Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Arts & Music

4

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Idir

إيدير (حميد شريت)

Algeria

1949 – 2020 (70 years old)

Beloved Algerian Kabyle singer-songwriter and acoustic guitarist whose 1976 lullaby 'A Vava Inouva' became the first international world music hit from North Africa, heard in seventy-seven countries.

Paris, France

4 Full Record →

Arts & Music

3,982

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Aretha Franklin

Aretha Louise Franklin

United States

1942 – 2018 (76 years old)

The undisputed 'Queen of Soul' whose incomparable four-octave voice and anthem Respect defined American vocal mastery.

Detroit, Michigan, United States

3,982 Full Record →

Arts & Music

5

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Blaoui Houari

بلاوي الهواري

Algeria

1920 – 2017 (97 years old)

Patriarch of western Algerian popular music who modernized the Bedouin heritage of Oranie, composed over 500 songs, and mentored the legendary stars of modern Raï including Cheb Mami and Khaled.

Oran, Algeria

5 Full Record →

Arts & Music

2,637

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B.B. King

Riley B. King

United States

1925 – 2015 (89 years old)

The undisputed 'King of the Blues' whose stinging guitar vibrato on 'Lucille' defined modern electric blues guitar.

Indianola, Mississippi, United States

2,637 Full Record →

Arts & Music

13

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Ravindra Shankar Chowdhury

রবি শঙ্কর

🌐 British India

7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012 (92 years old)

Foremost sitar virtuoso of the 20th century who introduced Hindustani classical music to the Western world, collaborating with Yehudi Menuhin and George Harrison, and performing at Monterey and Woodstock.

San Diego (California), United States

13 Full Record →

Arts & Music

2

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Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho

Brazil

1907 – 2012 (104 years old)

Visionary Brazilian architect who pioneered sensual reinforced concrete curves, serving as chief architect of Brasilia's civic monuments and co-designer of the UN Headquarters in New York.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

2 Full Record →

Arts & Music

5

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Dorothea Tanning

Dorothea Margaret Tanning

United States

1910 – 2012 (101 years old)

American Surrealist painter, sculptor, and author whose uncanny canvases explored subconscious female desires, claustrophobic domesticity, and pioneering soft sculptures.

New York City, United States

5 Full Record →

Arts & Music

5

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Helen Frankenthaler

Helen Frankenthaler

United States

1928 – 2011 (83 years old)

American painter who invented the revolutionary 'soak-stain' technique, bridging Abstract Expressionism and Color Field painting, and transforming 20th-century American art.

Darien, United States

5 Full Record →

Arts & Music

4,164

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Cesária Évora

Cesária Évora

Cape Verde

1941 – 2011 (70 years old)

The 'Barefoot Diva' of Cape Verde whose soulful morna ballads brought the spirit of sodade to the global stage.

Mindelo, São Vicente, Cape Verde

4,164 Full Record →

Arts & Music

2

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M. F. Husain

मक़बूल फ़िदा हुसेन

British India

1915 – 2011 (95 years old)

Iconic Indian modernist painter dubbed the 'Picasso of India', co-founder of the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group, celebrated for his dynamic galloping horses and monumental mythological epics.

Woking (Surrey), United Kingdom

2 Full Record →

Arts & Music

7

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Leonora Carrington

Mary Leonora Carrington

United Kingdom

1917 – 2011 (94 years old)

British-born Mexican Surrealist painter, sculptor, and novelist celebrated for her enchanting, alchemical dreamscapes steeped in Celtic mythology, occult lore, and female autonomy.

Mexico City, Mexico

7 Full Record →

Arts & Music

3

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Bhimsen Joshi

भीमसेन जोशी

British India

1922 – 2011 (88 years old)

Legendary Indian classical vocalist of the Kirana gharana, renowned for his thunderous voice, astounding breath control, and devotional Santvani abhangs, awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2008.

Pune (Maharashtra), India

3 Full Record →

Arts & Music

1

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Tyeb Mehta

तय्यब मेहता

British India

1925 – 2009 (83 years old)

Indian modernist painter and filmmaker of the post-independence avant-garde, renowned for his tragic, fractured depictions of the Diagonal, the Falling Figure, and the Goddess Kali.

Marine Lines (Mumbai), India

1 Full Record →

Arts & Music

2

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Ali Akbar Khan

আলী আকবর খাঁ

British India

1922 – 2009 (87 years old)

Indian classical sarod virtuoso and composer hailed by Yehudi Menuhin as the greatest musician in the world, who popularized North Indian classical music throughout the West.

San Rafael (California), United States

2 Full Record →

Arts & Music

4,155

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Andrew Wyeth

Andrew Newell Wyeth

United States

1917 – 2009 (91 years old)

Beloved American Realist painter celebrated for his tempera masterpiece Christina's World and intimate rural landscapes.

Cushing, Maine, United States

4,155 Full Record →

Arts & Music

1,835

🕯️ 113

Miriam Makeba

Zenzile Miriam Makeba

South Africa

1932 – 2008 (76 years old)

'Mama Africa'—South African musical icon and anti-apartheid activist who popularized Afropop with hits like Pata Pata.

Cape Town, South Africa

1,835 Full Record →

Arts & Music

4

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Youssef Chahine

يوسف شاهين

Kingdom of Egypt

1926 – 2008 (82 years old)

World-renowned Egyptian filmmaker whose cinematic masterpieces—including 'Cairo Station' (1958), 'The Land' (1969), and 'Destiny' (1997)—defined modern Arab cinema, discovered Omar Sharif, and won the Cannes 50th Anniversary Lifetime Achievement Award.

Cairo, Egypt

4 Full Record →

Arts & Music

7

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Oscar Peterson

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson

Canada

1925 – 2007 (82 years old)

Canadian jazz piano titan celebrated as the 'Maharaja of the Keyboard', world-renowned for his dazzling speed, flawless blues articulation, and celebrated trio recordings.

Mississauga, Canada

7 Full Record →