Etta James, 73, January 20
Cause of death: Infection caused by MRSA
James was an iconic singer who sang blues, rock and roll, soul, gospel and jazz with hit songs “Roll With Me, Henry” and “Something’s Got a Hold on Me.”
(Photo by Jason Merritt/FilmMagic)

Yvette Wilson, 48, June 14
Cause of death: Cervical cancer
Wilson was a comedian and actress, known most for her role as Andell Wilkerson on the sitcom Moesha and The Parkers.

Whitney Houston, 48, February 11
Cause of death: Accidental drowning, cocaine, heart disease
Houston was a legendary pop icon who was the golden girl of the music industry in her promise. From the mid-1980s to late 90s, Houston was one of the world’s best-selling artists. Houston also starred in several movie roles including The Bodyguard and Waiting to Exhale.
(Photo by Ross Gilmore/Redferns)

Jovan Belcher (LB for Kansas City Chiefs), 25, December 1
Cause of death: Suicide. Murder-suicide when he killed his girlfriend and then killed himself.
Belcher was an undrafted linebacker out of the University of Maine who was beginning to have a promising career.
(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Don Cornelius, 75, February 1
Cause of death: Suicide
Cornelius, along with Soul Train, helped break down racial barriers and broaden the reach of black culture with funk music, groovy dance steps and cutting-edge style.
(Photo by Rebecca Sapp/WireImage)

Donna Summer, 63, May 17
Cause of death: Lung cancer
Summer was the disco queen of the 1970s with popular songs “Last Dance,” ‘’Love to Love You Baby” and “Bad Girls”.
(Getty Images)

Sherman Hemsley, 74, July 24
Cause of death: Natural Causes
Hemsley played George Jefferson in the TV show The Jeffersons.
(Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Rodney King, 47, June 17
Cause of death: Drowning
King won $3.8 million in damages stemming from the infamous 1991 beating at the hands of the Los Angeles police.
(Photo by J. Emilio Flores/Getty Images)

Michael Clarke Duncan, 54, September 3
Cause of death: Complications following cardiac arrest
Duncan was an Academy Award nominee actor whose most famous role was The Green Mile.
(Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)

Chuck Brown, 75, May 16
Cause of death: Pneumonia
Brown was the “Godfather of go-go” who styled a mix of funk, soul and Latin party sounds in the nation’s capital.
(Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

Erica Kennedy, 42, June 13
Cause of death: Unknown
Kennedy was a fashion publicist turned writer turned author.
(Photo by David Handschuh/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

Chris Lighty, 44, August 30
Cause of death: Suicide
Lighty was a legendary hip-hop manager who managed the likes of Sean “Diddy” Combs.
(Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images)

Natina Reed, 32, October 26
Cause of death: Struck by car
R&B singer and member of female group Blaque that had his songs “808” and “Bring It All to Me” in the late 90s.
(Photo by Chris Weeks/Liaison)

Emanuel Steward, 68, October 25
Cause of death: Unknown
Steward was the owner of legendary Kronk Gym and trainer for boxers that included Thomas Hearns, Evander Holyfield and Oscar De La Hoya.
(Photo by Steve Grayson/WireImage)

Sylvia Woods, 86, July 19
Cause of death: Alzheimer’s disease
Woods was the founder and matriarch behind Harlem’s Sylvia’s Soul Food. Also author of her own two cookbooks.
(IOneNews)

Gil Noble, 80, April 5
Cause of death: Stroke
Noble was a legendary television host and produced and hosted the show Like it Is, the longest running black affairs program on television.
(Photo by Theo Wargo/WireImage)

Orlando Woolridge, 52, May 31
Cause of death: Chronic heart condition
Woolridge was a first-round draft pick of the Chicago Bulls in ’81 and played in the NBA for 13 years.
(Credit: Mike Powell /Allsport)

Rosa Guy, 89, June 7
Cause of death: Cancer
Guy was a Trinidadian writer and author of 15 novels, best known for her young adult fiction.
(FernLogan)

Wayne Roberts, 61, June 11
Cause of death: Liver disease
Roberts was a pioneer graffiti artist known as “Stay High 149” who barrowed the haloed stick figure from the title sequence of the 1960s television series The Saint.
(Frank151)

