"I never think that people die. They just go to department stores"

"I always wished I had died, and I still wish that, because I could have gotten the whole thing over with."

At the relatively young age of 58, Warhol died in New York City at 6:32 a.m. on February 22, 1987. According to news reports, he had been making good recovery from a routine gallbladder surgery at New York Hospital before dying in his sleep from a sudden heart attack. The hospital staff had failed to monitor his condition and overloaded him with fluids after his operation, prompting Warhol's lawyers to sue the hospital for negligence.

Prior to his diagnosis and operation, Warhol delayed having his recurring gallbladder problems checked, as he was afraid to enter hospitals and see doctors.

Warhol is interred at St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cemetery in Castle Shannon, a south suburb of Pittsburgh. Yoko Ono was among the speakers at his memorial service at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Warhol had so many possessions it took Sotheby's nine days to auction his estate after his death for a total gross amount of over US $20 million. His total estate was worth considerably more, in no small part due to shrewd investments over the years.

"I always thought I'd like my own tombstone to be blank. No epitaph, and no name. Well, actually, I'd like it to say 'figment' "