No parent should ever have to deal with the unthinkable job of burying a child, but just because someone is famous doesn’t mean they won’t have to go through such a heartbreaking tragedy.
More than a few famous people have had to deal with the death of their children in the public eye. Fortunately, this gives people who love them and their work a chance to show their support, even though the media frenzy can’t help the grieving process.
If anything, knowing that these stars have lost a child makes it clearer that they are just like the rest of us. By hearing about these terrible deaths, we can see that everyone has problems, no matter how rich or famous they are. It is something that no parent should ever have to go through, but it does.
Here Are 10 Well-Known People Who Have Lost a Child
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Jack Wagner
In June 2022, Jack Wagner, a star of a soap series, lost his 27-year-old son, Harrison. Us Weekly says that Harrison’s body was found in a parking lot. At that time, it was thought that he had died from an overdose.
Later, his parents confirmed that he had “lost his battle with addiction” as they worked to set up a scholarship fund in his name at a sober house for men.
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Granger Smith
River, the 3-year-old son of country music star Granger Smith, sadly drowned in the family’s swimming pool in 2019. Granger and his wife Amber decided to give his organs after he died, which saved the lives of two people.
In memory of their son, the couple set up the River Kelly Fund, a charity that helps a wide range of causes, such as wildlife protection, arts and education, and the health of children.
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Prince
The singer who used to go by the name Prince was always quiet. At one point, he told Oprah Winfrey that if he had children, it would be up to the children, not him, to make their name, s*x, or “anything” about them known.
So it’s not strange that Prince never talked about the death of his son Boy Gregory in public. Boy Gregory was born with Pfeiffer syndrome, a genetic disorder in which the skull bones fuse together too soon. In 1996, the child died a week after he was born.
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Eric Clapton
If you listen to Eric Clapton’s song “Tears in Heaven,” the words will make you cry, especially if you know that it was based on a sad event in his own life.
Eric wrote the song for his 4-year-old son Conor, who died in 1991 when he fell from the 53rd floor of the singer’s New York City apartment building.
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Joe Biden
Joe Biden has seen his share of bad things happen. In 1972, his then-wife Neilia and their 13-month-old daughter Naomi died in a car accident on the way to buy a Christmas tree.
The couple’s boys were in the car with them at the time, but both of them were okay. Biden lost one of his kids, Beau, to brain cancer in the summer of 2015.
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Anna Nicole Smith
Daniel, the 20-year-old son of the controversial model and reality TV star, died of a drug overdose in 2006. Anna gave birth to a girl named Dannielynn three days after Daniel died. In 2007, Anna killed herself by taking too many drugs.
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Robert Plant
Robert Plant was on tour in the United States in 1977 when his son Karac died of a stomach illness. The singer was so saddened, which is understandable, that he cut short his tour and went back to his home in England, where he stayed for months to mourn.
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Adrian Peterson
Adrian Peterson, who used to play running back for the Chicago Bears, lost his son AJ after he fought for seven months against a diffuse intrinsic pontine tumor. The 7-year-old boy died in February 2015 from an incurable brain tumor. This was less than a year after he was first told he had the tumor.
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Dr. Dre
In 2008, Andre Young Jr., the son of rapper and producer Dr. Dre, was found dead from a drug accident. At the time, he was only 20 years old. The Los Angeles County coroner said that Andre had died from a heroin and morphine overdose, and his death was found to be an accident.
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Hunter Tylo
In 2007, the 19-year-old son of beautiful Bold and the Beautiful star Hunter Tylo, Michael, died from something called complex partial seizures. He was at Tylo’s Nevada house when he had a seizure and fell into the family pool, where he drowned.