Jimmy Bivins, 92, July 4
Cause of death: Complications from pneumonia
Bivins was a boxing great from the 1940s and 50s who beat the greatest fighters of his time.
(Photo by Charles Del Vecchio /The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Lionel Batiste, 81, July 8
Cause of death: Unknown
Batiste was a vocalist, bass drummer and assistant leader of the Treme Brass Band.
(Photo by Ragnar Singsaas/WireImage)

Maria Cole, 89, July 10
Cause of death: Breast cancer
Cole was a former Big Band singer, the mother of Natalie Cole and widow of Nat “King” Cole.
(Photo by Julian Wasser/Timepix/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Tuskegee Airman Retired Lt. Col. Herbert Carter, 95, November 8
Cause of death: Old age and stress about his deceased wife.
Carter is one of the original Tuskegee Airmen who was instrumental in breaking down racial walls in the military and help win World War II.
(wbur.org)

Donnie Andrews, 58, December 14
Cause of death: Heart attack
Andrews is the Baltimore gangster behind the Omar character from The Wire, who turned his life around after jail time to start a nonprofit organization called “Why Murder?”
(Independent.co.uk)

Ms. Melodie, born Ramona Scott, 43, July 19
Cause of death: Unknown
Ms. Melodie was a rapper, member of Boogie Down Productions and once married to hip-hop artist KRS-One.
(OkayPlayer)

O.J. Murdock, 25, July 30
Cause of death: Suicide
Murdock played wide receiver for the Tennessee Titans.
(Photo by NFL via Getty Images)

Gloria Davy, 81, November 28
Cause of death: Long-time unspecified illness
Davy, a Brooklyn-born soprano, was the first African-American to sing Aida with the Metropolitan Opera.
(Photo by Erich Auerbach/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Leo O’Brien, 41, October 10
Cause of death: Unknown
O’Brien played Bruce Leroy’s younger brother in Berry Gordy’s cult classic The Last Dragon.
(Motown Productions)

Charles Vernon Bush, 72, November 5
Cause of death: Colon Cancer
Bush was the 1st African American graduate from the United States Air Force Academy.
(the-coli)

Stewart Fulbright, 92, January 1
Cause of death: Short illness
Fullbright was a trailblazing black educator who piloted a bomber through World War II as one of the Tuskegee Airmen and later served as the first dean of the North Carolina Central University School of Business.
(BrandNewz)

Jimmy Castor, 64, January 6
Cause of death: Unknown
Castor was a funk and disco great as well as a respected saxophonist and leader of the band Jimmy Castor Bunch.
(Photo by James Kriegsmann/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Winston Riley, 65, January 19
Cause of death: Gunshot wound in Jamaica
Riley was an innovative reggae producer that worked with musicians like Sister Nancy, Buju Banton and Johnny Osbourne.
(Photo by David Corio/Redferns)

Camilla Williams, 92, January 29
Cause of death: Cancer
Williams is believed to be the first African American woman to appear with a major U.S. opera company.
(HeraldTimes)

King Stitt, 72, January 31
Cause of death: Prostate cancer and diabetes
Stitt was a rap-raggae pioneer and is is credited as being one of the earliest performers of “toasting,” a form of Jamaican deejaying that inspired hip hop.
(theGrio)

Patricia S. Due, 72, February 7
Cause of death: Cancer
Due was a civil rights leader and leader of the nation’s first jail-in.
(CNN)

Katie Hall, 73, February 20
Cause of death: Unknown
Hall is a former Indiana U.S. Rep. and a key sponsor of the 1983 legislation that established a national holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
(theGrio)

Rep. Donald Payne, 77, March 6
Cause of death: Colon Cancer
Payne was a U.S. Congressman, a true and dedicated native son of Newark, New Jersey, and the first African-American elected to Congress from that state.
(Photo By Tom Williams/Roll Call/Getty Images)

John Payton, 65, March 22
Cause of death: Unknown
Payton was the president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and influential Civil Rights leader.
(Photo by Robin Marchant/WireImage)