List of Famous people who died in 2015

Frank DiPascali, Jr. was a key lieutenant of Bernard Madoff for three decades. He referred to himself as the company's "director of options trading" and as "chief financial officer". For a number of years, he played a key part in the daily operation of the Madoff investment scandal, later recounting how he helped manipulate billions of dollars in account statements so clients would believe that they were creating wealth for them. On August 11, 2009, he pleaded guilty to ten counts related to the fraud. He subsequently admitted that he had known for at least two decades that Madoff had turned his investment advisory business into a massive Ponzi scheme. He was denied bail before sentencing and spent two weeks in jail before being released. He died of lung cancer in 2015 while awaiting sentencing.

Adelaide Gail Zappa was the wife of musician and composer Frank Zappa and the trustee of the Zappa Family Trust. They met in Los Angeles in 1966 and married while she was pregnant with their first child, Moon, followed by Dweezil, Ahmet and Diva. Gail was also the aunt of model and actress Lala Sloatman.

Brian Alfred Christopher Bushell Sewell was an English art critic and media personality. He wrote for the Evening Standard and was noted for his acerbic view of conceptual art and the Turner Prize. The Guardian described him as "Britain's most famous and controversial art critic", while the Standard called him the "nation’s best art critic".

Ashok Singhal was the international working president of the Hindu organisation Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) for over 20 years and in charge of the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi movement. He was replaced in the VHP in December 2011 following a long bout of diminishing physical health. Succeeded by Praveen Togadia, Singhal suffered ill-health but was working till a month before his death.

Laurent Vidal was a French professional triathlete, three time French Champion and two time Olympian. In Beijing 2008 he placed 36th while he took the 5th place in London 2012.

Mikhail Semyonovich Svetin was a Soviet, Russian actor. He appeared in more than fifty films.

Percy Tyrone Sledge was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song "When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 1966. It was awarded a million-selling, Gold-certified disc from the RIAA.

Kai Atō was a Japanese actor and television personality. His birth name was Kōichi Atō , and until 14 November 2001, his stage name was written with different kanji characters as (阿藤 海).

Suvra Mukherjee was a First Lady of India serving from the year 2012 until her death in 2015.

Alan Kurdi, initially reported as Aylan Kurdi, was a three-year-old Syrian boy of Kurdish ethnic background whose image made global headlines after he drowned on 2 September 2015 in the Mediterranean Sea along with his mother and brother. Alan and his family were Syrian refugees trying to reach Europe amid the European refugee crisis. Photographs of his body were taken by Turkish journalist Nilüfer Demir and quickly went viral, prompting international responses. Since the Kurdi family had reportedly been trying to reach Canada, his death and the wider refugee crisis became an issue in the 2015 Canadian federal election.