Manute Bol
Sudanese-born NBA center and activist
On June 19, 2010, Bol died from acute kidney failure and complications.
Abbey Lincoln
Jazz vocalist, songwriter and actress
On August 14, 2010 in Manhattan after suffering from deteriorating health for years.
Teddy Pendergrass
R&B/soul singer and songwriter
On January 13, 2010 Pendergrass died of respiratory failure.
Harold Dow
CBS News correspondent and investigative reporter.
On August 21, 2010 Dow died of asthma complications.
Solomon Burke
American singer/songwriter and archbishop of the United House of Prayer For All People
On October 10, 2010, Burke died of natural causes at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport while on a plane from Los Angeles.
Benjamin Hooks
Former executive director of the NAACP
On April 15, 2010 Hooks died of natural causes.
James Moody
>Jazz saxophonist and flute player
On December 9, 2010, Moody died of complications from pancreatic cancer.
Garry Shider
Guitarist and musical director of the P-Funk All-Stars
On June 16, 2010, Shider died from complications of cancer of the brain and lungs.
Lorenzen Wright
On July 18, 2010 Wright disappeared. His body was discovered 10 days later. The case is being investigated as a homicide.
Gary Coleman
Star of sitcom Diff’rent Strokes
On May 28, 2010, died after an accidental fall which caused a brain hemorrhage.
Dorothy Height
Former president of the National Council of Negro Women, educator and social activist
On April 20, 2010, Height died of natural causes.
Kenny McKinley
NFL wide receiver for the Denver Broncos
On September 20, 2010, McKinley was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. His suicide was later confirmed.
Guru
Rapper and Producer, member of Gang Starr
On April 19, 2010, Guru died of complications resulting from cancer.
James Wall
CBS stage manager and actor best known as Mr. Baxter in Captain Kangaroo
On October 27th, 2010, Wall died in his sleep after a short illness.
Lena Horne
Jazz icon and Hollywood sex symbol
On May 9, 2010, Horne died in New York City of heart failure.
Ali Ollie Woodson
Lead singer of The Temptations, songwriter
On May 30, 2010, Woodson died after battling leukemia for nearly eighteen months.
Jack “The Assassin.” Tatum
Fearsome NFL defensive player
On July 27, 2010, Tatum died following a heart attack.
Margaret Burroughs
Co-founder of the DuSable Museum of African American History, artist and writer
Burroughs died on November 21, 2010.
Gregory Isaacs
On October 25th 2010, Isaacs died following a lengthy battle with lung cancer.
Magnolia Shorty
On December 20, 2010, Shorty died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head and body reportedly the victim of a drive by shooting.
Quintin Dailey
Former NBA player
Dailey died in his sleep in Las Vegas on November 8, 2010, due to hypertensive cardiovascular disease.
Gaines Adams
On January 17, 2010, Adams died of a cardiac arrest due to an enlarged heart.
David Mills
Executive producer of HBO’s The Corner and a writer on the network’s The Wire
On March 30, 2010, Mills died of a brain aneurysm.
Jarvis Williams
NFL defensive back (Miami Dolphins and New York Giants)
Williams died from an acute asthma attack just before midnight on May 25, 2010.
Walter Hawkins
Grammy Award-winning gospel singer
On July 11, Hawkins died due to pancreatic cancer.
Marva Wright
New Orleans blues singer
Wright died on March 23 following a series of strokes.
Mac Foster
Former heavyweight boxer
Foster died of congestive heart failure on July 19, 2010.
Albertina Walker
Music legend hailed as the “Queen of Gospel”
Walker died on October 8 at the age of 81.
Fred Anderson
Chicago-based tenor jazz saxophonist
Anderson died on June 24 at the age of 81.
Willie Davis
Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder (also played for several other ball clubs)
March 9, 2010, that Davis was found dead in his Burbank home at the age of 69
Kenyon Cotton
Former NFL fullback (Baltimore Ravens)
On July 17, 2010, Cotton died from complications resulting from Achilles tendon surgery.
Marvin Isley
Member of classic R&B group The Isley Brothers
Isley died on June 6, 2010, from complications of diabetes.
Bernie Wilson
Baritone member of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
Wilson died on December 26 at Kresson View Center in New Jersey, following a stroke and a heart attack
Vonetta McGee
Blaxploitation era actress and sex symbol
McGee died of cardiac arrest on July 9. She was 65.
Lt. Colonel Lee Archer
Tuskeegee airman and successful businessman
Archer passed away on January 27, 2010. He was 90-years-old.
Billy Taylor
Jazz musician and composer
On December 28, 2010 Taylor died of heart attack, he was 89
Hollywood legend Lena Horne. R&B superstar Teddy Pendergrass. Beloved civil rights icon Dorothy Height. These are just a few of the famous figures we tragically lost in the past year. As 2010 comes to a close we look back on the prominent people who have passed away and pay tribute.
