The dying words of rapper Tupac Shakur have been revealed, 18 years after his death. The words were spoken to sergeant Chris Carroll, the policeman who questioned Shakur on the scene after the fatal shooting on September 7, 1996. Carroll told how he found the rapper, “covered with blood” and proceeded to try and find out what had happened: “So I’m looking at Tupac…I’m asking him, ‘Who shot you? What happened? Who did it?’ And he was just kind of ignoring me…All of a sudden in the snap of a finger, he changed…An ‘I’m at peace’ type of thing. When he made that transition, he looked at me, and he’s looking me right in the eye.”

Tupac Famous Last WordsTupac's last words were his final act of defiance against the police

So, what profundity did Tupac, the voice of a generation, a rapper capable of penning poetic and poignant lyrics, have to say as his final words? Carroll continued, “That’s when I looked at him and said one more time, ‘Who shot you?’ He looked at me and he took and breath…then the words came out: ‘F**k you’.” And with his final act of defiance towards the police, the rapper died.

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On the surface his words may not seem that significant, but sometimes you have to search a little deeper for the true meaning. These other famous last words range from ambiguous to outright genius.

Roman Emperor Vespasian, 79AD: “I think I’m becoming a god.”

On closer inspection, actually not as nutty as it sounds. The Roman emperors were usually deified after death, so Vespasian was actually having a little joke. What a comedian!

Oscar Wilde, 1900: “My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One of us has got to go.”

After he was publicly accused of sodomy, Wilde was imprisoned for two years on charges of gross indecency. His health declined rapidly after he was released. He moved to Paris, where he spent his final months in the Hotel d’Alsace, finally succumbing to cerebral meningitis. Clearly not a fan of the decor in his hotel, the wallpaper ultimately won the battle.

Humphrey Bogart, 1957: “I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis.”

The famous last words of cultural icon, Humphrey Bogart, before dying from cancer of the oesophagus.

Tupac Famous Last WordsJohn Lennon was shot outside the Dakota Building in New York City in 1980

John Lennon, 1980: “Yes, I am.”

Spoken after Lennon was shot by Mark David Chapman at the entrance to his building, The Dakota, in New York City. Chapman had been angry at Lennon for his "more popular than Jesus" remark, which he considered blasphemy.  

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