Died Today In History Legacy

Beloved comedic actress Betty White's decadeslong career spanned generations. Several artists performed songs by Bowie during concerts in the weeks following his death, including Elton John, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Numerous cities across the world also held events to remember Bowie. A concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City called The Music of David Bowie had already been announced, and was turned into a memorial event after news of his death broke; tickets sold out in two hours. A number of artists also performed and paid tribute at a memorial event in London's Union Chapel six days after his passing.

Lady Gaga was chosen to perform a tribute to Bowie at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, which featured a medley of his songs such as "Space Oddity", "Changes", "Ziggy Stardust", "Fame", and "Let's Dance". In New Orleans, a large Second line parade was led by the band Arcade Fire in the French Quarter. The event was held in February with fans packing the streets dressed in their Bowie-inspired attire. The rock band Phish performed Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars album in its entirety as their Halloween costume at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on 31 October 2016 Bowie was presented the Brits Icon award in February 2016, a few weeks after his death. Singer Annie Lennox paid tribute to Bowie at the presentation, singer Lorde performed "Life on Mars?" with Bowie's old touring band, Bowie's friend and actor Gary Oldman accepted the award on Bowie's behalf.

Born in Cincinnati in 1922 as Doris Kappelhoff, Day trained as a dancer as a child but got her start as a recording artist, singing first in local nightclubs and on radio before working with swing orchestras in her mid-20s. By her late teens, she'd chosen her stage name and was working with major band leaders like Les Brown. In 1945, at 23, she released her first smash hit, "Sentimental Journey," which became an anthem of wartime America. In 1948, director Michael Curtiz cast her in his film Romance on the High Seas, because he said "her freckles made her look like the all-American girl," and her lengthy film career began. By mid-2015, it was hoped that the cancer was in remission, but by November 2015 the cancer had spread throughout his body and Bowie was told his condition was terminal.

He was in the middle of filming the video for his song "Lazarus" when the decision was made to end his cancer treatment. Bowie's last public appearance before his death was at the 7 December 2015 opening night of his musical Lazarus. Bowie released his final studio album Blackstar on 8 January 2016, his 69th birthday. Bowie reportedly wrote a five-year plan for what he wanted done with his music after he died. "The world knew him as Gunther (the seventh 'Friend'), from the hit series 'Friends,' but Michael's loved ones knew him as an actor, musician, cancer-awareness advocate, and loving husband," Toni Benson, Tyler's manager, wrote in a statement provided to AP.

"Michael loved live music, cheering on his Clemson Tigers, and would often find himself in fun and unplanned adventures." Jazz pianist Chick Corea released his debut album, "Tones For Joan's Bones," in 1968. He played with Miles Davis on the groundbreaking work "In A Silent Way." In 1971, he began his successful solo career.

When COVID-19 struck, he started playing and answering questions on Facebook livestreams. An enthusiastic response led him to start an online music school, the Chick Corea Academy, on May 14, 2020. Corea could posthumously win two more awards at this year's Grammys. He told only his family and people he was working with at the time about his condition; Ivo van Hove, with whom Bowie was collaborating on the off-Broadway musical Lazarus, was told shortly after Bowie himself found out. Tony Visconti, Bowie's friend and producer of many Bowie albums, including his final album, Blackstar, was told in January 2015. Visconti recalled that Bowie was completely bald from his chemotherapy when they spoke.

However, many musicians who had worked with Bowie over the years, such as Mike Garson, Gerry Leonard, Brian Eno, Nile Rodgers, Reeves Gabrels, Tina Turner, Iggy Pop, Sterling Campbell, Earl Slick and Gail Ann Dorsey, were not told about his illness and were surprised when Bowie died. The Canadian-born director, writer, editor and producer rose to fame in the 2010s as the man behind the camera for the 2013 film "Dallas Buyers Club," for which he received an Oscar nomination . But it was his groundbreaking performance in "Alien" – a Black actor with a heroic role in a big-budget science-fiction film – that left the biggest mark for Kotto. At the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival he recalled revisiting the Lincoln Memorial in Washington where he had witnessed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream" speech, when a tour bus of Japanese schoolchildren pulled up. Bowie's final album, Blackstar—styled as ★ on the cover—was heavily analysed following his death, and numerous supposed clues about Bowie's fate were discussed.

