Queen Elizabeth just turned 90 and in 1992, she had what she referred to as her “annus horribilis”, which is not a terrible butt affliction but rather latin for “horrible year.” That horrible year saw the Prince of Wales separate from Lady Diana, and her sensational portrayal in Andrew Morton‘s biography. And then the Princess Royal divorced. The Duke of York‘s freshly estranged wife, Sarah, graced the tabloids topless and had her toes sucked by an enthusiastic “financial adviser”. But with the exception of Diana, they all lived.
Yes, sadly people die every day, but most of them we will never hear of. We don’t know most famous people either, but we feel connected to them by their work. 2016 is stacking up to be one of the worst years for star deaths, and we’re barely a third of the way through. Book-ended by Prince this week and Bowie in January, there were MANY more than this, I’m sure. Here are some you might recognize like Doris Roberts who went at 90 and Nancy Reagan at 94. We should all be so lucky to live that long.
Prince
APRIL
April 21
Prince, 57, musician and singer
Guy Hamilton, 93, Bond director
April 20
Chyna, 46, ex-WWE wrestler
April 17
Doris Roberts, 90, Everybody Loves Raymond actress
April 12
David Gest, 62, reality TV star and music producer
April 6
Merle Haggard, 79, country music icon
Patty Duke
MARCH
March 31
Zaha Hadid, 65, architect
March 29
Patty Duke, 69, actress
March 26
Jim Harrison, 78, Legends of the Fall author
March 24
Garry Shandling, 66, American comedian, actor and writer
March 23
Ken Howard, 71, veteran film and TV actor
March 22
Fife Dawg, 45, Tribe Called Quest rapper
March 16
Frank Sinatra Jr, 72, American singer
Sylvia Anderson, 88, voice of Thunderbirds‘ Lady Penelope
March 10
Anita Brookner, 87, award-winning novelist
Keith Emerson, 71, musician, ELP
Ken Adam, 95, production designer
March 8
Sir George Martin, 90, Beatles producer
March 6
Nancy Reagan, 94, First Lady
March 4
Pat Controy, 70, bestselling author
Harper Lee
FEBRUARY
February 28
George Kennedy, 91, Cool Hand Luke star
February 19
Harper Lee, 89, author
Umberto Eco, 84, philosopher and novelist
February 15
Denise Matthews, 57, singer known as Vanity
February 6
Dan Hicks, 74, singer-songwriter
February 3
Maurice White, 74, Earth, Wind & Fire founder
JANUARY
January 28
Paul Kantner, 74, Jefferson Airplane founder
Signe Toly Anderson, 74, Jefferson Airplane singer
January 26
Abe Vigoda, 94, The Godfather actor
January 18
Glenn Frey, 67, Eagles frontman
January 17
Dale Griffin, 67, Mott the Hoople drummer
January 15
Dan Haggerty, 74, Grizzly Adams star
January 14
Alan Rickman, 69, English actor
Rene Angelil, 73, music producer
(Celine Dion‘s husband)
January 10
David Bowie, 69, English singer and musician
January 1
Villas Zsigmond, 85, The Deer Hunter cinematographer
David Bowie
(via Express)
