--- title: Penn Jillette Remembers Magician Roy Horn's Las Vegas Legacy description: Roy Horn, one-half of the legendary entertainment duo Siegfried and Roy, died at 75 of COVID-19 complications on May 8. canonical: https://time.com/5836629/roy-horn-obituary/ author: Penn Jillette article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-05-14T10:10:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T08:44:49.255Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 'Roy’s Legacy Is All of Vegas.' Penn Jillette Remembers Magician Roy Horn og:description: Horn died at 75 of COVID-19 complications on May 8 og:url: https://time.com/5836629/roy-horn-obituary/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt306929db348276b1/698a0e0522fb851e5ee2afd7/roy-horn-obituary.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: roy-horn-obituary og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Roy’s Legacy Is All of Vegas.' Penn Jillette Remembers Magician Roy Horn twitter:description: Horn died at 75 of COVID-19 complications on May 8 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt306929db348276b1/698a0e0522fb851e5ee2afd7/roy-horn-obituary.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'Roy’s Legacy Is All of Vegas.' Penn Jillette Remembers Magician Roy Horn > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=ad28a03f-cb56-4ca1-bf3f-a78fbb7e5d92&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) by [Penn Jillette](https://time.com/author/penn-jillette/) ## Penn Jillette May 14, 2020 10:10 AM UTC  Siegfried & Roy photographed in 1997 Siegfried & Roy photographed in 1997 Aaron Rapoport—Corbis/Getty Images by [Penn Jillette](https://time.com/author/penn-jillette/) ## Penn Jillette May 14, 2020 10:10 AM UTC It can’t be overstated how important Roy Horn, who died at 75 of COVID-19 complications on May 8, was to Las Vegas. Before _Siegfried & Roy_, magicians would have a spot on a variety show. You’d never have 90 minutes of magic, and they had to fight really hard to get there. Although our tastes seem polar opposite–_Siegfried & Roy_ did operatic shows full of glitter and wild animals, and _Penn & Teller_ is kind of a chamber-music show–the idea of partnership is a big connection. I once did an interview and said rather goofily that I was the Roy of _Penn & Teller_. Later, I was in New York City, and all of a sudden I heard this German accent yelling, “You are the Roy of Penn & Teller!” I turned around, and there’s Roy with his entourage and yakskin jacket: “I’m the Penn of _Siegfried & Roy!_“–and then this huge hug and this laughing and this little dance. Roy’s legacy is all of Vegas. When you’re talking about the taste of Vegas, you’re talking about Roy. Whether you’re being kind or unkind, your view of this city is informed by him. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5836629/roy-horn-obituary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5836629/roy-horn-obituary/"},"headline":"'Roy’s Legacy Is All of Vegas.' 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