2026 Celebrity & Headline Obituaries

Afrika Bambaataa, the DJ, rapper, and producer whose block parties in the South Bronx helped give rise to hip-hop and whose 1982 recording "Planet Rock" defined the musical genre of electro-funk, died Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Pennsylvania of prostate cancer, according to his lawyer. He was 68....

Sid Krofft, the television producer behind such popular American children's shows as "H.R. Pufnstuf" and "Land of the Lost," died April 10, 2026, in Los Angeles, at the age of 96. Alongside his late brother, Marty Krofft (1937–2023), he helped build a children's television empire that was beloved...

Gwendolyn "Blondy" Chisolm, the singer and songwriter who co-founded The Sequence, widely recognized as the first female hip-hop group, died Monday, April 6, 2026, in Atlanta following a brief illness. She was 66. Her sister Monica Scott confirmed the news in a statement on behalf of the family....

Jim Whittaker, the pioneering mountaineer who became the first American to stand atop Mount Everest, died peacefully at home surrounded by family on April 7, 2026, in Port Townsend, Washington. He was 97. His family confirmed the news in a statement issued by his son Leif Whittaker. Tributes...

Ed Buckbee, who helped foster a passion for space in generations of young people as the founder of U.S. Space Camp, died in April 2026 at the age of 89. Buckbee's greatest legacy was a gift of imagination. By creating Space Camp, he gave hundreds of thousands of children the experience of seeing...

Tom Nieto, the baseball catcher and coach who won the 1987 World Series with the Minnesota Twins, died March 27, 2026, after a heart attack at the age of 65. Born October 27, 1960, Nieto grew up in Artesia, California and attended Gahr High School in Cerritos, California. He played baseball at...

Dee Freeman, who made a recent appearance on the Tyler Perry-created TV show "Sistas," died April 2, 2026, after fighting lung cancer at the age of 66. Born June 6, 1959, in Louisiana, Freeman served in the U.S. Marine Corps for six years before beginning her acting career. She also worked as a...

James Gadson, a drummer who played on chart-topping tracks like "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Thelma Houston and "Lean on Me" by Bill Withers, died April 2, 2026, at the age of 86. Gadson's drumming quietly shaped the sound of an era. His relaxed, deeply funky style became the rhythmic foundation...

Bo Lueders, the co-founding guitarist of Chicago hardcore band Harm's Way and beloved co-host of the HardLore podcast, died April 2, 2026. He was 38. Harm's Way and HardLore confirmed the news in a joint statement, writing that Lueders "will be remembered for his unwavering empathy and compassion...

Biruté Mary Galdikas, the Canadian primatologist whose decades of field research in Borneo made her the world's foremost authority on orangutans and the last surviving member of the trio known as "Leakey's Angels" or "The Trimates," died March 24, 2026, in Los Angeles. She died of lung cancer at...

Melvin Edwards, a sculptor who explored the Black experience in America with his acclaimed "Lynch Fragments" series, died March 30, 2026, at his home in Baltimore at the age of 88. Edwards was a pioneer who proved that abstract art could carry the full weight of history. By forging chains,...

Christopher North, the founding keyboardist for Ambrosia who played on hits like "Biggest Part of Me," died March 30, 2026, at the age of 75. North's Hammond organ was one of the defining voices of soft rock in the 1970s, shaping Ambrosia's sweet sounds. At a time when keyboard players often...

Alex Duong, a stand-up comedian who toured across the U.S. and had a recurring role on TV's "Blue Bloods," died March 28, 2026, at the age of 42. His death, of septic shock, followed a fight with the rare cancer alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. Born March 20, 1984, in Dallas, Duong entered the...

DJ Dan, a pioneer of the West Coast rave scene who propulsive mixes helped shape both the sound and culture of electronic music, died in March 2026 at the age of 57. Born Daniel Wherrett on July 8, 1968, in Lacey, Washington, DJ Dan arrived in California in 1991, where his mixtapes and live sets...

Doug Irwin, the luthier who created a series of iconic guitars for Grateful Dead co-founder Jerry Garcia, died March 27, 2026, in California at the age of 76. Irwin's legacy rests on a simple but profound idea: that a guitar can be more than a tool. By treating each instrument as a one-of-a-kind...

Joey Browner, a six-time Pro Bowl selection safety for the Minnesota Vikings in the 1980s and '90s, died March 28, 2026, at the age of 65. Born May 15, 1960, Browner attended Western Reserve High School in Warren, Ohio and Southwest High School in Atlanta. In addition to high school football, he...

