As we bid farewell to 2024 and recount the glories of the season, we remember there were tears too. The year was filled with wars and revolutions, trends and tragedies, with the world saying goodbye to some notable figures, including Russian President Vladimir Putin’s staunchest critic Alexei Navalny, former One Direction member Liam Payne, famed producer Quincy Jones and industrialist Ratan Tata.
Here are some of the most famous people who have died in 2024.
Glynis Johns | 5 October 1923 – 4 January 2024
(Source: IMDB)
A Tony Award-winning stage and screen star, Johns passed away at the age of 100. She is best remembered for playing the mother opposite Julie Andrews in the classic movie “Mary Poppins”. She also introduced the world to the bittersweet standard-to-be “Send in the Clowns” by Stephen Sondheim.
Alexei Navalny | 4 June 1976 – 6 February 2024
(Source: X/@navalny)
One of the fiercest critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Navalny passed away in the Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence, Russia’s prison agency said. He was 47. Before his arrest, Navalny campaigned against official corruption, organized major anti-Kremlin protests and ran for public office.
Jacob Rothschild | 29 April 1936 – 26 February 2024
(Source: Partners Capital website)
A financier and philanthropist, Rothschild passed away at the age of 87. He was part of the renowned Rothschild banking dynasty and began his career in the family bank, NM Rothschild & Sons, in 1963. He later broke away to start businesses and charitable organizations. Rothschild was Chairman of RIT Capital Partners plc, one of the largest investment trusts quoted on the London Stock Exchange with a net asset value of about £2 billion. He played a prominent part in Arts philanthropy in Britain and was Chairman of Trustees of the National Gallery from 1985 to 1991, and from 1992 to 1998, chairman of the National Heritage Memorial Fund.
Peter Higgs | 29 May 1929 – 8 April 2024
(Source: X/@NobelPrize)
Nobel prize-winning physicist Peter Higgs died at age 94. Higgs is credited for proposing the existence of the so-called “God particle” that helped explain how matter formed after the Big Bang. Higgs predicted the existence of a new particle in 1964, which later came to be known as the Higgs boson. The physicist’s work helped scientists in getting a better understanding of one of the most fundamental riddles of the universe: how the Big Bang created something out of nothing 13.8 billion years ago.
OJ Simpson | 9 July 1947 – 10 April 2024
(Source: AFP)
A decorated football superstar and Hollywood actor, Simpson died aged 76. Simpson found fame and fortune through football and show business, but his legacy was forever changed by the June 1994 knife slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman in Los Angeles. His public trial captured America’s attention and sparked debates on race, gender, domestic abuse, celebrity justice and police misconduct. He was acquitted in the murder case in 1995, but a separate civil trial jury found him liable in 1997 for the deaths and ordered him to pay $33.5 million to relatives of Brown and Goldman.
Ebrahim Raisi | 14 December 1960 – 19 May 2024
(Source: X/@raisi_com)
The Iranian president Raisi, a hard-line protege of the country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Raisi died in a Helicopter crash aged 63. Raisi helped oversee the mass executions of thousands in Iran in 1988 and later led the country as it enriched uranium near weapons-grade levels, launched a major attack on Israel and experienced mass protests.
Maggie Smith | 28 December 1934 – 27 September 2024
(Source: Reuters)
The masterful, scene-stealing actor, Smith won an Oscar for the 1969 film “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”. She gained new fans in the 21st century with her roles of dowager Countess of Grantham in “Downton Abbey” and Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films. Smith was often rated the preeminent British female performer of a generation along with Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench. The two-time Oscar winner died aged 89.
Quincy Jones | 14 March 1933 – 3 November 2024
(Source: X/@QuincyDJones)
A multi-talented music titan, Jones’ vast legacy ranged from producing Michael Jackson’s historic “Thriller” album to writing prize-winning film and television scores. He collaborated with icons Frank Sinatra, and Ray Charles among hundreds of other recording artists to make chart-breaking music and earn honours and awards that fill 18 pages in his 2001 autobiography “Q”. The 28-time Grammy winner and twice Academy Award awardee passed away aged 91.
Ratan Tata | 28 December 1937 – 9 October 2024
(Source: Tata.com)
One of India’s most influential business leaders, Ratan Tata passed away aged 86. He joined the Tata Group in 1961 and succeeded his uncle J.R.D. Tata as chairman after the latter’s retirement in 1991. Under his leadership, the company grew significantly to a sprawling collection of nearly 100 companies and expanded globally with revenue exceeding $100 billion on his retirement.
Liam Payne | 29 August 1993 – 16 October 2024
(Source: X/@LiamPayne)
The former One Direction singer whose chart-topping British boy band generated a global following of swooning fans, died aged 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina.
Rohit Bal | 8 May 1961 – 1 November 2024
(Source: Rohit Bal Facebook)
One of India’s most celebrated fashion designers, Bal died aged 63 after a long period of illness. He popularised fashion designing as a viable, glamorous profession in the 1990s and many who came after him credit him for their success.
