From Italy’s ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi to rock queen Tina Turner and former European Commission President Jacques Delors, here are some of 2023’s most notable deaths.
January
– JEFF BECK, 78, British guitar virtuoso who rose to rock and roll fame with 1960s group the Yardbirds
– CARDINAL GEORGE PELL, 81, Australian archbishop who was jailed for child sexual abuse but later cleared
– LISA MARIE PRESLEY, 54, singer-songwriter and only child of Elvis Presley, of a bowel condition caused by weight loss surgery
– GINA LOLLOBRIGIDA, 95, Italian film diva, one of the last icons of Golden Age Hollywood
– DAVID CROSBY, 81, American folk-rock pioneer
February
– PACO RABANNE, 88, Spanish fashion designer famed for his eccentric designs and fragrances
– PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, 79, Pakistan’s former military ruler
– BURT BACHARACH, 94, legendary pop composer of “Walk on By” and “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head”
– RAQUEL WELCH, 82, US actress and global sex symbol who famously donned a fur bikini in a 1960s caveman epic
March
– CLAUDE LORIUS, 91, French glaciologist who helped prove humanity’s role in global warming
– RYUICHI SAKAMOTO, 71, Japanese composer who pioneered electronic music
April
– MARY QUANT, 93, rule-breaking British fashion designer and pioneer of the miniskirt
– MOONBIN, 25, K-Pop megastar and member of boy band Astro, found dead at his home in an apparent suicide
– JERRY SPRINGER, 79, popular US talk show host, whose rowdy programme symbolised low-brow TV
May
– TINA TURNER, 83, US rock icon famed for her electrifying stage presence
June
– ASTRUD GILBERTO, 83, Brazilian “Girl from Ipanema” singer
– TED KACZYNSKI, 81, “Unabomber” who terrorised America with a two-decade bombing campaign
– SILVIO BERLUSCONI, 86, larger-than-life, scandal-tainted former Italian premier and billionaire media mogul
July
– VICTORIA AMELINA, 37, rising star of Ukrainian literature, in a Russian missile attack
– MILAN KUNDERA, 94, Czech-French novelist who criticized Czechoslovakia’s communist regime. Best known for “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”
– JANE BIRKIN, 76, British-born singer and actress famous for her relationship with French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg
– TONY BENNETT, 96, last of the classic American crooners
– SINEAD O’CONNOR, 56, iconoclastic Irish pop singer, best known for her 1990 global hit “Nothing Compares 2 U”
August
– WILLIAM FRIEDKIN, 87, US director of “The Exorcist” and “The French Connection”
– YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN, 62, head of Russian paramilitary group Wagner, killed in a plane crash after leading a mutiny against Moscow’s military leadership
– MOHAMED AL-FAYED, 94, Egyptian ex-owner of Harrods whose son Dodi died alongside Princess Diana in a 1997 car crash
September
– FERNANDO BOTERO, 91, Colombian sculptor famous for his voluptuous forms
– MATTEO MESSINA DENARO, 61, one of the most ruthless Sicilian mafia bosses dies in prison
– MICHAEL GAMBON, 82, British actor, played Albus Dumbledore in many “Harry Potter” films
October
– HUBERT REEVES, 91, Canadian-French astrophysicist, renowned for popularising space science
– MARTTI AHTISAARI, 86, Finland’s former president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate after battling Alzheimer’s disease
– LI KEQIANG, 68, Chinese premier during the first two terms of President Xi Jinping
– MATTHEW PERRY, 54, US star who played Chandler Bing in hit sitcom “Friends” after a long battle with addiction
November
– ROSALYNN CARTER, 96, former US first lady who championed human rights, democracy and public health
– HENRY KISSINGER, 100, US diplomat whose unapologetic promotion of raw American power helped shape the post-World War II world
December
– SANDRA DAY O’CONNOR, 93, the first woman to serve as a justice on the US Supreme Court, appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1981
– RYAN O’NEAL, 82, US actor and heartthrob of “Love Story” and “Barry Lyndon” fame
– LEE SUN-KYUN, 48, South Korean actor best known for his role in the Oscar-winning film “Parasite,” found dead in Seoul
– JACQUES DELORS, 98, former European Commission president and key figure in the creation of the euro
