While the list of celebrity deaths for any given year isn’t the most popular list to create, it is necessary. It provides an opportunity for journalists across the board to eulogize the achievements and impact celebrities have had on their fans.
Here, we’ve taken the opportunity to share a snapshot of the celebrities who have passed away and their last impression before we turn the page to chapter 2016.
A beloved anchor and the face of ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” he was well known for his humor and catchphrases like “Boo-Yah” … “He’s as cool as the other side of the pillow” … “He must be butter because he’s on a roll” … and “See, what had happened was …”
Cause of death: Stomach cancer
(d. January 4, 2015)
A member of the the ’90s R&B trio Brownstone, she was signed to Michael Jackson’s MJJ label. Brownstone achieved their greatest success with their 1994 debut album, From the Bottom Up, which went platinum in the US. Their biggest single, “If You Love Me” reached No. 8 in the US and earned them a Billboard Music Award, as well as scored them a Grammy nod.
Cause of death: Maxee fell and punctured her neck in two places on a broken wine glass. “…paramedics transported her to Cedars Sinai Hospital … but she had lost too much blood,” her brother Brandon Maxwell reportedly wrote on social media.
(d. February 27, 2015)
B.B. King, 89 (pictured above)
World-renowned and beloved bluesman.
Cause: According to the his attorney, Brett Bryson, King died peacefully in his sleep at his Las Vegas home.
(d. May 15, 2015)
