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In 2023, Iconic Figures from Music, Movies, and Literature were Remembered

Explore the legacies of 2023's departed icons in music, movies, and literature. A tribute to influential figures and their lasting impact on culture.
on Dec 27, 2023

The year 2023 saw the departure of several significant figures from the fields of art, entertainment, music, and literature. These individuals made unforgettable contributions to their respective disciplines, influencing civilizations and leaving legacies that are still felt today. Their contributions enhanced and fascinated audiences worldwide, from music to literature, from television to the silver film.

The month of January

Jeff Beck is 78 years old. A guitar virtuoso who pushed the boundaries of blues, jazz, and rock 'n' roll, inspiring generations of shredders and earning the moniker "the guitar player's guitar player."

Lisa Marie Presley is 54 years old. Elvis Presley's only child and a singer-songwriter committed to her father's heritage.

Lloyd Morrisett died at the age of 93. The co-creator of the renowned children's television series "Sesame Street," which has charmed and taught generations around the world via empathy and fuzzy monsters like Elmo and Cookie Monster.

Gina Lollobrigida is 95 years old. An Italian film legend who rose to international fame in the 1950s, earning the moniker "the most beautiful woman in the world" after the title of one of her films.

Tom Verlaine is 73 years old. While performing in the ultra-cool downtown New York music venue CBGB alongside the Ramones, Patti Smith, and the Talking Heads, the guitarist and co-founder of the iconic proto-punk band "Television" impacted many bands.

February

Paco Rabanne is 88 years old. The Spanish-born designer best known for his perfumes, but who earned his name with metallic space-age garments that gave catwalks a strong, fresh edge.

Richard Belzer is 78 years old. As John Munch in "Homicide: Life on the Street" and "Law & Order: SVU," the long-time stand-up comic became one of television's most memorable detectives.

March

Gary Rossington is 71 years old. A co-founder and the last surviving original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, he contributed to the iconic response song "Sweet Home Alabama" and performed legendary slide guitar on the rock anthem "Free Bird."

Lance Reddick is 60 years old. On TV and film, he specialised in intense, chilly, and possibly sinister authority figures, including "The Wire," "Fringe," and the "John Wick" franchise.

Ryuichi Sakamoto is 71 years old. A world-famous Japanese musician and actor who wrote music for films such as "The Last Emperor" and "The Revenant."

Paul Grant, age 56. The actor has been in blockbuster films such as "Star Wars" and "Harry Potter."

April

Harry Belafonte died at the age of 96. The civil rights and entertainment titan who began as a breakthrough actor and singer and evolved into a world activist, humanitarian, and conscience.

May

Bozkurt Ilham Gencer is 100 years old. One of Turkey's first pianists, singers, and jazz musicians.

Grace Bumbry was 86 years old. During a three-decade career on the world's most prestigious stages, she became the first Black vocalist to perform at Germany's Bayreuth Festival.

Rita Lee Jones is 75 years old. Million-seller in Brazil Through her colourful and frank style and singles like "Ovelha Negra," "Mania de Você," and "Now Only Missing You," the "Queen of Rock" garnered an international following.

Andy Rourke is 59 years old. The Smiths' bass guitarist, one of the most influential British bands of the 1980s.

Tina Turner is 83 years old. The powerful singer and stage performer teamed up with husband Ike Turner for a spectacular run of smash albums and live shows in the 1960s and '70s, and she survived her horrific marriage to triumph in middle age with the chart-topping "What's Love Got to Do With It."

June

Cormac McCarthy, 89, was a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist who carried readers from the southern Appalachians to the arid Southwest in novels such as "The Road," "Blood Meridian," and "All the Pretty Horses."

Astrud Gilberto died at the age of 83. The Brazilian singer, composer, and entertainer whose off-handed English-language cameo on "The Girl from Ipanema" established her as a global bossa nova voice.

101 Françose Gilot. A prolific and accomplished painter who made paintings for more than a half-century but was best known for her stormy relationship with Pablo Picasso - and her subsequent departure from him.

Williams, 71, should be treated. According to state police, the actor, known for his nearly 50-year career and leading parts in the TV series "Everwood" and the film "Hair," died in a motorbike crash in Vermont.

July

Zkan Uur, 69. After a lengthy fight with cancer, renowned musician, member of the MF group, and actor recognised for his energy, happiness, and smiling countenance died.

Josephine Chaplin was 74 years old. The famous comedian Charlie Chaplin's daughter.

Coco Lee is 48 years old. A Hong Kong-born singer and songwriter who achieved great success in Asia.

Jane Birkin is 76 years old. An English actress and singer who settled in France and charmed the country with her English ease, natural style, and social action.

Tony Bennett, 96 years old. The acclaimed and timeless stylist whose devotion to old American melodies and ability to create new standards such as "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" adorned a decades-long career that drew followers ranging from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga.

Sinead O'Connor is 56 years old. The talented Irish singer-songwriter rose to fame in her mid-20s, and she was known for her private difficulties and controversial actions as much as her strong and impassioned music.

Paul Reubens is 70 years old. The actor and comedian whose character Pee-wee Herman, an overgrown child with a tight grey suit and a distinctive laugh, became a 1980s pop cultural sensation.

Angus Cloud is 25 years old. The actor who played heroin dealer Fezco "Fez" O'Neill in HBO's "Euphoria."

August

Erkin Koray, age 82. The famed Turkish musician is regarded as a forefather of Anatolian rock music.

83-year-old Mark Margolis. The Emmy-nominated actor starred as the deadly former drug lord Hector Salamanca in "Breaking Bad" and then in the prequel "Better Call Saul."

September

Fernando Botero, 91 years old. A well-known Colombian painter and sculptor whose portrayals of people and objects in plump, exaggerated forms became global symbols of Colombian art.

90-year-old David McCallum. In the 1960s, he was a youthful idol in the hit series "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." and 40 years later, he was the eccentric medical examiner in the popular "NCIS."

Michael Gambon is 82 years old. The Irish-born actor was knighted for his distinguished career on theatre and cinema, and his depiction of Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore in six of the eight "Harry Potter" films won him a new generation of fans.

October

Richard Roundtree, 81 years old. Beginning in the early 1970s, the groundbreaking actor acted as the ultra-smooth private detective in multiple "Shaft" flicks.

Matthew Perry is 54 years old. The Emmy-winning "Friends" actor whose sardonic, yet endearing Chandler Bing was one of television's most recognisable and quotable characters.