28 notable celebrity deaths in 2018

From soul diva Aretha Franklin to astrophysicist Stephen Hawking and former UN chief Kofi Annan, here are 28 of the most notable figures who passed away in 2018

Some notable deaths of 2018 include (left to right) from the top: Avicii, Kate Spade, Stephen Hawking, Aretha Franklin, Sridevi Kapoor, and Anthony Bourdain.
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From Swedish DJ Avicii to Marvel comic legend Stan Lee, here's a look at the notable deaths in 2018.

January

15: Dolores O'Riordan, singer-songwriter of Irish band The Cranberries, drowned accidentally in a hotel bath aged 46.

27: Ingvar Kamprad, Swedish founder of affordable flat-pack furnishing empire IKEA, passed away at home aged 91.

February

21: US preacher Billy Graham, spearhead of a worldwide evangelical Christian movement and spiritual counsel to several US presidents, passed away aged 99.

24: Bollywood megastar Sridevi Kapoor drowned in a Dubai hotel bathtub at the age of 54. She had appeared in around 300 films, including blockbusters such as Mawali (Scoundrel).

March

10: French fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy, famous for the "little black dress", died in his sleep aged 91.

14: Physicist Stephen Hawking, Britain's most famous modern-day scientist and known for popularising the secrets of the universe, died at home aged 76. Suffering from a form of motor-neurone disease, he spent most of his life in a wheelchair and communicated via a computer speech synthesiser.

April

2: Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, former wife of Nelson Mandela and an anti-apartheid icon in her own right, died in hospital aged 81 and after a long illness.

13: Oscar-winning Czech-born film director Milos Forman, behind One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus, died aged 86 after a short illness.

17: Barbara Bush, the wife of US president George H.W. Bush (in office between 1989 and 1993) and mother of president George W. Bush (2001-2009), passed away aged 92.

20: Swedish superstar DJ Avicii, real name Tim Bergling, was found dead in Muscat aged 28.

May

14: Author Tom Wolfe, acerbic chronicler of American society known for novels such as The Bonfire of the Vanities, died aged 88 in hospital where he was being treated for an infection.

22: US literary giant Philip Roth, a towering figure among 20th-century novelists and 1998 Pulitzer Prize winner, died of heart failure aged 85.

June

5: American handbag designer Kate Spade committed suicide at the age of 55.

8: US chef and television food show host Anthony Bourdain, 61, committed suicide in Alsace, eastern France, where he was filming for his Emmy-winning CNN food and travel programme Parts Unknown.

18: XXXTentacion, a 20-year-old rapper whose grim rhymes propelled him to the top of the US chart, was shot in Florida.

July

5: French filmmaker Claude Lanzmann, director of the nine-and-a-half hour Holocaust documentary Shoah, died aged 92.

August

11: British writer V.S. Naipaul, a famously outspoken 2001 Nobel laureate who wrote on the traumas of post-colonial change, passed away aged 85.

16: Aretha Franklin, American "Queen of Soul" behind hits such as Respect and Natural Woman, died of cancer aged 76. Her nearly eight-hour funeral was attended by former presidents, stars and musical royalty.

18: Kofi Annan, secretary general of the United Nations between 1997 and 2006, died after a short illness at age 80. He was given a state funeral in his native Ghana.

25: John McCain – US Republican senator and two-time presidential candidate – died aged 81 following a year-long battle with brain cancer.

September

6: Hollywood star Burt Reynolds, best known for alpha-male roles in the 1970s and 1980s, died aged 82 after a heart attack.

October

1: Charles Aznavour, legendary French-Armenian crooner, passed away at the age of 94.

15: Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft with Bill Gates and later a billionaire and philanthropist, died from cancer aged 65.

November

12: American comics legend Stan Lee – co-creator of global action hero favourites including Spider-Man, Hulk, Iron Man, X-Men and Black Panther – passed away aged 95.

30: Former US president George H W Bush died aged 94, just months after his wife of 73 years, Barbara Bush. They were the parents of president George W. Bush.

President Donald Trump and former President George Bush watch as the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush is carried by a military honor guard during a State Funeral at the National Cathedral, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018,  in Washington. Andrew Harnik/Pool via REUTERS
President Donald Trump and former President George Bush watch as the flag-draped casket of former President George H W Bush is carried by a military honour guard during a State Funeral. Reuters

December

17: Penny Marshall, the director behind Big and star of Laverne & Shirley, passed away at her home in the Hollywood Hills due to complicates from her diabetes, age 75.

28: Amos Oz, celebrated Israeli novelist and passionate advocate of peace between Israelis and Palestinians, died of cancer aged 79.

28: Dame June Whitfield, the British actress whose career spanned six decades and was perhaps best known for her role in sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, passed away peacefully at age 93.

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