Turning Silence into Sound: The Power of Death Karaoke to Celebrate Lives

On Friday, August 8th, I had the opportunity to take my daughter to a unique mother-daughter event: Death Karaoke night at Congressional Cemetery. Artist Leigh Davis imagined the event as a way for participants to express and share in their grief by singing together. Karaoke was a brilliant platform to accomplish this—an outlet for emotions to break from everyday life.

The audience sang their hearts out – from “True Colors” to “Gaza is Calling.” This event was designed to commune and release the burden of carrying grief alone.  In these days of feeling overwhelmed, this offered a joyful connection through song to help release some of the isolation that grief can often carry.

Leigh Davis is an artist and cultural organizer.  She imagined this event as a way for participants to express and share in grief by singing together.  Karaoke was a brilliant platform as it is an outlet for emotions to break from everyday life.  

Leigh mentioned one of her favorite songs to sing out loud is Ke$sha’s song “Die Young.”  She says, “I sing it loudly in the car. Yes, I’ve been thinking about karaoke as a process of collective release. When I’m in a group of people dancing or singing, it resonates. I want to feel things physically – singing, yelling, mourning, celebrating, releasing together. Karaoke does that if you’re into it.” 

The Death Karaoke project's next stop is The Woodlands in Philadelphia; the calendar is here. Leigh also works on multidisciplinary projects related to end-of-life experiences. You can reach Leigh and her work here.

This article originally appeared in the August 2025 newsletter from The DC Death Collective.