Celebrity Deaths Of 2018: Looking Back At The Stars We Lost (Part II)

In Memoriam

Many stars have faded from the sky as we sent our last farewells to many big names that passed away in 2018. Here is a brief callback to some names we will live to miss.

Ajit Wadekar: August 15

Ajit Wadekar was the former Indian Cricket team captain, who led a victorious and historical winning path in England and the West Indies, was announced dead at the age of 77 in the arms of his loved ones. Despite his limited number of appearances in the Indian cricket team jersey, he still managed to take the helm of captain and lead his team to glory in England and West Indie in the year 1971. Followed up his successful run with the national team, he was honoured the Padma Shri – the fourth highest civilian honour of India, in 1972.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee: August 16

Atal Bihari Vajpayee served as India’s Prime Minister between the year 1999-2004 as well as the leader of the National Democratic Alliance coalition. His death was announced on 16^th August, 2018, at the age of 93.

Aretha Franklin: August 16

Deemed the title of “Queen of Soul”, the legendary singer Aretha Franklin rose to fame after famous hits such as “Respect”, “I say a little prayer”, or “Freeway of Love”. She started her singing career in New York under the wings of Columbia Records. Her career only got higher as she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the year 1987. She passed away on August 16, 2018, having won 18 Grammy Awards, effectively made her amongst the most honored singers ever set foot on the Grammy’s stage.

Kofi Annan: August 18

Kofi Annan is known for his endless and relentless efforts to end protracted conflicts which happened between Africa-Asia-Middle East. He served 2 terms as the United Nations’ Secretary-General from 1997 to 2006, as well as won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001. He passed away at the age of 80.

Sujatha Kumar: August 19

Sujatha Kumar, the actress who portrayed Sridevi’s character’s sister in the movie “English Vinglish”, was announced dead after battling cancer. The news was shared by her sister, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi, on social media.

Neil Simon: August 26

Neil Simon was a brilliant screenwriter who had a Broadway theatre named after him in 1983, took his last breath on August 26, 2018. He started his career as a comedy writer, and years later along with many Tony and Oscar Academy Awards under his belt, he had become one of the most influential screenwriters of his generation.

Burt Reynolds: September 6

The actor who starred in “Boogie Nights”, “Smokey and the Bandit”, and “Deliverance”, was announced dead on September 6, 2018. Apart from being a talented actor who earned a star on the Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame, Burt Reynolds was also a director, producer and business entrepreneur.

Mac Miller: September 7

In 2018, we had to not once, but twice said our last goodbyes to young talent, and alongside Avicii, Mac Miller is the name that had millions of fans wept. Going by his stage name as Mac Miller, his real name was Malcolm James McCornmick. He was a young and talented American rapper, singer, and music producer, who made top 1 Billboard 200 chart with his debut album “Blue Slide Park”.  Poised to be one of American biggest rapper/singer in a near future, Mac Miller was tragically announced dead due to overdose.

Kalpana Lajmi: September 23

The famous female director who brought us “D.G. Movie Pioneer”, “Ek Pal”, “Rudaali”, just to name a few, suffered from a failed kidney and took her last breath on 23^rd September 2018 at the age of 64. She played an important role in empowering female talents with movies that have a centric female protagonist. Her last movie was “Chingaari” in 2006.

Nitin Bali: October 9

Famous singer Nitin Bali, who rose to fame with hits like “Neele Neele Ambar” and “Ek Ajnabee Hassena Se” just to name a few, was tragically killed in a car accident. His passing was mourned by his wife Roma Bali and his son Joshua.

Paul Allen: October 15

Billionaire, entrepreneur and industry pioneer who co-founded Microsoft Corp with Bill Gates, died at the age of 65 due to cancer. In 1983, after an inner feud between him and Bill Gates, Paul left the company but carried with him a fortune of money that he then spent on real estate investment and science researches.

Stan Lee: November 12

One of the biggest loss that the world had to bear was the passing of the legendary writer and creator of many beloved Marvel’s superheroes characters such as Fantastic Four, Spider-man... Stan Lee was so crucial to the world and the entertainment industry that his loss took a toll on almost everyone whose lives were touched my superheroes characters from Marvel. His stories brought a meaningful message to every sing one of us, and to that, we say Excelsior!

Mohammad Aziz: November 27

Mohammad Aziz was a veteran singer before he passes away at the age of 64. Fans were familiar with his voice through over 2000 songs in many Hindi, Bengali, and Odia films. The passion for singing of Mohammad started since he was a child and it was another veteran singer, Mohammed Rafi, that inspired him. His singing debut with Bengali film was ‘Jyoti’, and that with Hindi film was ‘Ambar’ in 1984, in Mumbai.

One of the biggest breakthroughs in Mohammad Aziz’s singing career was the song ‘Mard Taangewala’, which was given to him by the music composer Anu Malik and featured in the film ‘Mard’, starring Amitabh Bachchan. The singer’s high point of career was in the ‘80s and he was still very popular to Indian audiences until the early ‘90s.

George HW Bush: November 30

George H.W Bush, the 41^st President of the United States and vice-president under Ronal Reagan, breathed his last on November 30 at the age of 94. He is also the father of George W. Bush who served as the 43^rd President of the US.

The hometown of George H.W Bush was Milton, Massachusetts. He took the field in WWII and won the election to the U.S House of Representatives in 1966. Before winning the 1988 U.S presidential contest, he was the vice-president serving under Ronald Reagan for two terms. Despite losing the next term to Bill Clinton, the 41^st President made appearance for his son George W. Bush, who later became the 43^rd President of the U.S. Together, they founded the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund.