"Mother, I'm going to get my things and get out of this house. Father hates me and I'm never coming back." Singer Marvin Gaye said just moments before his father shot him. At around 12:38PM on April 1, 1984, while Gaye was talking with his mother, his father Marvin Gay Sr. shot Gaye twice: in the heart and on his left shoulder respectively, the latter shot taken at point-blank range. The first shot proved to be fatal. Gaye was pronounced dead at 1:01PM after his body arrived at California Hospital Medical Center. Minutes earlier, the two men were involved in a physical altercation after Gaye intervened in an argument between his parents.
After Gaye's funeral, his body was cremated at Forest Lawn Memorial Park at the Hollywood Hills, his ashes were later scattered at the Pacific Ocean. Initially charged with first-degree murder, Gay Sr.'s charges dropped to voluntary manslaughter following a diagnosis of a brain tumor and Gaye's autopsy revealing the singer had drugs in his system. Marvin Gay Sr. was later sentenced to a suspended six-year sentence and probation. He died at a nursing home in 1998.
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.