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Johnny Depp fulfilled Hunter S. Thompson’s dying wish by paying $2 million for a private memorial that included shooting his ashes out of a cannon. The event was attended by 250 of Thompson’s friends and included live music and plenty of alcohol. Thompson was a prominent writer in the 1960s and 1970s, best known for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He died by suicide in 2005.
After writer Hunter S. Thompson committed suicide in 2005 rather than live a life of declining health, actor Johnny Depp made sure to get his dying wish. Depp paid an estimated $2 million dollars for a lavish event that included Thompson’s ashes shot out of a cannon. Accompanied by Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky” and “Mr. Tambourine Man,” the private memorial included fireworks launching Thompson’s ashes into the sky. On hand were 250 of Thompson’s counterculture friends – from John Kerry and George McGovern to Jack Nicholson and Bill Murray – and the festivities included live music (Lyle Lovett, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) and plenty of booze to honor the 67-year-old writer, who had been at the forefront of “New Journalism” in the 1960s and 1970s. “I’m just trying to make sure his last wish comes true,” said Depp, a close friend. “I just want to send my friend out the way he wants out.”
The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson:
Thompson may be best known for the 1972 classic Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. In the 1998 film, Depp played the “gonzo” author in the throes of debauchery.
Thompson’s career began to suffer after he was sent to Africa to cover “The Rumble in the Jungle” for Rolling Stone in 1974. Reportedly drunk in his hotel, he lost his boxing match and didn’t tell a story, causing a irreparable rift with publisher Jann Wenner.
Thompson died at Owl Farm, his compound in Woody Creek, Colorado, of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Her son and his family were visiting that weekend and were in the next room.
