2024 was rollercoaster for a year, as much happiness rolled in, as much waves of mourning swept over the people across the globe.
From iconic philanthropist, industrialist to one of the most loved boy band members, the lost lives took a piece of their followers’ hearts each time.
Putin’s big-time rival: Alexei Navalny
Russia’s leading opposition activist, Alexei Navalny, died at the age of 47 in an Arctic prison in February, the facility had announced on February 16.
Navalny was serving a 19-year-long sentence on charges of extremism and was moved in December from a prison in central Russia’s Vladimir region to a “specific regime’ penal colony IK-3, known as “Polar Wolf”, in the northern town of Kharp.
The death of one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top critics was widely condemned by the West, which accused Putin of responsibility and of trying to prevent a dignified public burial for the opposition leader.
Ex-NFL star, acquitted of murder: OJ Simpson
Orenthal James Simpson, former NFL star, who fought a long battle with prostate cancer, breathed his last in Las Vegas on April 10.
A statement issued by his family said that the 76-year-old famed football player died while being surrounded by his children and grandchildren.
While NFL brought his names on the global headlines, the charges of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend’s brutal murders in 1994 took OJ’s name to a whole another level in news.
Simpson’s trial began in June 1994 and concluded in October 1995 with his acquittal in the case.
Notably, OJ Simpson’s football career saw him playing with the Buffalo Bills and later with San Francisco 49ers.
The flamboyant designer: Roberto Cavalli
On April 13, 2024, Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavalli died aged 83. He was known for his appetite for python and flamboyant animal prints, making him the darling of the international jet set for ages.
The designer first made his mark in the 1970s with his outfits on Sophia Loren and Brigitte Bardot and subsequently grew into the one giving eye-popping styles to celebrities, including the Kardashians and Jennifer Lopez.
Cavalli did not just have a great eye for fashion, he also had a taste for Ferraris, fat cigars, thoroughbred horses, and tailored shirts unbuttoned to bare his tanned chest.
His private life was no less than a fantasy either. He married a Miss Universe runner-up, owned a purple-coloured helicopter, a Tuscan vineyard and shared a first-name basis bond with A-lister celebrities like Sharon Stone and Cindy Crawford.
With successes came a fair share of downs. Cavalli was charged with tax evasion and the trial for which, went on for years, only to end in his acquittal.
Most popular for his stretchy, sand-blasted jeans and use of printed leather, Cavalli always sat well with his own designs and their wow factor, never having an animal print that he did not like.
Beloved ‘Prof McGonagall’: Dame Maggie Smith
Everyone knows her as Professor McGonagall or as the dowager Countess of Grantham in Downtown Abbey. Maggie Smith left the world at the age of 89 on September 27.
She was one of the few actors who won two Oscars, four Emmys, and a Tony.
Her career, which began with on the stage in the 1950s, has left a mark on billions of people across the globe. She was first nominated for an Academy Award for her role playing Desdemonda opposite Laurence Olivier’s Othello in 1965, following which she bagged her first Oscar for the role of an Edinburg school mistress in the 1969 film, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
Smith’s other critically hailed roles also included Lady Bracknell in Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest on the West End stage, Edward Albee’s play Three Tall Women, and her role in the 2001 black comedy film called Gosford Park.
In 1990, Maggie Smith was knighted by Queen Elizabeth and became a Dame.
The national icon: Ratan Tata
Ratan Naval Tata, the chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, died at the age of 86 on October 9. Tata, who is known as a ‘national icon’, ran the conglomerate for more than 20 years as the chairman.
After graduating from Cornell University with a degree in architecture, Tata returned to India and began working in 1962 for the group that his great-grandfather Jamsetji Tata had founded.
He took charge of the conglomerate from his uncle JRD Tata in 1991, taking the group to whole new heights. Famous for being the world’s cheapest car, Tata Nano was launched under his leadership of the organisation.
Though he stepped down from the chairman’s position in 2012, Tata was named as the chairman emeritus of Tata Sons and other group companies.
Along with his achievements as a businessman, the tycoon was also known for his philanthropic activities. From his love for dogs to his contributions to several people-centric initiatives to his “best friendship” with the youngest manger of the Tata group, Shantanu Naidu, Ratan Tata truly left his mark on the world.
The 1-D boy: Liam Payne
October brought in heartbreak for all those people who as kids and teenagers loved and poured their heart out for a group of five boys, the British boyband ‘One Direction’, which was formed on the X factor.
British singer and a member of the best-selling boy band Liam Payne died at the age of 31 on October 16 after falling from the third floor of Buenos Aires hotel in Argentina.
The heartbreaking note from the 1-D boys left the world in tears. Mourning the loss of their “brother’s” life, the note was signed off with the love by “Louis (Tomlinson), Zayn (Malik), Niall (Horan) and Harry (Styles)”.
Father to a 7-year-old son, Bear, Payne released his own singles and albums after the boy band went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016. His lead single, “Strip that down” ranked third on the UK charts and tenth on the US Billboard top songs list.
Payne also contributed as a songwriter on several One Direction songs.
Born on August 29, 1993, Payne had recently opened up about his struggles with fame, alcoholism and mental health. He had even told his fans about being in a rehab.
Unfortunately, the toxicology report after Payne’s death revealed that the singer had multiple substances like drugs, ketamine, MDMA, “pink cocaine”, in his blood stream at the time of his death.
Fans felt the gut-wrenching pain of the boy band members uniting for such an unfortunate event, Liam Payne’s funeral on November 20. The singer was laid to rest in the Home Counties in Amersham near London.