Mary Beth Hurt, a three-time Tony Award-nominated actress known for her performances in such films as "The World According to Garp" and "Interiors," died March 28, 2026, at an assisted living facility in Jersey City, New Jersey. She died after living with Alzheimer's disease at the age of 79....

Ross "The Boss" Friedman, whose guitar work helped propel the early punk band the Dictators and the fantasy-inspired metal band Manowar, died March 26, 2026, after being diagnosed with ALS at the age of 72. As a founding member of both the Dictators and Manowar, Friedman was among the rare...

James Tolkan, the veteran actor who had small but memorable roles in "Top Gun" and "Back to the Future," died March 26, 2026, in Saranac Lake, New York at the age of 94. Though Tolkan is best known for playing Tom Cruise's commanding officer in "Top Gun" and for being the mean Vice Principal...

Tracy Kidder, who won the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for "The Soul of a New Machine," died March 24, 2026, of lung cancer at his daughter's home in Boston at the age of 80. Kidder's greatest achievement was showing that ordinary people, like engineers, teachers, doctors, and the...

Pat Steir, a painter whose abstract art, especially her "Waterfalls" series, was acclaimed and beloved, died March 25, 2026, in New York City at the age of 87. In a career spanning more than five decades, Steir helped redefine what painting could be: not simply an act of pure intention, but as a...

Dash Crofts, the musician and songwriter who teamed with Jim Seals (1941–2022) to form Seals and Crofts, died March 25, 2026, at the age of 85. Seals and Crofts arrived at a moment when pop music was reaching for something quieter and more introspective, and they helped give that impulse a sound....

Chip Taylor, the singer and songwriter who wrote "Wild Thing," a chart-topper for the Troggs, and "Angel of the Morning," made famous by Juice Newton, died March 23, 2026, in hospice care at the age of 86. In a career spanning six decades, Taylor showed that a great song needs only a handful of...

Mel Schilling, a relationship expert on the hit Australian reality TV series "Married at First Sight," died March 24, 2026, of cancer at the age of 53. Born April 20, 1972, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Schilling studied psychology at Deakin University, the University of Melbourne, and...

Dr. J. Michael Bishop, an immunologist and microbiologist who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work to identify proto-oncogenes, or genes that can cause cancer, died March 20, 2026, of pneumonia in San Francisco at the age of 90. Bishop was among the first scientists...

Lilias Folan, who helped bring yoga to a wide audience in the U.S. with her PBS program "Lilias, Yoga and You," died March 9, 2026, at an assisted living facility in Loveland, Ohio at the age of 90. In a country where yoga was once seen as exotic or countercultural, Folan brought it to the...

Ronnie Bowman passed away on Sunday, March 22, due to a motorcycle accident in Nashville, TN. He was 64. His passing has left his large circle of family, loved ones, and admirers heartbroken. For more than four decades, Ronnie earned success as a recording artist, instrumentalist, songwriter, and...

Valerie Perrine, who was Oscar-nominated for her performance in the Lenny Bruce biopic "Lenny" and won hearts as Miss Teschmacher in "Superman" and "Superman II," died March 23, 2026, at her home in Beverly Hills, California. She died of complications from Parkinson's disease at the age of 82....

Robert Mueller, who led the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 2001 to 2013, died March 20, 2026, at the age of 81. His exceptionally long tenure in the FBI began just days before the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and he worked to build a stronger and more modern FBI in the wake of...

Nicholas Brendon, who was best known for his performances as Xander Harris in TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and Kevin Lynch in "Criminal Minds," died March 20, 2026. He died in his sleep of natural causes at the age of 54. As Xander Harris, Brendon gave a generation of viewers something...

Ed Bernard, who co-starred in "Police Woman" as undercover officer Detective Joe Styles, died January 23, 2026, in Los Angeles at the age of 86. Born July 4, 1939, in Philadelphia, Bernard made his big-screen debut in 1971 in the classic action movie "Shaft." It was three years later when he took...

Chuck Norris, a martial artist and actor who became a tough guy icon thanks to his long run of action movies, his starring role on "Walker, Texas Ranger," and the power of Internet memes, died March 19, 2026, at the age of 86. Born Carlos Ray Norris in Ryan, Oklahoma, Norris became one of the...

Matt Clark, who was frequently seen in classic Westerns and played Chester the bartender in "Back to the Future Part III," died March 15, 2026, at his home in Austin, Texas of complications from surgery at the age of 89. Born November 25, 1936, in Washington, D.C., Clark studied business...

