Hunter S. Thompson Had His Ashes Blasted Out Of A Cannon
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesHunter S. Thompson’s had one of the most extravagant celebrity funerals of all time.
Hunter S. Thompson was a pioneer of “gonzo journalism,” a style of reporting that places the reporter at the center of the story. In order to write his book on Hell’s Angels, for example, Thompson famously embedded himself within the biker group. In 1971, Thompson wrote Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, a semi-autobiographical novel that was later adapted into the hit film starring Johnny Depp as the fictionalized version of Thompson.
Thompson was certainly worthy of being turned into a Hollywood character — the man was quite the character himself. He lived a wild, drug and alcohol-fueled life. In fact, E. Jean Carroll once chronicled Thompson’s daily routine, noting that his days began at 3:00 p.m. with whiskey and ended at 8:00 a.m. with prescription sleeping pills.
Still, Thompson had a surprisingly long life considering his numerous run-ins with law enforcement, his constant consumption of drugs, and the fact that he once kept his ashtray on top of a crate of live dynamite. He lived to be 67 years old before tragically dying by suicide in February 2005 after battling multiple medical conditions.
Six months after his death, a private funeral was held in Thompson’s honor.
During the ceremony, his ashes were catapulted into the sky from a 153-foot tower amid a fireworks display as Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky” provided a soundtrack to the spectacle.
In total, the funeral cost $3 million — a price paid by Thompson’s good friend, Johnny Depp. John Kerry, Bill Murray, Sean Penn, George McGovern, Jack Nicholson, Charlie Rose, and Benicio del Toro were among the celebrities in attendance.
