When music artists die, fellow musicians, producers, fans and the media react differently, and this edited collection brings together these intertwining modalities of reception. The commercial impact of death is considered, as are the different justifications given by living artists for being involved with the dead, through covers, sampling and tributes. The cultural representation of dead singers is investigated, observing that posthumous fame provides coping mechanisms for fans and consumers of popular culture to deal with the knowledge of their own mortality. Examining the contrasting ways in which male and female dead singers are portrayed in the media, the book also discusses the gendering of death and posthumous prestige, and the enduring appeal of the notion of 'tragedy' in popular music culture.