The album's second single "Lazarus" includes the lyrics "Look up here, I'm in heaven/I've got scars that can't be seen", which appeared in numerous news publications after his death. The album's title was also believed to have symbolised death; it is the name given to a cancerous lesion, as well as the term for the transitional state between a collapsed star and a singularity. It is also reminiscent of the name of a little-known song about death by one of Bowie's musical idols, Elvis Presley, which features the lyrics "When a man sees his black star, he knows his time has come". The video for "Lazarus" included visuals of Bowie retreating into a wooden cupboard, and writing with a skull on his desk—seemed to many to symbolise Bowie's imminent death. The beloved vocalist was known by many nicknames, including "El Numero Uno," "King of Ranchera," or simply "Chente." He won four Grammy awards, most recently in 2016, and eight Latin Grammy awards. After the performance, he accepted the Premio de la Presidencia award.

William Lucking's acting career spanned nearly 50 years, beginning with roles in the late 1960s. The 6-foot-4 actor found success on both the big screen and television, typically playing strongmen characters. His most recent success came as an outlaw biker named Piney Winston in the drama series "Sons of Anarchy." Lucking passed away on Oct. 18 at the age of 80. "I'm heartbroken to announce that after a heroic battle with cancer, the beautiful and mighty woman that is Helen McCrory has died peacefully at home, surrounded by a wave of love from friends and family," her husband, actor Damian Lewis tweeted following her death.

Red Lane, a country music songwriter who wrote the Tammy Wynette hit "'Til I Get It Right," has died of cancer, according to multiple news sources. Lane, who was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters' Hall of Fame in 1993, wrote songs for many of country's biggest stars. A Cambridge University graduate who was president of the Footlights performance club, he began writing music for the West End and the movies.

Beginning his acting career on Broadway at age seven, Dean Stockwell (March 5, 1936-November 7, 2021) would quit show business several times during his life. Yet he kept returning, earning praise as a character actor for his memorable performances in such films as David Lynch's "Blue Velvet," Wim Wenders' "Paris, Texas," Robert Altman's "The Player," and Jonathan Demme's "Married to the Mob" . He also received four Emmy nominations for his role as Admiral Al Calavicci, who appears as a hologram to aid the time-traveling scientist played by Scott Bakula, in the cult sci-fi series "Quantum Leap." Grammy-nominated rapper DMX, pictured in 2016, whose real name is Earl Simmons, released his first album in 1998, debuting at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 200 chart. His next four albums all topped the U.S. charts, making him one of the best-selling rappers of all time. He has acted in TV shows and films, including 2000's "Romeo Must Die" and 2003's "Cradle 2 the Grave," and he starred in his own reality TV series on BET in 2006.

In 2017, he pleaded guilty to tax fraud, for which he served one year in prison. Musician Dennis "D.T." Thomas was a founding member of the long-running soul funk R&B band, Kool and the Gang. Acting as the emcee during the band's shows, Thomas also played alto saxophone, flute and some percussions on various songs. He is probably best known for his spoken word vocals on the band's hit, "Who's Gonna Take the Weight," and his flashy wardrobe style. His musical talent, however, helped earn the band two Grammy awards and propelled the group to a household name.

In 2018, she became the first Black woman to receive an honorary Oscar. Two years later, she was selected for the Peabody Career Achievement Award for her work on the stage, in film and on television. "We are devastated to announce the passing of our beloved Virgil Abloh, a fiercely devoted father, husband, son, brother, and friend," the Off-White designer's family said Sunday in a statement shared to Abloh's Instagram page. Born Robert Harper in 1944, he met Cannon while they were working as welders, but their comedy took them from the factory floor to the TV studio and The Cannon & Ball Show, a prime-time Saturday night hit which ran from 1979 to 1988.

They also starred in the 1982 film The Boys in Blue in which they played bungling police officers, and the 1988 movie Mr H Is Late, alongside Eric Sykes. Fyvush FinkelFyvush Finkel, 93, the Emmy Award-winning actor whose career in stage and screen started in Yiddish theater and led to memorable roles in "Fiddler on the Roof" on Broadway and on TV in "Boston Public" and "Picket Fences," died on Aug. 14. The four centuries since Shakespeare's death have confirmed Jonson's assessment. The "Bard of Avon" holds a place in history as one of the greatest writers to have lived, and his work is performed, read, and taught across the world.

Shakespeare's legacy has also evolved to keep up with changing times; for example, in the 20th and 21st centuries his plays have been adapted into hundreds of feature films. William Garson's acting career began in the 1980s and sustained working success until his passing. He had roles in both film and television, with his portrayal of talent agent Stanford Blatch "Sex and the City" standing out as one of the most notable fan favorites. Garson passed away on Tuesday of pancreatic cancer at the age of 57. Grodin started his acting career back in the 1960s and continued to succeed in Hollywood in the following decades, including making nearly 40 appearances on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." The actor and comedian—who did "deadpan" like few could—passed away on Tuesday at age 86.

