From Berlusconi to Tina Turner and Delors: notable deaths of 2023

From Italy's ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi to rock queen Tina Turner and former European Commission President Jacques Delors, here are some of 2023's most notable deaths.

January

- 07: RUSSELL BANKS, 82, US novelist who charted the lives of marginalised people

- 10: JEFF BECK, 78, British guitar virtuoso who rose to rock and roll fame with 1960s group the Yardbirds

- 10: CARDINAL GEORGE PELL, 81, Australian archbishop who was jailed for child sexual abuse but later cleared

- 12: LISA MARIE PRESLEY, 54, singer-songwriter and only child of Elvis Presley, of a bowel condition caused by weight loss surgery

- 16: GINA LOLLOBRIGIDA, 95, Italian film diva, one of the last icons of Golden Age Hollywood

- 17: LUCILE RANDON, 118, French nun, who was the world's oldest known person

- 18: DAVID CROSBY, 81, American folk-rock pioneer

February

- 03: PACO RABANNE, 88, Spanish fashion designer famed for his eccentric designs and fragrances

- 05: PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, 79, Pakistan's former military ruler

Raquel Welch became an international sex symbol after appearing in a deerskin bikini in 'One Million Years BC' © - / AFP/File

- 08: BURT BACHARACH, 94, legendary pop composer of "Walk on By" and "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head"

- 10: CARLOS SAURA, 91, acclaimed Spanish director who critiqued Franco's dictatorship

- 15: RAQUEL WELCH, 82, US actress and global sex symbol who famously donned a fur bikini in a 1960s caveman epic

March

- 03: KENZABURO OE, 88, Nobel-winning Japanese novelist

- 12: DICK FOSBURY, 76, US athlete who revolutionised the high jump with a leap backwards over the bar, known as the "Fosbury flop"

- 21: CLAUDE LORIUS, 91, French glaciologist who helped prove humanity's role in global warming

- 28: RYUICHI SAKAMOTO, 71, Japanese composer who pioneered electronic music

April

- 13: MARY QUANT, 93, rule-breaking British fashion designer and pioneer of the miniskirt

- 19: MOONBIN, 25, K-Pop megastar and member of boy band Astro, found dead at his home in an apparent suicide

- 22: BARRY HUMPHRIES, aka DAME EDNA EVERAGE, 89, Australian comedian who invented the bespectacled, lilac-haired parody of a suburban housewife

- 25: HARRY BELAFONTE, 96, superstar American musician and activist

- 27: JERRY SPRINGER, 79, popular US talk show host, whose rowdy programme symbolised low-brow TV

May

- 19: MARTIN AMIS, 73, leading voice in modern British fiction

Tina Turner -- seen in Paris in 1987 at the height of her solo fame -- always dreamed of being a rock star, a dream fulfilled after she left her husband Ike © Bertrand GUAY / AFP/File

- 24: TINA TURNER, 83, US rock icon famed for her electrifying stage presence

June

- 05: ASTRUD GILBERTO, 83, Brazilian "Girl from Ipanema" singer

- 06: FRANCOISE GILOT, 101, French artist and longtime lover of Pablo Picasso, with whom she had two children

- 10: TED KACZYNSKI, 81, "Unabomber" who terrorised America with a two-decade bombing campaign

- 12: SILVIO BERLUSCONI, 86, larger-than-life, scandal-tainted former Italian premier and billionaire media mogul

- 13: CORMAC McCARTHY, 89, titan of American fiction with novels including "The Road"

- 15: GLENDA JACKSON, 87, British Oscar-winning actress and politician

July

- 01: VICTORIA AMELINA, 37, rising star of Ukrainian literature, in a Russian missile attack

- 11: MILAN KUNDERA, 94, Czech-French novelist who criticised Czechoslovakia's communist regime. Best known for "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"

- 16: JANE BIRKIN, 76, British-born singer and actress famous for her relationship with French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg

Jane Birkin spent most of her life in her adopted France, where she became a style icon © MYCHELE DANIAU / AFP/File

- 21: TONY BENNETT, 96, last of the classic American crooners

- 26: SINEAD O'CONNOR, 56, iconoclastic Irish pop singer, best known for her 1990 global hit "Nothing Compares 2 U"

August

- 07: WILLIAM FRIEDKIN, 87, US director of "The Exorcist" and "The French Connection"

- 09: SIXTO RODRIGUEZ, 81, cult American singer-songwriter, the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary "Searching for Sugar Man"

An angry Yevgeny Prigozhin addresses the Russian army's top brass while standing in front of bodies presented as fallen Wagner fighters © Handout / TELEGRAM/ @concordgroup_official/AFP/File

- 23: YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN, 62, head of Russian paramilitary group Wagner, killed in a plane crash after leading a mutiny against Moscow's military leadership

- 30: MOHAMED AL-FAYED, 94, Egyptian ex-owner of Harrods whose son Dodi died alongside Princess Diana in a 1997 car crash

September

- 09: MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI, 95, Zulu prince and veteran South African politician

- 15: FERNANDO BOTERO, 91, Colombian sculptor famous for his voluptuous forms

- 25: MATTEO MESSINA DENARO, 61, one of the most ruthless Sicilian mafia bosses dies in prison

- 27: MICHAEL GAMBON, 82, British actor, played Albus Dumbledore in many "Harry Potter" films

- 29: DIANNE FEINSTEIN, 90, trailblazing politician dubbed the "Lioness of the US Senate"

October

- 13: HUBERT REEVES, 91, Canadian-French astrophysicist, renowned for popularising space science

Matthew Perry, who played Chandler Bing on the hit TV sitcom Friends from 1994 to 2004, died at the age of 54 © GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP

- 13: LOUISE GLUCK, 80, American poet, winner of Nobel and Pulitzer prizes

- 16: MARTTI AHTISAARI, 86, Finland's former president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate after battling Alzheimer's disease

- 21: BOBBY CHARLTON, 86, English football hero, World Cup winner, Manchester United legend

- 27: LI KEQIANG, 68, Chinese premier during the first two terms of President Xi Jinping

- 28: MATTHEW PERRY, 54, US star who played Chandler Bing in hit sitcom "Friends" after a long battle with addiction

November

- 19: ROSALYNN CARTER, 96, former US first lady who championed human rights, democracy and public health

Henry Kissinger pictured in 1976 when he was US Secretary of State © - / AFP/File

- 29: HENRY KISSINGER, 100, US diplomat whose unapologetic promotion of raw American power helped shape the post-World War II world

- 30: SHANE MACGOWAN, 65, Irish singer-songwriter and booze-fuelled bard who fronted Celtic folk-punk band The Pogues

December

- 01: SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR, 93, the first woman to serve as a justice on the US Supreme Court, appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1981

- 08: RYAN O'NEAL, 82, US actor and heartthrob of "Love Story" and "Barry Lyndon" fame

Former European Commission president Jacques Delors, known as 'Mr Europe' © Pierre VERDY / AFP/File

- 11: BULELWA MKUTUKANA aka ZAHARA, 36, South African afro-pop sensation, who suffered from liver damage due to alcoholism

- 26: WOLFGANG SCHAEUBLE, 81, one of the most important figures in German political life over the last 30 years

- 27: LEE SUN-KYUN, 48, South Korean actor best known for his role in the Oscar-winning film "Parasite", found dead in Seoul

- 27: JACQUES DELORS, 98, former European Commission president and key figure in the creation of the euro

© 2023 AFP