Paris: From Britain´s Prince Philip to Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, here are some of the most notable deaths of 2021.
- January -
Phil Spector, who revolutionised 1960s pop music with his "Wall of Sound" but who was jailed for murder in 2009, dies on January 16 aged 81.
A week later, Larry King, the braces-sporting American talk host who interviewed everyone who was anyone, dies at 87.
- February -
Veteran Canadian actor Christopher Plummer, star of "The Sound of Music", dies on February 5 aged 91.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the last great poet of the Beat Generation, passes eight days later aged 101.
- March -
Reggae legend Bunny Wailer passes away on March 2 aged 73.
- April -
Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, the 99-year-old husband of Britain´s Queen Elizabeth II, dies on April 9.
American rapper DMX, 50, dies the same day.
Two days later British actress Helen McCrory -- who starred in "Peaky Blinders", "Harry Potter" and "The Queen" -- dies of cancer aged 52.
Fashion designer Alber Elbaz, of Lanvin fame, dies in Paris aged 59 from Covid-19 the same day.
- July -
Richard Donner, director of the first "Superman" movie and as well "The Goonies", dies on July 5 aged 91.
Two days later much-loved Bollywood veteran Dilip Kumar passes away at 98.
- August -
Charlie Watts, the drummer of the Rolling Stones, dies aged 80 on August 24.
Lee "Scratch" Perry, the wildly influential Jamaican singer and producer of Bob Marley, dies aged 85 on August 29.
- September -
Renowned Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis, 96, who scored the 1964 film "Zorba the Greek" and resisted military dictatorship in Greece, dies on September 2.
Actor Jean-Paul Belmondo, star of "Breathless" and one of postwar French cinema´s biggest names, dies aged 88 on September 6.
Michael K. Williams, who played Omar in the cult US television series "The Wire", dies the same day of an accidental overdose aged 54 in New York.
- November -
Zambia-born bestselling novelist Wilbur Smith, 88, who chronicled dramatic adventures on the African continent, passes away on November 13.