For better or worse!
In 1987, Zevon wrote a song about a factory worker who died of lung cancer called 'The Factory.' Though the singer-songwriter had never worked in a factory, years later he was diagnosed with lung cancer and died in 2003.
In 2011, Weezer's bass player tweeted: "dreamt I died in Chicago the weekend after next (heart attack in my sleep). Need to write my will today.” Welsh died two weeks later, of a heart attack caused by an overdose in Chicago.
Sources: (Far Out) (Watch Mojo) (Happy Mag) (What Culture)
See also: Did these famous figures predict their own deaths?
The Who's 1972 song 'Relay' may have predicted the internet. The lyrics go: "Every single dream / Is wrapped up in the scheme / They all get carried on the relay."
Rapper Killah Priest predicted the Patriot Act in 1998, three years before it was signed off by the Bush administration. The lyrics of the track 'Information' go: "Our telephone conversations will be automatically wiretapped / And transcripted by the National Security Agency."
The rapper was shot dead on September 7, 1996. In the same year, prior to his death, he released a track with Richie Rich called 'N***** Done Changed.' Tupac raps: "I been shot and murdered / Can tell you how it happened word for word / But best believe that n***** gon' get what they deserve."
Released in 2008, 'Death Take Your Fiddle' is an eerie prediction of Jason Pierce becoming seriously ill with periorbital cellulitis and bilateral pneumonia while recording the album. The lyrics go: "So death take your fiddle and play a song for me / Play a song we used to sing / The one that brought you close to me / Play a song and I will sing along."
The song 'Trail of Lies' predicts the reinvention of Miley Cyrus. It goes: "When Hannah Montana turned into Britney Spears, they chew you up and spit you out cause no-one really cares."
Biggie's 1994 debut album 'Ready to Die' has premonitory undertones to it, considering that he passed away three years later. In one of the tracks he even raps "I want to leave, I swear to God I feel like death is f***** calling me."
Snoop Dogg's 1994 'Murder Was the Case' may have predicted that he'd be acquitted of murder charges in 1996.
But Wilco were not the only ones to predict 9/11. Laurie Anderson may have done the same in her 1981 song 'O Superman.' The lyrics go: "Here come the planes / they're American planes / so you better get ready / ready to go."
Jim Morrison may have predicted the use of computers to make music. When asked about the future of music, The Doors front man said "I can see a lone artist with a lot of tapes and electrical… like an extension of the Moog synthesiser — a keyboard with the complexity and richness of a whole orchestra, y’know? There’s somebody out there, working in a basement, just inventing a whole new musical form."
'Dream Brother' gained a whole different meaning after Buckley drowned and died. It certainly sounds like a goodbye letter, even though his death was accidental. "Asleep in the sand with the ocean washing over," sings Jeff Buckley.
The connection between 'Walking in the Snow' and George Floyd's death is in the lyrics "I can’t breathe."
'Lazarus' was the last song released during Bowie's lifetime. While his death was imminent and not quite a prediction as such, the line "Everybody knows me now," turned out to be true. When David Bowie died, the whole world revisited his work.
'Brainwashed' is pretty much a prediction about how society is brainwashed by lots of people and things, including smartphones. "Brainwashed by mobile phones," sang Harrison in 2002.
'Video Killed the Radio Star' was the first music video to air on MTV in 1981. It's safe to say, the band's prediction was correct.
Originally released in 1989, 'A Deeper Understanding' is essentially a prediction about how attached we are to tech. The lyrics go "As the people here grow colder / I turn to my computer / And spend my evenings with it / Like a friend."
Radiohead's 1997 album 'OK Computer' contains a couple of predictions about big tech and the world as we know it. 'Fitter Happier' essentially predicted AI, and in 'Idioteque,' Thom Yorke warns about climate change: "We're not scare-mongering / This is really happening."
But the coincidences don't end there. Wilco's song 'Jesus, Etc.' contains the lyrics: "Tall buildings shake, voices escape singing sad, sad songs / Voices whine, skyscrapers are scraping together / Your voice is smoking."
Hendrix warned us about climate change back in 1967, with the song 'Up From The Skies:' "A smell of a world / That is burned / Yeah well, maybe, hmm… / Maybe it's just a... change of climate."
It certainly looks like the rapper predicted that Barack Obama would become president a year later, and that Osama Bin Laden would be found under his administration.
Some say the ex-Beatle predicted his death. "Living on borrowed time / Without a thought for tomorrow." Lennon sings in 'Borrowed Time,' recorded just before he died in 1980. And prior to that, there's the "shoot me" whispered in the band's hit 'Come Together.'
In 2007, The Game and Lil Wayne released a song called 'Hard Times,' where he raps: "I'm feeling like a black democrat / Barack Obama, the only n**** that can catch Osama."
Nicki Minaj's 'We Miss You' was released after the rapper's cousin, Nicholas Telemaque, was shot dead in July 2011. It turns out, the song was written years before he died. The lyrics go: "Why’d you have to leave in July? Why would they take you from me? Why the doctors could not stop the bleeding? I could’ve told you all about my intuition, I could’ve even brought the extra ammunition."
Electro-funk outfit Zapp, aka the Zapp Band, predicted online dating back in 1986, in their song 'Computer Love.' The lyrics go "Need a special girl / To share in my computer world / I no longer need a strategy / Thanks to modern technology."
Rage Against the Machine predicted that Donald Trump would become president. In the video for their 1999 track 'Sleep Now in the Fire,' a man can be seen holding a sign that reads "Donald Trump for President."
The original sleeve art from the band's 1977 album 'Street Survivor' was a picture of the group with flames behind them. And then there are lines like "The smell of death surrounds you," in the song 'That Smell.' All together they seem like predictions of the plane crash that killed three band members.
One of the most eerie predictions comes from American alt-rockers Wilco. Their studio album 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' was released in 2012 but recorded before the 9/11 attacks. The album cover features Chicago's Marina City Towers.
But Hendrix might have also predicted his own death in the track 'The Ballad of Jimi,' where he sings "Five years, this he said / He's not gone, he's just dead." Jimi Hendrix did die five years later.
Nostradamus and other prophets may get all the credit for their predictions, but it turns out, some music artists have also unexpectedly predicted the future. From musicians predicting their own deaths to songs that described future events such as the 9/11 attacks, there have been a few occasions where predictions were made correctly.
In this gallery, we look at some of the most famous predictions made by musicians. Curious? Click on.
These musicians predicted the future
Was it just a strange coincidence?
MUSIC Premonitions
Nostradamus and other prophets may get all the credit for their predictions, but it turns out, some music artists have also unexpectedly predicted the future. From musicians predicting their own deaths to songs that described future events such as the 9/11 attacks, there have been a few occasions where predictions were made correctly.
In this gallery, we look at some of the most famous predictions made by musicians. Curious? Click on.