Christopher Sims, who shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in Economics, died March 14, 2026, at his home in Minneapolis. He died of injuries from a fall at the age of 83. Sims left a mark on economics that reaches into every central bank and finance ministry in the world. The statistical tools he...

Kiki Shepard, the longtime co-host of "Showtime at the Apollo," died March 16, 2026, at the age of 74. For fifteen years, Shepard was the constant presence that gave "Showtime at the Apollo" its heart. She became beloved for her glamorous gowns and warm spirit as she helped introduce generations...

Dolores Keane, who sang the traditional music of Ireland with De Dannan and as a solo artist, died March 16, 2026, at her home in Caherlistrane, Ireland at the age of 72. Keane's voice was not merely an instrument of Irish tradition; it was a bridge. Through her work with De Dannan, her landmark...

Rev. John M. Perkins, an evangelical minister who gathered diverse congregations together to uplift the poor, died March 13, 2026, at his home in Jackson, Mississippi. He died after living with Alzheimer's disease and dementia at the age of 95. Perkins left behind something rarer than fame: a...

Phil Campbell, who played guitar with Motörhead from 1984 until the band dissolved upon the 2015 death of lead singer Lemmy Kilmister (1945–2015), died March 13, 2026, of complications from surgery at the age of 64. For more than three decades, Campbell was the backbone of Motörhead's sound - the...

Augie Meyers, a founding member of the Sir Douglas Quintet and the last surviving founding member of the Texas Tornados supergroup, died March 7, 2026, at the age of 85. Meyers' imprint on American music runs deep. His signature Vox organ sound helped invent the Tex-Mex rock genre, bridging the...

Judy Pace, an actress known for roles in movies and TV shows like "Cotton Comes to Harlem," "Brian's Song," and "Peyton Place," died March 11, 2026, in her sleep in Marina del Rey, California at the age of 83. Pace was a trailblazer: At a time when Black women on screen were largely confined to...

Steve Watson, better known as Lord Sear, a hip-hop DJ on New York City radio and Sirius XM's Shade 45 channel, who toured with Eminem, died in March 2026 at the age of 52. For more than three decades, Lord Sear was one of the people who decided which rappers the world would hear. As a key voice...

Matt Snell, a fullback for the New York Jets in the 1960s and '70s who scored the team's only touchdown in Super Bowl III, died March 10, 2026, in East Meadow, New York at the age of 84. Super Bowl III is remembered for Joe Namath's famous "guarantee," but it was Snell who made good on it. His...

Stephen Hibbert, an actor and screenwriter whose career ranged from improv with the Groundlings to writing for hit TV shows like "Late Night with David Letterman" to a role as the masked Gimp in "Pulp Fiction," died March 2, 2026, in Denver after a heart attack at the age of 68. Born September...

Tommy DeCarlo, a longtime fan of the legendary rock band Boston who became their lead singer after Brad Delp's death, died March 9, 2026, in Charlotte, North Carolina of brain cancer at the age of 60. Tommy DeCarlo's story is one of the most improbable in rock history: an ordinary man whose...

Dr. Bernard LaFayette Jr., the civil rights strategist who quietly laid the groundwork for the Selma, Alabama voting rights campaign that produced the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, died of a heart attack on March 5, 2026. He was 85. Born July 29, 1940, in Tampa, Florida, the oldest of eight...

Corey Parker, an actor whose roles in such movies and TV shows as "Will & Grace," "Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning," and "Thirtysomething" prepared him for a respected later career as an acting coach, died March 5, 2026, in Memphis, Tennessee. He died of cancer at the age of 60....

Joseph Allen McDonald, known the world over as "Country Joe," the singer, songwriter, and unflinching antiwar voice who led Country Joe and the Fish and delivered one of Woodstock's most electrifying moments, died March 7, 2026, at his home in Berkeley, California. He died of complications from...

Jennifer Runyon, whose luminous presence graced some of the most beloved film and television productions of the 1980s, died March 6, 2026, after fighting cancer. She was 65. Actress Erin Murphy, her close friend and "Bewitched" star, shared the news with fans, writing: "Some people you just know...

Troy Norman Murray, a respected NHL center, Stanley Cup champion, and longtime broadcaster, passed away March 7th, 2026, at the age of 63 following a yearslong battle with colorectal cancer. Surrounded by his family in his final days, Murray leaves behind a legacy defined by leadership, humility...

Ronyell Deshawn Whitaker, a former professional football defensive back whose career took him from Norfolk, Virginia, to the National Football League and beyond, died Sunday, February 22, 2026. He was 46 years old. Born March 19, 1979, Whitaker grew up in Norfolk, Virginia. He was a star football...