ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the representation of female musicianship in recent United Kingdom (UK) press obituaries, with a focus on the theme of motherhood. It intends to do is to investigate the unexplored intersection between popular musicians, obituaries and gender, and to suggest that the theme of motherhood plays a part in gendering the specific journalistic texts that obituaries are. In considering the coverage of Michael Jackson's death, Niles calls for production processes to be tightened up whereby 'Twitterstorms' might be acknowledged as rumour until confirmation is clear. A year after Winehouse's death, in collaboration with the Society of Editors, the UK Drug Policy Commission published guidance for journalists in order to avoid the term 'junkie' altogether. In Amy Winehouse cross-cultural content analysis of gender in obituaries, Eid argues that this form of journalism represents the values of the social context in which it is written.
