49 Notable And Influential People Who Died In 2019

"We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives." —Toni Morrison

By
Gabriel H. Sanchez
by Gabriel H. Sanchez

BuzzFeed News Photo Essay Editor

Luke Perry, actor (Oct. 11, 1966–March 4, 2019)

Valery Hache / Getty Images

Toni Morrison, Pulitzer Prize–winning author (Feb. 18, 1931–Aug. 5, 2019)

Timothy Fadek / Getty Images

Elijah Cummings, American politician and civil rights advocate (Jan. 18, 1951–Oct. 17, 2019)

Bloomberg / Getty Images


Juanita Abernathy, civil rights activist (Dec. 1, 1931–Sept. 12, 2019)

Carolyn Kaster / AP

Nipsey Hussle, rapper, entrepreneur, and activist (Aug. 15, 1985–March 31, 2019)

Scott Dudelson / Getty Images

Peter Mayhew, actor (May 19, 1944–April 30, 2019)

Jesse Grant / Getty Images

Grumpy Cat, celebrity feline (April 4, 2012–May 14, 2019)

Amy E. Price

Caroll Spinney, puppeteer behind Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street (Dec. 26, 1933–Dec. 8, 2019)

Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag

Jessi Combs, former MythBusters host, television personality, and professional racer (July 27, 1980–Aug. 27, 2019)

Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images

Cokie Roberts, journalist and author (Dec. 27, 1943–Sept. 17, 2019)

New York Daily News Archive / Getty Images

Karl Lagerfeld, fashion designer and creative director of Chanel (Sept. 10, 1933–Feb. 19, 2019)

Franziska Krug / Getty Images

Rip Torn, actor (Feb. 6, 1931–July 9, 2019.

Gregg Deguire / WireImage

Lil Bub, celebrity feline (June 21, 2011–Dec. 1, 2019)

Michael Stewart / WireImage

Pete Frates, former baseball player and advocate for the Ice Bucket Challenge (Dec. 28, 1984–Dec. 9, 2019)

Boston Globe / Getty Images

Cameron Boyce, actor (May 28, 1999–July 6, 2019)

Young Hollywood

Diahann Carroll, actor (July 17, 1935–Oct. 4, 2019)

Abc Photo Archives / Getty Images

Peter Fonda, actor, director, and screenwriter (Feb. 23, 1940–Aug. 16, 2019)

Silver Screen Collection / Getty Images

Ric Ocasek, singer-songwriter, producer, painter, and founding member of the Cars (March 23, 1944–Sept. 15, 2019)

Kevin Mazur / Getty Images

Sulli, South Korean actor, singer, and model (March 29, 1994–Oct. 14, 2019)

Han Myung-gu / WireImage

Terry O'Neill, photographer (July 30, 1938–Nov. 16, 2019)

Ibl / Shutterstock

Kim Shattuck, singer-songwriter and founding member of the Muffs (July 17, 1963–Oct. 2, 2019)

Mariano Regidor / Redferns

Mark Hollis, singer-songwriter and founding member of Talk Talk (Jan. 4, 1955–Feb. 25, 2019)

Picture Alliance / Getty Images

Ranking Roger, singer-songwriter and founding member of the English Beat (Feb. 21, 1963–March 26, 2019)

Gie Knaeps / Getty Images

Valerie Harper, actor (Aug. 22, 1939–Aug. 30, 2019)

David Livingston / Getty Images

Juice WRLD, rapper (Dec. 2, 1998–Dec. 8, 2019)

David Wolff - Patrick / Redferns

Bushwick Bill, rapper and member of Geto Boys (Dec. 8, 1966–June 9, 2019)

Al Pereira / Getty Images

LaShawn Daniels, Grammy-winning songwriter (Dec. 28, 1977–Sept. 3, 2019)

Leon Bennett / FilmMagic

Roky Erickson, singer-songwriter (July 15, 1947–May 31, 2019)

Ramin Talaie / Getty Images

I. M. Pei, architect (April 26, 1917,–May 16, 2019)

Thierry Orban / Getty Images

Jacques Chirac, former president of France (Nov. 29, 1932–Sept. 26, 2019)

Patrick Kovarik / Getty Images

John Paul Stevens, former justice of the United States Supreme Court (April 20, 1920–July 16, 2019)

Allison Shelley / Getty Images

Richard Williams, animator, voice actor, director, and writer (March 19, 1933–Aug. 16, 2019)

Valerie Macon / Getty Images

Carol Channing, actor (Jan. 31, 1921–Jan. 15, 2019)

John Downing / Getty Images

Robert Frank, photographer and filmmaker (Nov. 9, 1924–Sept. 9, 2019)

Fred Stein Archive / Getty Images

Keith Flint, signer-songwriter and founding member of Prodigy (Sept. 17, 1969–March 4, 2019)

Andy Sheppard / Redferns

Eddie Money, singer-songwriter (March 21, 1949–Sept. 13, 2019)

Ed Perlstein / Redferns

Dr. John, singer-songwriter (Nov. 20, 1941–June 6, 2019)

Andy Sheppard / WireImage

Lorna Doom, musician and founding member of the Germs (Jan. 4, 1958–Jan. 16, 2019)

Trish Tokar / Getty Images

Gary Rhodes, celebrity chef and television personality (April 22, 1960–Nov. 26, 2019)

Photoshot



Rutger Hauer, actor (Jan. 23, 1944–July 19, 2019)

Ladd Company / Ladd Company/Warner Bros/Kobal/Shutterstock

Peter Tork, musician, actor, and founding member of the Monkees (Feb. 13, 1942–Feb. 21, 2019)

Michael Ochs Archives


Ginger Baker, drummer and founding member of Cream (Aug. 19, 1939–Oct. 6, 2019)

Anwar Hussein / Getty Images

Dick Dale, guitarist (May 4, 1937–March 16, 2019)

Peter Pakvis / Redferns


Jessye Norman, opera singer (Sept. 15, 1945–Sept. 30, 2019)

Sean Gallup / Getty Images

Robert Hawke, former prime minister of Australia (Dec. 9, 1929–May 16, 2019)

Cynthia Johnson / Getty Images

Don Imus, radio and television personality (July 23, 1940–Dec. 27, 2019)

Larry Busacca


Gloria Vanderbilt, heir, artist, and fashion designer (Feb. 20, 1924–June 17, 2019)

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Doris Day, actor (April 3, 1922–May 13, 2019)

Hulton Archive / Getty Images

John Dingell, American politician and the longest-ever serving member of Congress (July 8, 1926–Feb. 7, 2019)

Brendan Smialowski / Getty Images



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