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From Zulu nationalist leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who presided over South Africa's deadliest violence ahead of the country's first multiracial elections in 1994, to rock queen Tina Turner and former European Commission President Jacques Delors, here are some of 2023's most notable deaths.

JANUARY

- 7: 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

Sister Lucile Randon sits in a wheelchair, on the eve of her 117th birthday. (AFP)

- 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

On Feb. 13, 2006, Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf attends a cricket match in Lahore. (AFP)

- 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"

American high jump champion Dick Fosbury clears the bar during practice, on Oct. 10, 1968 in Mexico. (AFP)

- 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

TV personality Jerry Springer on stage at BritWeek 2012's 'An Evening With Piers Morgan, in Conversation With Jackie Collins.' (AFP)

MAY

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

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

Tina Turner performs at her concert in Munich, Germany on April 20, 1985. (AFP)

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

Silvio Berlusconi was a former Italian PM and leader of the right-wing party Forza Italia. (AFP)

- 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

A portrait of late British-French singer and actress Jane Birkin is displayed next to her coffin at the end of her funeral ceremony in Paris. (AFP)

- 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"

- 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

Mohamed Al-Fayed was the father of Dodi Al-Fayed, who died in a car crash with Britain's Princess Diana. (AFP)

SEPTEMBER

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

Mangosuthu Buthelezi gives a speech on Nov. 20, 1989 in Durban, South Africa. (AFP)

- 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

- 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

Manchester United legend Sir Bobby Charlton attends an EPL match between his Manchester United and Chelsea on August 11, 2019. (AFP)

- 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

Matthew Perry attends the GQ Men of the Year Party 2022 at The West Hollywood EDITION on November 17, 2022 in West Hollywood, California. (AFP)

NOVEMBER

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

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

Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger speaks during the Department of State 230th Anniversary Celebration in Washington, DC on July 29, 2019. (AFP)

- 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

- 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

Former European Commission Chief, French Jacques Delors, delivers a speech during a conference on the competitiveness of the French economy on November 6, 2012. (AFP)