Tina Turner -- seen in Paris in 1987 at the height of her solo fame -- always dreamed of being a rock star, a dream fulfilled after she left her husband Ike
Tina Turner -- seen in Paris in 1987 at the height of her solo fame -- always dreamed of being a rock star, a dream fulfilled after she left her husband Ike AFP

From Italy's ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi to rock queen Tina Turner and former European Commission President Jacques Delors, here are some of 2023's most notable deaths.

- 07: 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

- 18: DAVID CROSBY, 81, American folk-rock pioneer

- 03: PACO RABANNE, 88, Spanish fashion designer famed for his eccentric designs and fragrances

- 05: PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, 79, Pakistan's former military ruler

- 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

- 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"

- 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

- 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

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

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

- 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

- 13: CORMAC McCARTHY, 89, titan of American fiction with novels including "The Road"

- 15: GLENDA JACKSON, 87, British Oscar-winning actress and politician

- 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

- 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"

- 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

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

- 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"

- 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

- 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

- 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

- 30: SHANE MACGOWAN, 65, Irish singer-songwriter and booze-fuelled bard who fronted Celtic folk-punk band The Pogues

- 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

Silvio Berlusconi painted himself as the defender of the people
Silvio Berlusconi painted himself as the defender of the people AFP
Jane Birkin spent most of her life in her adopted France, where she became a style icon
Jane Birkin spent most of her life in her adopted France, where she became a style icon AFP
An angry Yevgeny Prigozhin addresses the Russian army's top brass while standing in front of bodies presented as fallen Wagner fighters
An angry Yevgeny Prigozhin addresses the Russian army's top brass while standing in front of bodies presented as fallen Wagner fighters AFP
Matthew Perry, who played Chandler Bing on the hit TV sitcom Friends from 1994 to 2004, died at the age of 54
Matthew Perry, who played Chandler Bing on the hit TV sitcom Friends from 1994 to 2004, died at the age of 54 AFP
Raquel Welch became an international sex symbol after appearing in a deerskin bikini in 'One Million Years BC'
Raquel Welch became an international sex symbol after appearing in a deerskin bikini in 'One Million Years BC' AFP
Henry Kissinger pictured in 1976 when he was US Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger pictured in 1976 when he was US Secretary of State AFP
Former European Commission president Jacques Delors, known as 'Mr Europe'
Former European Commission president Jacques Delors, known as 'Mr Europe' AFP