The ‘religious’ response: experience of celebrity death among fans of John Lennon and Johnny Cash

ABSTRACT

This article provides context for the experience of fans with the death of John Lennon and Johnny Cash, framing this response, in some cases, as “religious modes of acting and thinking” (Laderman 2009). This response is more than simply meaningful, as it shares similarity in form and experience with religion. In some cases, fans react ‘religiously’ because they search within the celebrity ways to recognize and define themselves, similar to the process fan studies scholar Cornel Sandvoss (2005) describes as the “extension of the self”. Based on a qualitative study, involving participant observation at memorial events of Lennon and Cash as well as interviews with fans, this article builds the case that popular culture is an important source of data for modern religious experience. Understanding fans as responding ‘religiously’ adds to the conversation on fandom and religion as it questions similarities between the two. I argue that these similarities reveal important characteristics of celebrity fandom and help to address contemporary religiosity.

KEYWORDS:

• Religion
• celebrity
• fandom
• death
• extension of the self
• mediumship

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 The Church of Religious Science and Christian Science were among the socializing influences in Sarah’s formative years. She was, as one informant put it, very much influenced by a range of different ‘channels’. In particular, in later years, and in her connection with Lennon, she remained influenced by the emphasis of Christian Science on forging a spiritual path as well as its teachings on divine love. (Personal email 28 February 2018, 7 March 2018) The type of introspection Sarah learned through her socialization in Christian Science later influenced her clairvoyance and tendency to question her reality. For details on the Church of Religious Science, see e.g. Encyclopedia Britannica (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Religious-Science, accessed 13 February 2024); for details on Christian Science, see e.g. Cather and Milmine 1993.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kathleen Ann Riddell

Kathleen Ann Riddell was a PhD candidate in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, until May 2023 when she completed her PhD, and is now an Independent Scholar. Her doctoral research examined the role of religion in relationships between celebrities and their fans. She has published in the Journal of Religion and Popular Culture and the Journal of Fandom Studies. CORRESPONDENCE: Department of Religious Studies, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada.