Is Glee Predicting Musicians’ Deaths Like A Musical Nostradamus?

Cast of Glee (Joe Viles/FOX)

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For three seasons, Glee has been putting its spin on current hit singles and classic songs. The show has connected fans to music they may never have heard before. But it also has an eerie sense of timing, almost like a pop culture Nostradamus, when it comes to musicians’ deaths.

Amy Winehouse passed away on July 23rd in 2011. Five days later, Glee released a video of Santana (Naya Rivera) singing Winehouse’s “Valerie.” This footage was filmed a month earlier for the Glee: The 3D Concert Movie, which came out on August 12th, 2011.

The eerie sense of timing struck again with Whitney Houston. She died on Feburary 11th, 2012 and just three days later, Mercedes (Amber Riley) sang “I Will Always Love You” in the episode “Heart.” It was a coincidence, as the finished episode was delivered to the network shortly before Whitney’s death.

Entertainment Weekly spoke with Glee‘s music producer Adam Anders at the Grammys and he said everyone was stunned at the episode’s timing.

“It’s a really crazy coincidence,” says Anders. “We are shell-shocked. I was talking to Amber last night and she was really in a daze about it. It really flipped her out.”

A full tribute episode for Whitney Houston began filming on March 8th and aired on April 24th. The episode featured seven of her songs.

Another eerie coincidence comes from the episode “Saturday Night Glee-ver.” The episode, which aired on April 17th, featured five songs by the Bee Gees. Three days before the episode debuted, Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees slipped into a coma due to complications from pneumonia. “Saturday Night Glee-ver” had finished filming a month before Robin Gibb’s coma.