Ran into a friend who had spent some time with Chris Cornell. Rather than the traditional and exuberant Yo! all I could issue was a sorrowful Yo you know with an ellipsis: Yo…

Dude smiled and told amazing stories. When we commit these people to the dirt we end up talking a lot about their music. Totally makes sense…they score our lives.

All we’re left with is the work; really the work is all that matters.

And yet a few of us get these precious encounters. We rarely hear em when these people pass. Tell those stories constantly.

Last year I had adult drinks with a band from Minneapolis who bravely attempted to explain what Prince meant to that city and its music community. One of em happened to be in that random club on a random evening when Prince walked in and started shredding. Yo!

Tell these stories; keep these people alive.

If you’re out and about and you see Somebody Special (unless they’re with their kids!) talk to them. Even if they’re rude or a jerkface tell this story. If you’re with a friend and they get all shy push em; be that friend: Fortune Favours The Bold.

Don’t worry about sounding articulate or even trying to express everything in your heart: it’ll come out as gibberish. It always does. Every date we picture in our heads is smooth; reality is far from smooth. Be undaunted. (The best celebrities understand this process and have developed techniques to calm you down, let em do the work.)

Tell these stories; keep these people alive.

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Also published on Medium.