After so much was lost to the pandemic’s chaos and uncertainty, 2023 saw a return to form. However, during this period of healing, the world also bid farewell to icons of television, leaders who made history, and a host of other people whose memories will live on in our hearts for a very long time.
N’DIGO remembers a few of the well-known notables we lost this year…
Tina Turner
Nov 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023
Tina Turner is the dynamic rock and soul singer who rose from humble beginnings and overcame a notoriously abusive marriage to become one of the most popular female artists of all time.
The diva was “Simply the Best” and, after a long illness, died at her Swiss home on May 23 at age 83. The Grammy winner, who first came to fame as one half of the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, revived her career after shedding the weight of her abusive ex-husband. Her solo legacy includes hits like “What’s Love Got to Do With It” and a solo induction in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Harry Belafonte
Mar 1, 1927 – Apr 25, 2023
A multi-talented performer and constant fighter for human rights, Belafonte died on April 25 at age 96. Belafonte first gained fame for his beautiful voice, becoming the first person to ever sell 1 million copies of a full-length album. But he also parlayed that fame into rights for others. Friend of both Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy, Belafonte became a crucial force in the Civil Rights Movement.
Rosalyn Carter
Aug 18, 1927 – Nov 19, 2023
Known for her enduring kindness and true partnership with Jimmy Carter, the former first lady died Nov. 19 at age 96. She was remembered in several ceremonies, with her husband making rare public appearances despite his own illness. In life, Carter worked tirelessly as an advocate for those less fortunate than her.
Tony Bennett
Aug 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023
Legendary crooner Tony Bennett, best known for singing “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” died July 21 at the age of 96. Bennett won 19 Grammy Awards over a career spanning eight decades. Frank Sinatra called him his favorite singer and received a Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Suzanne Somers
Oct 16, 1946 – Oct 15, 2023
Suzanne Somers, the actress who lit up the small screen on “Three’s Company” and became one of TV’s most iconic fitness pitchwomen, died on October 15. Somers was 76.
Jim Brown
Feb 17, 1936 – May 18, 2023
Jim Brown, the transcendent athlete-actor-activist who ran roughshod over the NFL and its record books in the 1950s and 1960s and won multiple MVP awards before retiring abruptly at age 30 to focus on the civil rights movement and a career in Hollywood, died at the age of 87.
Sandra Day O’Connor
Mar 26, 1930 – Dec 1, 2023
As the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, Sandra O’Connor became a role model to millions nationwide. During her 25 years on the court, O’Connor cast deciding votes in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which upheld Roe v. Wade, and Bush v. Gore, which functionally decided the 2000 presidential election in favor of George W. Bush. She died Dec. 1, 17 years after her retirement, at age 93.
Norman Lear
July 27, 1922 – Dec 5, 2013
Famed television producer Norman Lear, whose wildly successful TV sitcoms fused comedy with trenchant social commentary and dominated network ratings in the 1970s, died Tuesday, December 5. He was 101. Beginning with “All in the Family” in 1971, Lear’s shows tackled fraught topics of racism, feminism, and social inequalities that no one had yet dared touch.