Indian fashion’s Gudda, an iconic designer: Rohit Bal
On November 1, 2024, Indian fashion lost one of its most precious magician, Rohit Bal. The designer, who was struggling a heart ailment, died at a hospital in Delhi at the age of 63.
His death came just weeks after he presented his last collection “Kaaynaat: A Bloom in the Universe” as part of the FDCI x Lakme Fashion Week.
Born in Srinagar, Rohit Bal graduated from Delhi University’s St Stephen’s college and then went to the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in the city. He launched his own label in 1986 and went on to become one of the most prominent success in the Indian as well the international fashion market.
A designer known for his love of whites, golds, off-whites, blacks, bold motifs, rich fabrics among other elements, Bal was a force to reckon with.
He was described as “poetry” by fashion designer Gaurav Gupta.
Bal’s creations were adorned by several international celebrities including Uma Thurman, Pamela Anderson, Cindy Crawford, and Naomi Campbell.
His final show at the Fashion Week also witnessed bent-rules, something that Bal always embraced with bravery. His show was opened by the 1990s supermodel Sheetal Mallar, show-stopped by actor Ananya Panday, and the music courtesy belonged not to the modern day musicians but to hit stars like Kate Bush and Madonna.
The man who reshaped pop music: Quincy Jones
US musician Quincy Jones, known as just ‘Q’, who reshaped the face of pop music with his collaborations with artists like Michael Jackson, passed away at the age of 91 on November 3.
A career spread across more than 65 years saw Jones achieving a feat which certainly one would not describe as a cakewalk. A trumpeter, bandleader, arranger composer, producer, and winner of 28 Grammy Awards, Q did it all.
A full blown workaholic, Jones worked to shape jazz hits by Miles Davis, produced Frank Sinatra, and put together the superstar ensemble that recorded the 1985 fundraiser “We Are the World”, one of the greatest hit song of the time.
He also wrote notable movie scores and co-produced the film, “The Colour Purple”, as well as the TV show that launched Will Smith’s career, “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air”.
Jones also became the first Black musical director in 1971 for the Academy Awards television broadcast.
Born on March 14, 1933, Quincy Delight Jones Jr. produced his first hit single ‘It’s My Party’, a song that topped the US pop charts in 1964.
Among the stars that Jones had worked with are Tommy Dorsey, Nat King Cole, Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon, Amy Winehouse, Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer. He also arranged one of the all-time global jazz hits, Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon”.
Working with Michael Jackson, Jones was a part of hits like “Beat it”, “Billie Jean”, and the “Thriller”, winning three Grammys.
Tabla Maestro Zakir Hussain
The globally renowned Tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain passed away at the age of 73 in San Franciso from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, his family said on December 16.
The musician left behind a legacy that is not only cherished and respected by countless music lovers across the world, but also poses as an inspiration for generations to come.
Hussain had been facing heart-related issues for quite some time before his passing. He is survived by his wife, Antonia Minnecola, his daughter Anisa Qureshi and Isabella Qureshi along with their families, and his brothers Taufiq and Fazal Qureshi, and sister Khurshid Aulia.
Born on March 9, 1951 in Mumbai’s Mahim, Hussain was key in taking Indian music to the world outside of the nation. With an inclination towards table from a very young age, Hussain had created significant works in collaboration with Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan and Shivkumar Sharma.
Not only the classical legends, he also teamed up with Western musicians like The Beatles, Yo-Yo Ma, Charles Lloyd, Mickey Hart and John McLaughlin.
The tabla maestro and percussionist was also honoured with Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Shri by India. He also has been a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, and a lifetime honour award of Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship.
Among other awards, Hussain bagged two Grammy Awards with Mickey Hart and three more in March 2024 with John McLaughlin, the band ‘Shakti’, and two for his collaborations with Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Rakesh Chaurasia.
Zakir Hussain is the first Indian to take home three Grammy Awards in a single night.
Architect of India’s economic reforms, former PM: Manmohan Singh
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh passed away at the age of 92 at AIIMS Delhi on December 26 after being admitted to the hospital’s emergency ward in a critical condition.
Singh, who served two terms as the prime minister of India (2004-2014), is known as the architect of India’s economic reforms. As the finance minister in the PV Narasimha Rao-led government in 1991, Singh brought in a Union budget with several reforms, a decision which pulled India out of one of its darkest financial crises.
The Congress leader began his journey in the Indian government with the position of an economic advisor in the commerce ministry in 1971 and retired from the Rajya Sabha after a 33-year-long service in the House earlier this year.
The transformational development of the nation’s economy is accredited to the reforms introduced Singh.
Before becoming the finance minister in the Rao-led administration, Singh had also served as a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor.
The leader, who moved to India with his family at the age of 14 after partition, was the first non-Hindu person to hold the prime minister’s office in 2004.
The iconic politician and economist is survived by his wife Gursharan Kaur and three daughters, Upinder Singh, Daman Singh, and Amrit Singh.
Born on September 26, 1932, in a village in an undivided India’s Punjab, Manmohan Singh graduated from the Punjab University and then earned a degree in economics from the University of Cambridge before securing a D.Phil from Oxford.
He has been hailed as one of the most distinguished leaders of the nation, whose contributions, humility and principles will forever be remembered by the world.
From top Indian politicians to global leaders, including the US and French president Emmanuel Macron, condolences and tributes poured in for former prime minister Manmohan Singh.
