1. Tupac Shakur — His ashes were smoked by members of his old group, Outlawz.
For a long time, it was just a rumor that members of Outlawz smoked Tupac's ashes after his funeral. However, in 2011, the story was confirmed.
According to the Huffington Post, members of Outlawz confirmed to VLADTV, saying, "Yes, it's definitely true... Had a little memorial for him with his mom and his family. We had hit the beach, threw [in] a lot of shit he liked at the beach. Some weed, some chicken wings, he loved orange soda... Pac loved that kind of shit, so we were giving him our own farewell. If you listen to 'Black Jesus,' he said, 'Last wishes, n****s smoke my ashes.' That was a request that he had. Now, how serious he was about it? We took it serious."
2. Hunter S. Thompson — Had his ashes "blasted out of a cannon."
Allegedly, Thompson's friend, actor Johnny Depp (who starred in an adaption of Thompson's novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) spent $3 million to arrange this strange request.
According to the Independent, a lawsuit from Depp's former managers explained, "Thompson’s ashes were fired from a cannon that was placed atop a 153-foot (47m) tower shaped like a double-thumbed fist clutching a peyote button. The funeral was attended by Senator John Kerry, Jack Nicholson, John Cusack, Bill Murray, Benicio del Toro, Sean Penn, Josh Hartnett, Ralph Steadman, and more."
3. Fred Baur, inventor of Pringles — Wanted to be buried in a Pringles can.
Baur created the design for the famous, tubular Pringles can in 1966 and was so proud of this fact that he wanted to make it a part of his last wishes, so some of his ashes were buried in one.
According to Time, Baur's oldest son, "Larry and his siblings stopped at Walgreen's for a burial can of Pringles on their way to the funeral home. 'My siblings and I briefly debated what flavor to use,' Baur says, 'but I said, "Look, we need to use the original."'"
4. Carrie Fisher — Buried in a Prozac-shaped urn.
According to BBC News, "Following the joint funeral service [For Carrie and her mother, Debbie Reynolds] at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, Todd Fisher said the giant pill in the shape of the anti-depressant drug was chosen as the urn for his sister's ashes because it was one of Carrie's 'favorite possessions.'"
"She loved it, and it was in her house, and Billie [Lourd] and I felt it was where she would want to be," he continued.
5. Bruce Lee — Footage of his actual funeral, including images of his corpse in his casket, were used for his last film.
Before his death, Lee had started work on a film called Game of Death, but briefly left to work on his first Hollywood-produced film, Enter the Dragon (which would also become his only Hollywood film). Lee died not long after his return to Game of Death and, according to Screen Rant, "The project was abandoned...but a few years later, Golden Harvest made the decision to release the movie anyway," even though Lee had only shot about 40 minutes of footage. In order to work around this fact, the film's story was reworked, actors posed as stand-ins for Lee, and recycled footage from some of Lee's previous films was used.
The article continued, "In what became a highly criticized move, Game of Death also incorporated footage from Lee’s actual funeral, which is used in a scene where the main character faked his death. Lee’s face in the casket could be seen in one of the shots."
You can actually see the Game of Death funeral scene with Lee's face in the casket here:
View this video on YouTube
6. Luke Perry — The 90210 and Riverdale star requested that he be laid to rest in an eco-friendly mushroom burial suit.
After his death, his daughter Sophie Perry shared this interesting photo and touching story:
Her caption read: "In December, I went to San Francisco with two of my best friends. One of them had never been to California, so we went to show him the Redwoods. I took this picture while we were there, because I thought, damn, those mushrooms are beautiful. Now, mushrooms hold an entirely new meaning for me. Any explanation I give will not do justice to the genius that is the mushroom burial suit, but it is essentially an eco-friendly burial option via mushrooms. All I can say is that you should all look into them at coeio.com or just by googling 'mushroom burial suit.' My dad discovered it, and was more excited by this than I have ever seen him. He was buried in this suit, one of his final wishes. They are truly a beautiful thing for this beautiful planet, and I want to share it with all of you."
7. Arch West, Inventor of Doritos — Buried with his beloved Doritos.
Although West's remains were cremated, the urn was buried in a box at a local Dallas cemetery in a very unique way. As reported by Reuters, "The family requested that friends and relatives who attend the graveside service be allowed to toss Doritos around the box as a tribute" before they put the dirt over the urn.
8. James Doohan — The Star Trek star had his ashes flown into space.
Doohan's ashes were apparently smuggled onto the International Space Station by video game developer and entrepreneur Richard Garriott.
Garriott told the Sunday Times that he was contacted by the actor’s son Chris Doohan, who said it was his father’s wish to make it to the ISS. "Garriott agreed to the proposition and received Doohan’s ashes; however, due to time constraints, was forced to bypass the official process necessary to bring objects aboard the station."
"In what he says was a 'completely clandestine' mission, Garriott smuggled several laminated photos of Doohan — which contained some of his ashes — onboard the ISS. He proceeded to secretly hide one of the cards behind the cladding in the floor of the station’s Columbus module."
9. Aretha Franklin — Had three outfit changes for her viewings and funeral.
According to Insider, Franklin's family adhered to her final wishes by making sure all of her burial requests were honored and that it be conducted with absolute precision. Franklin's niece, Sabrina Owens, said at the time, "We know that she would have wanted nothing but the best. She gave the best, she expected the best, and she would want her fans to have the best." And that included multiple outfit changes.
For the first public viewing, Frankly wore red as a nod to her honorary membership of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
At the second viewing, Franklin wore a powder-blue dress with sparkling shoes.
And for the final viewing, she was dressed in a rose gold custom knit gown that had pink beaded lace.
For the actual funeral, Franklin wore a sparkling full-length gold dress with sequined heels.
10. Roald Dahl — Buried in a "sort of Viking funeral" with many beloved possessions, including chocolate.
According to Dahl's granddaughter, the beloved author was given a "sort of Viking funeral" in the sense that Dahl was buried with several personal possessions. According to the Times, Dahl was buried with his snooker cues, some "very good burgundy," chocolates, HB pencils, and a power saw.
11. Finally, Elizabeth Taylor — Requested that she be "fashionably late" to her own funeral.
Taylor's funeral (and resting place) was held at the Great Mausoleum in Glendale, California's famed Forest Lawn Cemetery.
According to Time Magazine, "In accordance with her last wishes, the funeral began 15 minutes after its announced start time. According to her publicist, Sally Morrison, Taylor left instructions and requested that someone announce those literally immortal words, 'She even wanted to be late for her own funeral.'"
