13 Celebrities Who Tragically Lost Their Siblings Young
At 27, Louis Tomlinson lost his 18-year-old sister, Félicité Tomlinson, to a suspected cardiac episode on March 14, 2019. Félicité was a model and reportedly collapsed at her home in London where emergency personnel responded and were unable to revive her.
The Tomlinson family lost their mother, Johannah Deakin, to leukemia in 2016. One week before his sister's passing, Louis released a tribute song called "Two of Us" for his mom with lyrics that read, "You'll never know how much I miss you/The day that they took you, I wish it was me instead."
When Stephen Colbert was just 10, he lost two of his brothers and his father. In 1974, Eastern Airlines Flight 212 went down in a cornfield in North Carolina. Colbert's father and brothers, Peter and Paul, ages 18 and 15 respectively, didn't survive the incident.
Colbert struggled emotionally for years after the tragedy, saying it took 25 years to come to terms with the loss.
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When Chelsea Handler was just 10 years old, her older brother went on a hiking trip. Unfortunately, during his expedition, he fell off an 80-foot cliff in the Grand Tetons. He passed immediately on impact.
Of the loss, Handler told Rosie O'Donnell: "My family wanted to talk to me about it but I was just, like, cut off because I didn’t want to cry in front of anyone."
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- David Torcivia
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In 2008, Jennifer Hudson suffered a high-profile tragedy involving more than one family member. William Balfour, the estranged husband of Hudson's sister, terminated Hudson's mother and brother in their home. Authorities later found Hudson's 7-year-old nephew slain in a stolen SUV.
Balfour was convicted of the slayings and sentenced to life in prison.
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In 2010, when Joseph Gordon-Levitt was 29, his 36-year-old brother, Daniel, passed. Some media outlets speculated Daniel suffered an overdose; however, Gordon-Levitt has vehemently denied that characterization. “He died first," the actor said of his sibling, who co-founded their production company HITRECORD.
He continued: “So, I have that as an example, in a way. And, frankly, it makes it less scary in a way, too, knowing that he’s done it. Because all the big things that I ever had to do, he did 'em first. Guess that’s what it’s like being second.”
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- Tony Shek
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Joaquin Phoenix was 19 years old when he witnessed his brother, River, suffered a fatal and very high-profile overdose in Los Angeles in 1993. According to River Phoenix's friend Bob Forrest, the actor consumed a toxic combination of substances.
Despite a quick emergency response to the scene, Phoenix didn't make it.
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- Tenebrae
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In 1975, when Kelsey Grammer was 20 years old, his 18-year-old sister, Karen, was sexually assaulted and slain. Freddie Glenn was convicted for his role in the high-profile crime, the details of which were extremely violent and graphic.
Tragically, just five years later, Grammer's half-brothers, Stephen and Billy, were felled in a scuba-diving accident.
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- forcefulally
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In 1992, Queen Latifah lost her 23-year-old brother, Lance, in a motorcycle accident. Latifah had gifted her brother the motorcycle for his birthday.
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- Photobra Adam Bielawski
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Rapper Waka Flocka Flame was 27 when he got the devastating news that his younger brother, Kayo Redd, took his own life.
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Luke Bryan was just 19 when he lost his older brother, Chris, in a fatal car accident. Luke was just about to move to Nashville to begin his country music career when he received the devastating news.
Then, in 2007, Bryan lost his sister, Kelly, to unknown causes.
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In December 2015, former reality TV star Kristin Cavallari lost her 30-year-old brother, Michael. Michael was found passed in the Salt Wash area of Utah, nearly two weeks after he was reported missing. He'd been arrested in Orange County just days before his disappearance.
The Grand County Sheriff's Office determined he passed from hyperthermia.
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- Carl Van Vechten
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- Public Domain
The twin brother of painter and muralist Diego Rivera passed in 1888 when they were just 2 years old.
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- Clorox Toilet Products
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- Public Domain
In 1993, Niecy Nash's 16-year-old brother Michael Ensley was felled by his classmate, Robert Heard.
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