2020 wasn’t pleasant for most people all around the world, some more than others. We had to sing obituaries for many public figures from January to December we kept hearing bad news of how they were sent to meet their maker.
The most shocking of all was the loss of Kobe Bryant, the NBA star, he died in a helicopter crash alongside his daughter. We also heard about the passing of a big movie star ‘Chadwick Boseman’ who was the main character in the hit movie black panther.
These two people mentioned here were not the only celebrities we lost, several celebrities lost their lives in 2020. We will be paying our tributes to some of them as you read on in this article. These are some of the celebrities we paid tribute to in 2020.
Dawn Wells
Dawn wells known popularly for her role in Gilligan’s Island. In this comedy series, she played Mary Ann Summers starting from 1964-1967.
The movie star has been declared dead on December 29th, she passed away in the state of California, Los Angeles. A Hollywood reporter who confirmed that she was 82 when she died was the one who broke the news to the world.
The actress’s publicist also told the world that the star died as a result of coronavirus disease. Although, among the cast of this comedy show, the only survivor right now is the actress that played Ginger, her name is Tina Louise.
During her career break on the comedy show, she worked alongside stars like Alan Hale Jr and Russell Johnson.
Alto Reed
Reed was one of the major members of Bob Serger’s silver bullet band in 1971. Based on what we have seen or heard, he was presumed to have died because of colon cancer on the 30th of December.
In his youthful days, he played the saxophone for his band. He died at the age of 72 as we heard.
His friend and bandmate gave a very emotional statement on Twitter just a few hours after he passed. Serger who was the lead singer of the band said on his Twitter handle that Reed was one of the best saxophonists that he had ever encountered. He also said that they had been in a music family for 50 long years. It was truly a sad moment.
Pierre Cardin
Pierre Cardin, a world-renowned fashion designer was named dead by his family on the 29th of December. He passed away in the American hospital in Paris. He was 98 years of age and an haute couture designer who became famous in the 1960s and has kept his legacy for decades.
Armando Manzanero
The Mexican singer and songwriter was confirmed dead on the 28th of December at the age of 85 due to covid19 issues. He passed away just a few days after his covid19 teat came back positive.
According to the reporters, he was sick due to covid19 and was getting a little better and then shockingly died. There day he died, he was strong enough to answer a phone call and talk.
Manzanero created over a hundred tracks in his prime and prime even as he sand using his dialogue, some of his songs were translated and recorded in English. He was nominated for the 2014 Grammy in the song of the year category. Before his death, Grammy awards honored him with a lifetime achievement award.
Tony Rice
A world-renowned bluegrass guitarist passed away at his home in North Carolina on the 25th of December. He was 69 years old at the time he passed. Ricky Skaggs who was his partner and friend had to take it to the public because the wife and child of the deceased wanted privacy.
His friend Skaggs said on his Twitter handle that Tony had been drinking coffee one morning and suddenly passed on. Imagine how shocked and pained the family is right now.
Nick McGlashan
Nick McGlashan was known for his role which he played in the hit series Deadliest catch where he played as deck boss. He was confirmed dead in Nashville on the 27th of December.
TMZ was the first station to give us the report of the passing of this 33-year-old star.
In the series which made him popular, he got to show on 78 episodes from 2013 when it began. His sister let his fans know about the tragedy via Twitter, she said the passing of her brother was very difficult, she also added that we should be careful.
Phil Niekro
A popular famous baseball pitcher who played for the Atlanta Braves team, he was known as an exceptional pitcher because of his trick that was called knuckleball. The deceased was 81 years old upon death.
He was a hall of Famer and died as a result of cancer. He was presumed dead on the 26th of December. After his passing, his former team which he spent 21years out of the 24years of his baseball career wrote a note regarding his tribute as a significant part of their history.
He had a wife with three sons and two grandchildren. He made his team win their first division title for the first time, so it is clear why they would respect him. They paid respect also by retiring his number 34 jersey.
Jon Huber
This is new, we have seen mostly musicians, actors, and sportsmen on this list, now we have Jon Huber a famous wrestler known mainly as Mr. Brodie Lee died also in December 2020 at the age of 41.
The sad news was shared with the public by his wife who clearly states that he died of a lung disease that wasn’t corona related. In her post, she lets the world know that she loved her husband and he was his best friend. She also said he was the best father to his kids, he was surrounded by his loved ones until he passed.