Tributes.com is the online source for current local and national obituary news and a supportive community where friends and family can come together during times of loss and grieving to honor the memories of their loved ones with lasting personal tributes. "Into the Woods" presented a fresh take on traditional fairy tales and their unexpected outcomes. Songwriter Jim Steinman, pictured in 1978, was best known for writing Meat Loaf's 1977 debut, "Bat Out of Hell," considered one of the top-selling albums of all time. She won an NAACP Image award for outstanding supporting actress in 1989 for her role in the movie "Tap." That same year she performed in "The Threepenny Opera" on Broadway. She starred in the '90s sitcom "The Parent 'Hood," and went on to appear in movies such as "When Stella Got Her Groove Back," "School of Rock" and "When They See Us." Douglas died on July 6, at the age of 64.

Six years after David Bowie's death, his estate is also following the trend and has sold the publishing rights to the late musician's entire body of work. Warner Music is now the caretaker of the influential glam rock pioneer's hundreds of songs. His catalog includes hits such as "Space Oddity," "Changes," "Life on Mars?" and "Heroes." The deal is estimated to be upwards of $250 million. Memorials to Bowie were created around the world in the hours following his death.

In Brixton, the London area in which Bowie was born, a mural painted in 2013 by Australian artist Jimmy C became a shrine at which fans left flowers, records and handwritten messages. The mural features Bowie as he appeared on his iconic Aladdin Sane album cover, with a red and blue stripe appearing diagonally across his face as if it had been painted upon it. In Berlin, fans left flowers outside the flat in which Bowie and Iggy Pop had lived while Bowie created his seminal "Berlin trilogy" of albums—Low, Heroes and Lodger—in the late 1970s as well as Pop's albums The Idiot and Lust for Life . Flowers were also left outside Bowie's New York City apartment and next to his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. In Milan, fans held a flash mob memorial service in Colonne di San Lorenzo while fans in Rio de Janeiro paid tribute to Bowie in February's Rio Carnival.

In Japan, hours after Bowie's death, a devoted fan was detained for threatening to commit suicide with a box cutter in public. Based on the 1862 French novel of the same name by Victor Hugo, his work on Les Miserables - with songs including I Dreamed a Dream, Bring Him Home and On My Own - earned him both a Tony and a Grammy award. He was also a credited screenwriter and the credited lyricist for the Oscar-winning film version, released in 2012, which starred Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried, Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter. His career in entertainment spanned seven decades, with smaller roles before Bond and films afterwards including The Rock, Highlander, The Untouchables and of course, Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, in which he played Indy's father, Professor Henry Jones. As well as playing T'Challa in Black Panther, Boseman played black icons Jackie Robinson and James Brown early in his career, and also appeared in Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods earlier in 2020.

In Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, the last film he made before his death, he plays ambitious session band trumpeter Levee, a man out to make a name for himself in 1920s Chicago. Laser also won a German film award for his lead role in 1975 black and white film John Glueckstadt, and other screen credits included Don Quixote's Children , The Elixirs of the Devil and The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum . Before his death, Melcher also contracted her — without telling her — to a five-year TV series on CBS, The Doris Day Show, and she subsequently wrestled with the network for creative control in order to pay off her debts. She hopped on and spent the next 52 hours watching coverage of the terrorist attacks and talking about winning a gold medal, surviving breast cancer, their families, everything.

Fleming and Madden were both particularly struck by the visible signs of a unified country -- flags on cars, farmers painting their barns red, white and blue, the national anthem playing at gas stations along the way. "We didn't know what the future held. But I had my big new buddy, John Madden, and it felt so safe on that bus." Macdonald passed away at the age of 61on September 14, after battling cancer of nearly a decade. "Charlie was a cherished husband, father and grandfather and also as a member of The Rolling Stones one of the greatest drummers of his generation," the statement read following his death. "We kindly request that the privacy of his family, band members, and close friends is respected at this difficult time." "To say Art will be missed dearly would be an understatement," LaFleur's wife Shelley told USA Today in a statement.

"He left a legacy larger than his personality and while his absence is a void that can never be filled, his warmth will always be felt. Art lives on through his work, stories about his life and the relationships he built with everyone he knew." Actor Norman Lloyd (Nov. 8, 1914-May 11, 2021) had a career that read like a history of Hollywood. After appearing on Broadway, Lloyd joined Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre acting company in the 1930s.

