History Main / SwanSong

* Music/{{Motorhead}} released the album ''Bad Magic'' in August 2015, five months before the death of lead singer Lemmy Kilmister (and the subsequent end of Motorhead). ''Bad Magic'' featured the uncharacstically solemn "'Til The End", where Lemmy tearfully sings about the approaching end of his life and how he's lived life to the fullest with no regrets. Coupled with this long-known health issues (revealed to be terminal brain and neck cancer after his death), this makes the intent of the album as a SwanSong pretty evident.

* The ''LightNovel/{{Oresuki}}'' anime adaptation’s OVA was the last work by Connect before its parent company Creator/SilverLink dissolved it and absorbed it.

* Band/{{Motorhead}} released the album ''Bad Magic'' in August 2015, five months before the death of lead singer Lemmy Kilmister (and the subsequent end of Motorhead). ''Bad Magic'' featured the uncharacstically solemn "'Til The End", where Lemmy tearfully sings about the approaching end of his life and how he's lived life to the fullest with no regrets. Coupled with this long-known health issues (revealed to be terminal brain and neck cancer after his death), this makes the intent of the album as a SwanSong pretty evident.

Note that this ''must'' be on purpose. [[Administrivia/PeopleSitOnChairs People die after making works all the time,]] but few of them have the foresight to know what their last act would be.

Not to be confused with ShapeshifterSwanSong, which is just a shapeshifter's pre-mortem cycling of their previous forms. Sometimes overlaps with DiedDuringProduction. Compare and Contrast PosthumousCredit and FatalMethodActing. For characters in-story who engage in final acts of daring or accomplishment, see TheLastDance.

* The TropeNamer, the ancient Greek myth that a swan—a bird normally not known for its musical abilities—will sing a most beautiful melody just before it dies.

-->'''Mr. President:''' I will dream of you. Have a good life, Jeffrey.\\
'''Jeffrey:''' I'll miss you, a lot.\\

* ''WesternAnimation/JetsonsTheMovie'' was the swan song for both lead voice actor George O'Hanlon, who had suffered a debilitating stroke prior to production and died of a second stroke in the recording studio, and Creator/MelBlanc, who recorded his lines for Mr. Spacely in the hospital before passing away from complications of emphysema and coronary artery disease. It was also the final theatrical film directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.

* Music/DavidBowie's final album, ''Music/BlackstarAlbum'', was written and recorded while he was suffering from liver cancer, and released on his 69th birthday, two days before his death.

* Barring any potential posthumous releases, ''Videogame/{{MultiVersus}}'' marks Creator/KevinConroy's final performance as Batman before his passing from colon cancer on November 10, 2022.
** Speaking of, Kevin Conroy's actual last appearance will be as Batman in ''VideoGame/SuicideSquadKillTheJusticeLeague''. The reveal of his role in the game at the 2022 Game Awards was also an InMemoriam.

** Speaking of, Kevin Conroy's actual last appearance will be as Batman in ''VideoGame/SuicideSquadKillTheJusticeLeague''. The reveal of his role in the game at the 2022 Game Awards was also an InMemorandum

* Music/{{Queen}}:
** Their last song within Music/FreddieMercury's lifetime, "The Show Must Go On", is about Mercury [[FaceDeathWithDignity facing death with dignity]]. When Music/BrianMay presented the demo to Freddie, he had doubts that the latter would be able to sing due to his illness at the time. When the time came to record the vocals, Mercury drank a measure of vodka and said [[{{Determinator}} "I'll fucking do it, darling!"]], then recorded it in one take.

** The last song Freddie wrote by himself, "A Winter's Tale", was coincidentally inspired by watching the swans at Lake Geneva, therefore being his swan song in more than one way. It was recorded after "The Show Must Go On" and "These Are the Days of Our Lives" but before "Mother Love", which he and Brian wrote together.
** As far as music videos go, "These Are the Days of Our Lives" was the last time Freddie appeared. By this point, his illness had progressed to the point where he needed to wear make-up and have the video shot in monochrome in order to hide how gaunt and physically weak he had become, but he nonetheless delivered a stellar performance that belied his failing health.

* Barring any potential posthumous releases, ''Videogame/{{MultiVersus}}'' marks Creator/KevinConroy's final performance as Batman before his passing on November 10, 2022.

* Barring any potential posthumous releases, Videogame/{{MultiVersus}} marks Creator/KevinConroy's final performance as Batman before his passing on November 10, 2022.

* ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse2013'''s third season saw Creator/AlanYoung reprise his role as [[WesternAnimation/DuckTales Scrooge McDuck]] for the last time, which was also his final acting role overall, before his death on May 19, 2016.

* The life-sim and adventure game ''Disney Dreamlight Valley'', will mark Creator/PatCarroll's final performance as [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Ursula]] before her passing on July 31, 2022. She managed to record new bits of dialogue and laughs for the character.

* The upcoming life-sim and adventure game ''Disney Dreamlight Valley'', will mark Creator/PatCarroll's final performance as [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Ursula]] before her passing on July 31, 2022. She managed to record new bits of dialogue and laughs for the character.

Not to be confused with ShapeshifterSwanSong, which is just a shapeshifter's pre-mortem cycling of their previous forms. Sometimes overlaps with DiedDuringProduction. Compare and Contrast PosthumousCredit and FatalMethodActing.

* The upcoming life-sim and adventure game ''Disney Dreamlight Valley'', will be mark Creator/PatCarroll's final performance as [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Ursula]] before her passing on July 31, 2022. She managed to record new bits of dialogue and laughs for the character.

* ''Franchise/FireEmblem''
** Nobody was dying, but around 2010, the series had been in a steady decline and was about to be cancelled, so Creator/IntelligentSystems decided to go all out with ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'', basically indulging in ContinuityPorn to the older series and ending on [[HappyEnding a high note]] instead of a [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet one]]. However, like the ''Final Fantasy'' example above, it instead [[NewbieBoom revitalized]] the series and brought it back into one of Nintendo's main franchises.
** In a case of someone tragically dying, Ferdinand von Aegir in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes'' would be Creator/BillyKametz's final role before passing away from cancer on June 9, 2022, just a day after the game's demo launched.

* ''Film/TheShootist'' was the final film for Creator/JohnWayne before he died of cancer three years later.