It might seem like its a relatively newer cultural event where mass cultural mourning of non political or royal celebrities is a thing. I vaguely remember the death of John Lennon, I remember the death of Kurt Cobain, I recall folks "pouring one out for 2-Pac". Personally I got a little weepy watching them play Johnny Cash's part of "The Highwayman" on his tributes. Nowdays our Facebook walls, Twitter feeds, etc. seem to be full of memorializing and such.
Certainly this is not a new phenomenon that only came out in the 20th Century, I would think. Is there any precedent for great celebrities receiving this type of mass mourning?
I would point to the death of Ludwig van Beethoven. While a composer in a transitioned era of Classical music, leading the charge from the Classical era to the more progressive Romantic Era, Beethoven was highly loved for his musical contributions.
Other famous composers of the previous era didn't get a large gathering nor did their funerals have a large procession. Their music was the music for Kings and lords but Beethoven, firm in his Republican ideals challenged those that tried to reject the French Revolution.
His death would see twenty thousand people attend his procession and funeral. This print depicts the the largeness and unusual size of the funeral.
Yes! Early medieval Irish annals typically list the deaths of rulers, bishops and abbots but also provide entries for the death of prominent 'men of art', a privileged class of poets, historians, judges and bards in early Irish society.
The Annals of Ulster lists the deaths of some 15 prominent Irish poets between 431 and 1201 AD, and often contain a short poem in praise of the deceased's prestige. Here's an example from an entry dating to 887:
Mael Muru, chief poet of Ireland, died.
(The choice earth has not covered,
To Temair's multitudes there shall not come,
Ireland of the great territories(?) shall not contain
A man like the pure and gentle Mael Muru.
There has never tasted death fearlessly,
Nor reached the known dead,
The cultivator's soil has never covered
A more wonderful keeper of tradition.)
The same annal also lists the deaths of about 6 early Irish historians (who would have been more like genealogists than contemporary historians). Here's a lay written about a prominent Irish historian who passed in the first decade of the 11th century:
Eochaid ua Flannacáin, superior of Les Oeiged and of Cluain Fiachna, a master of poetry and historical lore, died in the 69th year of his age.
(The full form of beautiful Eochaid
An ascending poetic psalm of happy aspect
eochaiss that he does not approach from behind(?)
A key to the lock of Ireland's ignorance.
‘Eochaid of the undying knowledge’
Has long been an incontrovertible name for him;
For reproach in the matter of learning or wisdom
He has no cause to answer.)
The 'men of art' were held in such high esteem in early Irish society because they were crucial in the legitimization of the tenuous rule of Ireland's warrior-aristocracy. Ireland lacked any real political institutions before the 13th century and its aristocracy had to rely on indirect methods of social, economic and political control. Poets and historians could serve them to that end by fabricating genealogies which linked them to their subject peoples or subordinate kingdoms through false family relationships between their respective dynasty founders.
Poets were particularly dangerous because of their ability to compose satires against rulers. The early Irish believed that an individual who had been justifiably satirized forfeited their honour-price (a quantifiable measure of a person's honour based on their social status and economic self-sufficiency) and hence their legal and social standing. The Fragmentary Annals of Ireland actually contain an entry relating a war undertaken by the King of Tara against the King of Connacht, in which the former actually mobilized satirists against his enemy in addition to mustering his troops:
A great army was led by Loingsech son of Oengus into the territory of the Connachtmen, to destroy and plunder Connacht. Loingsech's poets were satirizing the king of Connacht, Cellach son of Rogallach, and they were saying that it was not fitting for a shaky old king like Cellach to challenge or contend with the King of Ireland, and that if he did, he would be defeated.
Julius Caesar delivered the eulogy at his aunt Julia's funeral, and it was well-attended enough to gain him significant attention while holding a minor political office. Julia had been the wife of Marius, Sulla's onetime mentor and hated enemy in the first civil war. Busts of Marius hadn't been publicly displayed since Sulla's dictatorship and Caesar rolled them out again during the funeral, essentially declaring his colors as a popularist. The leading men of the state at the time, Pompey and Crassus, had both been pupils of Sulla, so that's quite a stage for Caesar to voice opposition from.
This might depart from the spirit of the question because of the politics involved, but for the record Julia was neither a politician nor royalty (although noble) nor clergy, and it was her celebrity that made her funeral politically useful for Caesar.
The death of actor/theatre-manager David Garrick in 1779 sparked a very public reaction that echoes the outpouring we see for modern celebrities.
He was hugely popular in life, something I won't get into right now. Suffice to say he was one of (if not the) most celebrated actors of his time. At his death, the newspapers were flooded with poems of mourning, epitaphs, and anecdotes. Here is a short example published Jan 21st 1779 in the Morning Chronicle:
DEAD is the comic genius, and the tragic,
And both lie buried here, with David Garrick.
The main London theatres (Drury-Lane and Covent-Garden) even completely shut down once word of his death started to circulate.
Before his funeral, they allowed the public to come and "view" his remains at his home in the Adelphi. Only the aristocracy were admitted into the building, but the general population gathered near the home regardless. Here is an excerpt from a newspaper article (London Chronicle) on the subject:
The number of Gentlemen and Ladies, who went yesterday to the Adelphi, to see the remains of Mr. Garrick, was estimated at near 50,000. A prodigious concourse of the lower class of the people likewise assembled before the house the whole day, and finding they could not gain admittance, became so troublesome, that an Officer's guard was obliged to be sent for from the Savoy, which with great difficulty prevented their committing some acts of outrage.
It's probably a bit of an overstatement, but you get the idea. His funeral took place on the 1st (2nd?) of February 1779. He had a very lavish procession (reported to be about 140 coaches long) taking him from his home to be interred at Westminster Abbey. There were so many spectators that safety became a major concern:
Notwithstanding the astonishing crowds of people that attended yesterday's public funeral, we are happy to find no accident happened of any material consequence. The humanity of the Officers of the Guards, and activity of the detachment of men under their command, in all probability, saved the lives of some hundred, who pressed so violently against the Adelphi rails over the Thames, that it cracked in several places; and had the populace not been immediately cleared away by force, the whole balustrade might have given way, and the most tragical consequences ensued.
The death of Victor Hugo created a huge mourning in France in 1885. More than two million people showed up at his funeral procession, the largest crowd ever assembled in France for a funeral of a public figure and the first ever such reverence for a celebrity elsewhere in the world. Forty thousand waited overnight to get a good vantage-point. People sold seats at the window on the route for over sixty pounds.
To give you an idea, the Paris urban area at the time was populated by 3,000,000 people.
Also most of the brothels closed down as prostitutes were in mourning for their best client.
