Rock stars and politicians, movie icons and sporting legends, here are some of the notable people who have died in the past year.
Tony Bennett, the eminent and timeless stylist whose devotion to classic American songs and knack for creating new standards such as I Left My Heart In San Francisco graced a decades-long career that brought him admirers from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga, died Friday.
He was 96, just two weeks short of his birthday.
Publicist Sylvia Weiner confirmed Bennett's death to The Associated Press, saying he died in his hometown of New York. There was no specific cause, but Bennett had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2016.
The last of the great saloon singers of the mid-20th century, Bennett often said his lifelong ambition was to create "a hit catalog rather than hit records".
He released more than 70 albums, bringing him 19 competitive Grammys — all but two after he reached his 60s — and enjoyed deep and lasting affection from fans and fellow artists.
He not only survived the rise of rock music but endured so long and so well that he gained new fans and collaborators, some young enough to be his grandchildren.
In 2014, at age 88, Bennett broke his own record as the oldest living performer with a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart for Cheek to Cheek, his duets project with Lady Gaga.
Three years earlier, he topped the charts with Duets II, featuring such contemporary stars as Gaga, Carrie Underwood and Amy Winehouse, in her last studio recording.
Merrill J Fernando, the founder of one of Australia's most-loved brands of tea, Dilmah, has died.
The "iconic teamaker" and "visionary" passed away surrounded by family aged 93.
"Surrounded by his sons and grandchildren, iconic Teamaker, Disrupter and Servant Merrill J. Fernando passed in Colombo this morning," an obituary on Fernando's website read.
"The visionary founder of Dilmah Ceylon Tea Company's greatness was in his invincible faith, his integrity and love for tea & family.
"With devotion and urgency he pursued his desire for integrity and quality with humility and kindness."
Fernando is credited with "disrupting an exploitative colonial industry".
"His achievement in disrupting an exploitative colonial industry irrevocably changed the lives of producers around the world," the obituary went on.
"Introducing a paradigm shift in ethical business before ethics and sustainable business acquired the prominence they have now."
Actress and singer Jane Birkin, who charmed France with her English grace, style and accented French and made the country her home, has died at age 76, according to France's Culture Ministry and French media.
The London-born star was widely admired for her fashion style and known for her musical and romantic relationship with French singer Serge Gainsbourg.
Their songs notably included the steamy Je t'aime moi non plus, with Birkin's ethereal, British-accented singing voice interlacing with his gruff baritone.
She was also celebrated in France for her political activism. In 2022, she joined other screen and music stars in France in chopping off locks of their hair in support of protesters in Iran.
Charlotte Gainsbourg, Birkin's daughter with Gainsbourg, cut off a lock of her mother's hair for that filmed campaign.
The French Culture Ministry tweeted that Birkin died Sunday. It hailed her as a "timeless Francophone icon".
French news outlets Liberation and BFM TV reported that Birkin was found dead at her home in Paris.
Alan Arkin, who waited 45 years between his first Oscar nomination and his first win, has died at the age of 89.
The American actor delighted audiences in films like Little Miss Sunshine, Argo and Catch-22.
Simon Crean, the former federal opposition leader, died at 74.
The Labor politician went from the Storeman and Packers Union, to the ACTU, to a 33-year stint in Parliament.
His two-year tenure as party leader was marked by his opposition to the Iraq War, but he was ousted before facing an election.
Silvio Berlusconi, the boastful billionaire media mogul who was Italy's longest-serving prime minister despite scandals over his sex-fuelled parties and allegations of corruption, has died at the age of 86.
Italian news agency LaPresse reported Berlusconi's death after he was hospitalised on Friday for the second time in months for treatment of chronic leukaemia.
Prolific and acclaimed painter Françoise Gilot has died at the age of 101 in New York City.
Gilot produced art for well more than a half-century but was nonetheless more famous for her turbulent relationship with Pablo Picasso.
Her daughter Aurelia Engel told The Associated Press her mother had died at Mount Sinai West hospital after suffering both lung and heart problems.
"She was an extremely talented artist, and we will be working on her legacy and the incredible paintings and works she is leaving us with," Engel said.
Engel said her mother's key legacy was not only her creativity but her courage.
"She was not without fear," she said.
"But she would always confront her fears and jump in the void and take risks, no matter what."
Multi-award winning Australian songwriter and musician Joy McKean OAM died at the age of 93 on May 25 after a long battle with cancer.
McKean wrote many of her husband Slim Dusty's most famous songs and won the first Golden Guitar award at the Tamworth Country Music Festival for the song 'Lights on the Hill'.
Her musical partnership with Slim, in which she was his manager, produced more than 100 albums, sold more than eight million albums and earned 45 Golden Guitars.
Rock icon Tina Turner died at home aged 83 on May 24.
The legendary singer sold more than 200 million records and won 12 Grammys in a career that spanned more than five decades and produced a catalogue of hit songs including River Deep (Mountain High), What's Love Got To Do With It, and The Best.
