Biggest Celebrity Deaths of 2019

January 15th:  Legendary entertainer Carol Channing passed away at 76.

January 29th:  R&B singer James Ingram died of brain cancer.  He was only 66.

February 7th:  Albert Finney from “Erin Brockovich” died after a short illness.  He was 82.

Also on February 7th, we lost baseball legend Frank Robinson . . . the sport’s first black manager.

Other losses in the world of sports this year include:

. . . Boston Red Sox star Bill Buckner

. . . Green Bay Packers legend Bart Starr

. . . Race car driver Jessi Combs, who died trying to set a new land speed record

. . . And Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs . . . who died of an accidental overdose just two days after pitching.

February 17th:  World War 2 Veteran George Mendonsa died at the age of 95.  He was the sailor in that world-famous photograph kissing the woman in Times Square to celebrate the end of the war. Or at least he was one of several men who claimed to be.

February 19th:  We lost designer Karl Lagerfeld.  He was 85.

February 21st:  Peter Tork reduced the Monkees to a duo by losing his battle with cancer.  He was 77.

February 23rd:  Katherine Helmond from “Who’s the Boss” succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 89.  She played the sexy grandma Mona.

March 4th:  “90210” superstar Luke Perry died several days after having a stroke.  He was only 52.

March 16th:  Surf guitar pioneer Dick Dale had a heart attack and died, at the age of 81.

March 31st:  Rapper Nipsey Hussle was shot and killed outside his own clothing store in Los Angeles.  He was 33.

April 18th:  Paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren went beyond to seek the truth, at the age of 92.  Vera Farmiga plays her in the “Conjuring” movies.

April 28th:  “Boyz N the Hood” director John Singleton was taken off life support, two weeks after suffering a stroke and going into a coma.  He was only 51.

April 30th:  “Star Wars” actor Peter Mayhew died of a heart attack at 74.  He played Chewbacca, but he had to retire after “The Force Awakens” due to health issues.

May 11th:  Actress Peggy Lipton passed away at the age of 72.  She was in “The Mod Squad” and “Twin Peaks”, and she was also Rashida Jones’ mother.

May 13th:  Film legend Doris Day left us after contracting pneumonia.  She was 97.

May 14th:  Comedy genius Tim Conway from “The Carol Burnett Show” died after a battle with dementia.  He was 85.  That same day, we lost Grumpy Cat to a urinary tract infection. Speaking of Internet-famous felines, Lil Bub also kicked the bucket this year.

June 6th:  New Orleans musician Dr. John passed away at the age of 77, after suffering a heart attack.  Another New Orleans original, Art Neville, left us in July.

June 17th:  Fashion icon Gloria Vanderbilt, mother of CNN’s Anderson Cooper, lost her battle with stomach cancer.  She was 95.

June 26th:  Beth Chapman, wife of Dog the Bounty Hunter, lost her battle with cancer.  She was 51.

July 2nd:  Former Chrysler CEO Lee Iococca died of natural causes, at the age of 94.

July 9th:  Rip Torn, best known for “The Larry Sanders Show” and the “Men in Black” movies, died at the age of 88.  Former presidential candidate Ross Perot died that same day.  He was 89.

The OTHER Rip, confetti-tossing comedian Rip TAYLOR, died in October.

July 16th:  Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens died.  The cause of death?  Being 99 years old.  (Actually, he’d had a stroke.)

July 19th:  Rutger Hauer, from “Blade Runner”, “The Hitcher”, and of course, “Hobo with a Shotgun”, died from an unspecified illness.  He was 75.

August 5th:  Oprah’s favorite author Toni Morrison passed away at the age of 88.

August 16th:  “Easy Rider” star Peter Fonda died of complications from lung cancer.  He was 79.

August 30th:  Sitcom legend Valerie Harper finally lost her battle with cancer.  When she was first diagnosed, she was given three months to live, but she fought it like a boss.  She was 80 years old.

September 13th:  Eddie Money punched his ticket to paradise.  He died of complications from heart surgery, but he was also battling stage 4 esophageal cancer. Listen to our postmortem special “Music and Memories: Eddie Money” here.

September 15th:  Ric Ocasek of The Cars was found dead in his home by his estranged wife Paulina Porizkova.  He’d been suffering from heart issues, and had recently undergone surgery.  He was either 70 or 75. Listen to our Ocasek special “Music and Memories: Ric OCasek” here.

September 17th:  Journalist Cokie Roberts died of breast cancer.  She was 75.

October 4th:  Groundbreaking African American actress Diahann Carroll died at the age of 84, after a long battle with cancer.

October 6th:  Cream drummer Ginger Baker died at the age of 80, after struggling with various health issues over the past few years. Listen to our special “Music and Memories: Ginger Baker” here.

October 11th:  Actor Robert Forster from “Jackie Brown” lost his battle with brain cancer.  He was 78.

October 29th:  Comedian and actor John Witherspoon died unexpectedly at the age of 77.  He played Ice Cube’s dad in the “Friday” movies.

November 3rd:  Robert Norris, the original Marlboro Man, died at the age of 90.  And no, not of lung cancer.  He never smoked.

December 8th:  Rapper Juice WRLD died after suffering a seizure at a Chicago airport while feds were searching his luggage.  There’s speculation that he swallowed a bunch of Percocet so they wouldn’t find it.

December 9th:  Marie Fredriksson from the Swedish pop duo Roxette lost her battle with cancer.  She was 61.

I really hope we don’t have to do so many of those Music and Memories shows in 2020 🙁