John Ecstacy Fletcher
John was a member of the famous hip-hop trio ‘Whodini’, he died a sad death and the cause of his death hasn’t been let out yet. He died at the age of 56, the news got to the public through the post that came from the roots.
The roots shared on social media about how the passing of his friend had hit him hard and he felt completely sad inside. He also went on to say that Ecstacy was in charge of the influential approach they gave to rap music.
Several songs were made with this perspective. Tupac and will smith each have different tracks that are gotten from the hit song friends made by Ecstasy’s band.
Leslie West
West was a famous guitarist as a young man, he co-founded his band called Mountain. He died at the age of 75 and on the 21st of December 2021. His death was confirmed by Dean guitars and also n the Rolling stone social media page.
He was mentioned amongst great guitarists and was said to be just as talented as they were in their prime. He founded his band in 1969 and they went global after their wild performance at the Woodstock festival.
Stella Tennant
Stella tenant was a popular model who died at the age of 50. She was presumed dead on the 22nd of December and the news got to the public through her family.
As a young model, she made her first career break in the early 90s when she modeled with top models at that time, models like Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, and Claudia Schiffer.
During her career as a model, she modeled for most of the top fashioned brands like Chanel, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Valentino, Versace, and Jean-Paul Gaultier. She was the star model for most of these brands.
Kevin Greene
On the 21st of December, the 58-year-old NFL player was confirmed dead in Florida at his home. His death was announced to the world by the Pittsburgh settlers and the pro football hall of fame.
They said that Kevin Greene who was a linebacker and defensive end player had recently passed in his house.
The current president of the steelers said in the statement he posted on Twitter that sudden death had come for their friend and teammate, he also referred to him as part of the Steeler family as he has been a part of the team for a long time.
K.T Oslin
KT Oslin was a country singer and songwriter who died at the age of 78, she died on the 21st of December. She was in her prime during the 80s when she became a star.
She had been living with a disease called Parkinson’s, which is a rare disease. She has been living in a facility where they give aid to sick people since 2016.
On top of this disease, she was infected with the covid19 disease which killed her a week after she got the test results. She was an icon in the country music world, as a female star, she was seen as a phenomenon to the females who looked up to her.
Jeremy Bulloch
Bulloch was a famous actor who played the role of Boba Fett in the hit movie ‘original star wars’. His role in this movie brought him to the limelight. He was presumed dead on the 17th of December at the age of 75. He was announced dead in London.
Just like KT Oslin, he had parkinson’s disease and died after a long time of suffering from this disease. He had a wife and two children who were all with him before he died.
Chadwick Boseman
Boseman was a famous African American actor who was known mainly for his role in the Marvel movie ‘Black Panther’ even though he was on several hit movies. He died from stage 4 cancer on the 28th of August after struggling for years with this disease.
Boseman was labeled as a true fighter on social media after his passing, people said this because he had been diagnosed with this deadly disease but yet that did not stop him from working on his career as he made it as a very famous actor before he died.
Different movies on which he appeared were shot even as he was undergoing countless surgeries. Marvel said in a post after Boseman’s passing that they were honored to have worked with this legend.
Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers was a world-renowned country musician who told the world a long time ago about his sickness. He died at the age of 81 on the 20th of March, the hall of Famer died at his home peacefully.
He died as a result of old age, he was around his family and was showered a lot of love before he died.
Rogers has 3 Grammy awards to his name alongside 18 American music awards. He has been a hot name since the 80s because of his marvelous talent. Kenny Rogers was a great man.
Kirk Douglas
Douglas was a Hollywood icon who died on the 5th of February, he died at the age of 103. His brother Micheal Douglas left a statement about his brother’s passing, he said in the statement that he had been left sad as based on the passing of his brother. He was well known around the works and was a legend in Hollywood. Kirk Douglas was also famous for his humanitarian deeds. A good man who lived a full life.
Kobe Bryant And His Daughter
Kobe Bryant’s death was a loss to the world in general, he was a basketball icon and he died at the age of 41 alongside his daughter in a helicopter crash.
On the 26th of December, the mighty Kobe Bryant was announced dead in his private helicopter in Calabasas, California. His daughter who was with him was only 13 tears old.
He left behind a family, his wife Vanessa and three daughters Natalia, Bianka, and Capri. The wife now mourns her husband and the children will never get to see their father again. He was a great husband and father even with his career putting him on the road most times.