Her death after a long illness has prompted a deluge of praise and tributes for the woman dubbed the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".
Convicted paedophile and disgraced former entertainer Rolf Harris died at his home in Bray in Berkshire, south-east England on May 10.
Harris was jailed in 2014 on 12 counts of indecently assaulting four women and girls dating back as far as the late 1960s.
He never apologised to his victims.
Harris died of neck cancer and "frailty of old age".
Celebrity chef and MasterChef judge Jock Zonfrillo died in Melbourne on May 1, aged 46.
The family of the Scottish presenter have paid tribute to the father-of-four, saying they're devastated by his shock death.
Zonfrillo was announced as one of the three new hosts of MasterChef back in 2019.
Throughout his career, he worked with famous chefs and in restaurants all over the world.
After moving to Australia, Zonfrillo opened Bistro Blackwood and Restaurant Orana in Adelaide, which was recognised with the coveted distinction of three hats in both 2019 and 2020.
He also received global accolades, accepting the prestigious Basque Culinary World Prize in 2018.
Harry Belafonte, the civil rights and entertainment giant who began as a groundbreaking actor and singer and became an activist, humanitarian and conscience of the world, has died. He was 96.
Belafonte died on Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his New York home, his wife Pamela by his side, said Ken Sunshine, of public relations firm Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis.
With his glowing, handsome face and silky-husky voice, Belafonte was one of the first Black performers to gain a wide following on film and to sell a million records as a singer; many still know him for his signature hit Banana Boat Song (Day-O), and its call of "Day-O! Daaaaay-O".
But he forged a greater legacy once he scaled back his performing career in the 1960s and lived out his hero Paul Robeson's decree that artists are "gatekeepers of truth".
Belafonte stands as the model and the epitome of the celebrity activist. Few kept up with his time and commitment and none his stature as a meeting point among Hollywood, Washington and the civil rights movement.
Belafonte not only participated in protest marches and benefit concerts, but helped organise and raise support for them. He worked closely with his friend and generational peer the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr, often intervening on his behalf with both politicians and fellow entertainers and helping him financially.
He risked his life and livelihood and set high standards for younger Black celebrities, scolding Jay Z and Beyonce for failing to meet their "social responsibilities" and mentoring Usher, Common, Danny Glover and many others.
In Spike Lee's 2018 film BlacKkKlansman, he was fittingly cast as an elder statesman schooling young activists about the country's past.
Victorian jockey Dean Holland died at the age of 34 after a fall during race one of a courtry meet on April 24.
Holland won a Group 1 Newmarket Handicap and had more than 1000 career wins to his name, totalling more than $32 million in prizemoney for connections.
Legendary Australian entertainer Barry Humphries has died aged 89.
Humphries was behind the iconic character Dame Edna Everage.
The comedian and actor passed away in Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital on April 21 following complications from hip surgery.
Father Bob Maguire, the beloved social justice campaigner and Catholic priest, died aged 88 on Wednesday, April 19.
Known as the "people's priest", Father Bob dedicated his life to charity and helping poor and marginalised members of society in Melbourne.
A statement from the Maguire family said his physical and mental health had been "deteriorating for some time" but his preference was always to help others and not himself.
"Father Bob was not just a much-loved family member but was loved by all Australians for what he stood for," the Maguire family said.
"He has fought bravely for the underprivileged and homeless all his life.
"He represented the highest of principles, and he fought to actively live those principles."
Ryuichi Sakamoto, a world-renowned Japanese musician and actor who composed for Hollywood hits such as "The Last Emperor" and "The Revenant," has died. He was 71.
Japan's recording company Avex said in a statement Sunday that Sakamoto died on March 28 while undergoing treatment for cancer.
He was first diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014. In 2022, he revealed that he had terminal cancer, a year after he disclosed suffering from rectal cancer.
Sakamoto was a pioneer of the electronics music of the late 1970s and founded the Yellow Magic Orchestra, also known as YMO, with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi.
Takahashi died in January.
He was a world-class musician, winning an Oscar and Grammy for the 1987 movie "The Last Emperor."
Indigenous leader Yunupingu has died aged 74. Yunupingu, a Yolngu man and the Gumatj clan leader, was a longtime advocate for Indigenous Australians, particularly on land rights.
The influential leader was one of the architects of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which called for Constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians, as well as the Voice to parliament.
He was named Australian of the Year in 1978, and made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1985.
He was made an honourary Doctor of Laws by Melbourne University in 2015.
Yunupingu was the first chairman of the Northern Land Council in 1977, and was re-elected to the position in 1983, which he held until his 2004 retirement.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told the ABC Yunupingu was an "extraordinary leader".
Rugby league icon John Sattler died at the age of 80 on March 20.
Sattler had suffered from dementia for a number of years.
He played 195 games for South Sydney in the 1960s and 70s, and famously led the Rabbitohs to victory in the 1970 grand final despite breaking his jaw in the first few minutes of the game.