Singer Aretha Franklin, theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, former UN chief Kofi Annan and evangelist Bill Graham were among the famous ones who died in 2018.
ASTRONAUT JOHN YOUNG (Sept 24, 1930 - Jan 6, 2018)
John Young went into space six times, walked on the moon in 1972 and was the only person to fly with three NASA space programs. He dies at 87.
CRANBERRIES SINGER DOLORES O'RIORDAN (Sept 6, 1971 - Jan 16, 2018)
Dolores O'Riordan, the Irish lead singer of rock band The Cranberries whose hits included Linger and Zombie, dies in a bathtub due to alcohol intoxication aged 46.
IKEA FOUNDER INGVAR KAMPRAD (March 30, 1926 - Jan 28, 2018)
Swede Ingvar Kamprad, the billionaire founder of the IKEA retail empire whose cheap, functional furniture is a feature of homes around the world, dies at the age of 91.
PRINCE HENRIK OF DENMARK (June 11, 1934 - Feb 13, 2018)
Prince Henrik of Denmark, the husband of Queen Margrethe and father-in-law of Crown Princess Mary, dies in hospital aged 83 after being diagnosed with dementia.
US EVANGELIST BILLY GRAHAM (Nov 7, 1918 - Feb 21, 2018)
The Reverend Billy Graham, the movie-star-handsome preacher who became a singular force in post-war American religious life, a confidant of presidents and the most widely heard Christian evangelist in history, dies aged 99.
BRITISH ATHLETE ROGER BANNISTER (March 23, 1929 - March 3, 2018)
British runner Roger Bannister, who became the first man to run a mile in under four minutes on May 6, 1954, dies at 88.
FRENCH FASHION DESIGNER HUBERT DE GIVENCHY (Feb 21, 1927 - March 10, 2018)
French couturier Hubert de Givenchy, who designed Audrey Hepburn's little black dress in Breakfast at Tiffany's and founded The House of Givenchy, dies in Paris aged 91.
THEORETICAL PHYSICIST STEPHEN HAWKING (Jan 8, 1942 - March 14, 2018)
Renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, author of A Brief History of Time and responsible for numerous advances in the fields of cosmology and physics, dies in Cambridge, England, at the age of 76.
ANTI-APARTHEID ACTIVIST WINNIE MANDELA (Sept 26, 1936 - April 2, 2018)
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was a combative anti-apartheid campaigner during her husband Nelson Mandela's decades in jail but her reputation was later tarnished by allegations of violence. She dies aged 81.
BARBARA BUSH, WIFE OF US PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH (June 8, 1925 - April 17, 2018)
Former US first lady Barbara Bush, the only woman to see her husband, George Bush, and son, George W Bush, both sworn in as president, dies in Houston aged 92.
AMERICAN JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR TOM WOLFE (March 2, 1930 - May 14, 2018)
Writer Tom Wolfe, best known for his 1987 novel The Bonfire of the Vanities, dies in New York City age 88.
NANCY SINATRA SR, CHILDHOOD SWEETHEART OF FRANK SINATRA (June 8, 1940 - July 13, 2018)
Nancy Sinatra Sr, the childhood sweetheart of Frank Sinatra who became the first of his four wives and the mother of his three children, dies aged 101 on July 13.
WRITER VS NAIPAUL (Aug 17, 1932 - Aug 11, 2018)
Trinidad-born British writer VS Naipaul, who won the Nobel and Booker prizes for literature and whose most celebrated novel was A House for Mr Biswas, dies in London aged 85.
SINGER ARETHA FRANKLIN (March 25, 1942 - Aug 16, 2018)
Aretha Franklin, who reigned atop the pop and R&B charts in the late '60s and early '70s with a succession of albums and singles of unparalleled power and emotional depth, dies in Detroit aged 76.
FORMER UN CHIEF KOFI ANNAN (April 8, 1938 - Aug 18, 2018)
Kofi Annan, one of the world's most celebrated diplomats and a charismatic symbol of the United Nations who rose through its ranks to become the first black African secretary-general, dies aged 80.
US SENATOR JOHN McCAIN (Aug 29, 1936 - Aug 25, 2018)
Senator John McCain, the 81-year-old Republican Party's 2008 US presidential nominee and former prisoner of war in Vietnam, dies 13 months after revealing he was suffering an aggressive form of brain cancer.
PLAYWRIGHT NEIL SIMON (July 4, 1927 - Aug 26, 2018)
One of Broadway's most prolific and popular playwrights Neil Simon, who wrote The Odd Couple and Barefoot in the Park, dies at the age of 91.
ACTOR BURT REYNOLDS (Feb 11, 1936 - Sept 6, 2018)
Burt Reynolds, whose good looks and charm made him one of Hollywood's most popular actors as he starred in films such as Deliverance, The Longest Yard and Smokey and the Bandit in the 1970s and '80s, dies aged 82.
SINGER CHARLES AZNAVOUR (May 22, 1924 - Sept 30, 2018)
French singer Charles Aznavour, who rose to stardom under the wing of Edith Piaf and went on to steal the hearts of millions with decades of haunting love songs, dies at the age of 94.
MARVEL SUPERHEROES CREATOR STAN LEE (Dec 28, 1922 - Nov 12, 2018)
Stan Lee, the creative dynamo who revolutionised the comic book and helped make billions for Hollywood by introducing human frailties in Marvel superheroes such as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the Incredible Hulk, dies aged 95.
OSCAR-WINNING ITALIAN DIRECTOR BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI (March 16, 1941 - Nov 26, 2018)
Bernardo Bertolucci, whose epic The Last Emperor won nine Oscars and who influenced generations of filmmakers with groundbreaking works such as The Conformist and Last Tango in Paris, dies aged 77.
FORMER US PRESIDENT GEORGE HW BUSH (June 12, 1924 - Nov 30, 2018)
Former US President George HW Bush, who routed Saddam Hussein's Iraqi army but lost his chance for a second term, dies aged 94, just eight months after his beloved wife Barbara.
US ACTOR/DIRECTOR PENNY MARSHALL (Oct 15, 1943 - Dec 17, 2018)
US actor Penny Marshall, who starred in Laverne & Shirley before becoming one of the top-grossing female directors in Hollywood, dies aged 75.
Australian Associated Press