His credits included Welles' anti-fascist modern-dress telling of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar." He also appeared in a 1939 NBC broadcast of a play, "The Streets of New York," a reel of which is the earliest-surviving live TV broadcast from Rockefeller Center. A New York native whose family included noted singers, musicians and composers, Williams got his first taste of acting as a teenager, when he won a bit part in a Harlem YMCA production of "Dark of the Moon" – Cicely Tyson's first stage play. After serving as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne, Williams appeared on Broadway in "The Long Dream," "The Great Indoors," and "Slow Dance on the Killing Ground" , and in the film "The Cool World."

A prolific career as a composer included more than 1,000 songs, as well as symphonies and chamber music, operas, and music for films and ballet. A music series based on poems written by Nazi concentration camp survivor Iakovos Kambanellis, "The Ballad of Mauthausen," described the horrors of camp life and the Holocaust. Legendary music producer Phil Spector died on Jan. 17 while still serving 19 years-to-life for murdering actress Lana Clarkson. He produced 20 top 40 hits between 1961 and 1965, including "Da Doo Ron Ron," "Be My Baby" and "He's a Rebel," as well as Righteous Brothers' epic "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," the 1965 hit said to be the song most played on radio and television in the 20th century.

Bruce had several hit songs over the course of his decades-long career, including all-time classic "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys," which he co-wrote with his then-wife Patsy Bruce before the pair split in 1987. In 1982, he released "You're the Best Break This Old Heart Ever Had," featuring Lynn Anderson, which charted for 21 weeks and landed at No. 1. Several more Shakespearean roles, Broadway plays and Hollywood movies followed, including acclaimed turns in 1999's The Insider, in which he portrayed 60 Minutes reporter Mike Wallace, and 2001's A Beautiful Mind. The actor won two Tonys for his work on the stage, and two Emmys for his roles on television. "It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of my beloved mom Jessica. A working actor for over six decades, her greatest pleasure was bringing joy to others through her storytelling both on screen and off," Bowman said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.

"While her legacy will live on through her body of work, she will also be remembered by many for her wit, class and overall joie de vivre." Over the course of his career, the Baltimore, Maryland native released 15 Billboard Hot 100 megahit songs, including "Party Up " and his collaboration "Money, Power, Respect" with The Lox and Lil' Kim. In addition to his music, DMX also appeared in 15 films and several TV appearances. Celebrities Who Died on October 26 | Academy Award-winning actress Hattie McDaniel, Blaque singer and 'Bring It On' actress Natina Reed, women's rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and the creator of "Pinocchio' all died today in history.

Bowie had kept his illness private, and friends and fans alike were surprised by his death. Makeshift memorials were created in London, New York City, Berlin, and other cities in which Bowie had lived; sales of his albums and singles saw a significant increase. Many commentators noted Bowie's impact on music, fashion and culture and wrote of his status as one of the most influential musical artists of all time.

"The Hollywood community and fans around the world are in mourning the huge loss of our Golden Girl, Betty White, who gave so many of us so much joy throughout the years. Although, her star and the star of her late husband Allen Ludden are side by side it helps to know that she is now with her husband who she loved so much. Born in Belfast, Eileen Pollock was a star of stage and screen who appeared in films including Far And Away in 1992, alongside Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, and Angela's Ashes in 1999. One of the first black actors to join the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1960s, he also starred in several films including Omen II and The Plague Of The Zombies. His last TV appearance was in BBC One's The Split not long before his death at the age of 81.

The actor, pictured right above, also appeared in films such as 1971's Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory, and other TV shows such as long-running ITV series Me And My Girl, and Heartbeat, as well as on stage. Though she quit the movie business in 1968 and focused on devoting the rest of her life to animal charities, like the Doris Day Animal Foundation, Day remained a popular public figure and frequent guest on talk shows and variety shows throughout her life. She later received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004 for her work as an actor and activist, and received an Honorary Grammy Award in 2008.

Today, her run of iconic postwar films continues to influence women's fashion, style, and even lifestyle choices. Betty White had a long history with game shows, including appearing with Allen Ludden, right, on "Password." She and Ludden would marry in 1963 and remain husband and wife until his death in 1981. Douglas was a staple of the CBS daytime drama "The Young and the Restless" for over three decades, where played patriarch John Abbott. The talented actor also had time on the big screen, appearing in films such as Oliver Stone's "JFK" and "Mommie Dearest." He passed away on Tuesday, Nov. 9, at the age of 88. Scolari was a longtime actor whose big break came alongside Tom Hanks in the popular sitcom "Bosom Buddies." He would star on stage as well as television, from "Newhart" to "Wicked" and later "Girls," for which he won an Emmy in 2016. "It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of my beloved mom Jessica," Walter's daughter, Brooke Bowman, told Deadline.