosting, as he does now.
Dick Clark, we’ll miss you. What an extraordinary life you led.
What moments of your life was Dick Clark a part of?
Image via Pat_and_Sharon/Flickr
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Comments 7
R.I.P Dick Clark! Yes, I grew up watching all the things mentioned! It choked me up to hear he has passed away. I had hoped he would do the ball drop on NYE again, someday. Sad he won't :(
I loved Dick Clark, and I cried a little today when I heard he died; it's the first time I've EVER cried over a celebrity's death. It's definitely the end of an era.
I pray for his family and the many, many fans. He as been in my life since I can remember. He feels like family.
R.I.P Dick Clark , you are a American Icon.
RIP Dick Clark as a young girl your American Bandstand kept our parents sane and us of course insane......Thank You.....