List of Famous people who died in 2018

Stephen William Hawking was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge at the time of his death. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge between 1979 and 2009.

Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy, known professionally as XXXTentacion, was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Despite being a controversial figure due to his widely publicized legal issues, XXXTentacion gained a cult following among his young fanbase during his short career through his depression and alienation-themed music. He was often credited by critics and fans for his musical versatility, with his music exploring emo, trap, lo-fi, indie rock, nu metal, hip hop, R&B and punk rock.

Aretha Louise Franklin was an American singer, songwriter, actress, pianist, and civil rights activist. Franklin began her career as a child singing gospel at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father C. L. Franklin was a minister. At the age of 18, she embarked on a secular-music career as a recording artist for Columbia Records. While Franklin's career did not immediately flourish, she found acclaim and commercial success after signing with Atlantic Records in 1966. Hit songs such as "I Never Loved a Man ", "Respect", "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", "Chain of Fools", "Think", and "I Say a Little Prayer" propelled her past her musical peers. By the end of the 1960s, Aretha Franklin had come to be known as the "Queen of Soul".

Sir Charles Kuen Kao was an electrical engineer and physicist who pioneered the development and use of fibre optics in telecommunications. In the 1960s, Kao created various methods to combine glass fibres with lasers in order to transmit digital data, which laid the groundwork for the evolution of the Internet.

George Herbert Walker Bush was an American politician, diplomat and businessman who served as the 41st president of the United States from 1989 to 1993. A member of the Republican Party, Bush also served as the 43rd vice president from 1981 to 1989 under Ronald Reagan, in the U.S. House of Representatives, as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and as Director of Central Intelligence.

Malcolm James McCormick, known professionally as Mac Miller, was an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Miller began his career in Pittsburgh's hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of fifteen. In 2010, he signed a record deal with independent label Rostrum Records, and released his breakthrough mixtapes K.I.D.S. (2010) and Best Day Ever (2011). Miller's debut studio album, Blue Slide Park (2011), became the first independently-distributed debut album to top the US Billboard 200 since 1995.

Tim Bergling, known by his stage name Avicii, was a Swedish DJ, remixer, record producer, musician, and songwriter.

Stan Lee was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business to become Marvel Comics' primary creative leader for two decades, leading its expansion from a small division of a publishing house to a multimedia corporation that dominated the comics and movie industries.

Anthony Michael Bourdain was an American chef, book author, journalist, and travel documentarian who starred in programs focusing on the exploration of international culture, cuisine, and the human condition. Bourdain was a 1978 graduate of The Culinary Institute of America and a veteran of a number of professional kitchens in his long career, which included many years spent as an executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in Manhattan. He first became known for his bestselling book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (2000).

John Sidney McCain III was an American statesman and United States Navy officer who served as a United States Senator for Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms in the United States House of Representatives and was the Republican nominee for president of the United States in the 2008 election, which he lost to Barack Obama.

Sergei Panteleevich Mavrodi was a Russian financial fraudster, financial criminal and previously a deputy of the State Duma. He was the founder of the МММ, a scheme that defrauded millions of people around the globe.

Marc-André Leclerc was a Canadian rock climber and alpinist. Known for his solo ascents of numerous mountains in several parts of the world, he completed the first winter solo ascents of the Torre Egger in Patagonia, and the Emperor Face of Mount Robson.

James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger Jr. was an Irish-American organized crime boss and FBI informant who led the Winter Hill Gang in the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts, a city directly northwest of Boston. On December 23, 1994, Bulger fled the Boston area and went into hiding after his former FBI handler, John Connolly, tipped him off about a pending RICO indictment against him. Bulger remained at large for sixteen years. After his 2011 arrest, federal prosecutors tried Bulger for nineteen murders based on the grand jury testimony from Kevin Weeks and other former criminal associates.

Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. was an American actor, director, and producer of film and television, considered a sex symbol and icon of American popular culture.

Sridevi was an Indian actress and producer, who worked in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada language films. Regarded as the "First Female Superstar" of Bollywood, she was the recipient of various accolades, including a National Film Award, a Nandi Award, the Tamil Nadu State Film Award, the Kerala State Film Award, three Filmfare Awards and three Filmfare Awards South. In a career that spanned five decades, she was known for her portrayals of women in challenging situations, and appeared in a range of genres, from slapstick comedy to epic dramas. Sridevi ranked as the highest paid woman in the Indian entertainment industry during the 1980s and 1990s and is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actresses in the history of Indian cinema.

Dolores Mary Eileen O'Riordan was an Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. She was best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist for the alternative rock band the Cranberries. O'Riordan had one of the most recognizable female voices in rock in the 1990s. She was known for her lilting mezzo-soprano voice, her signature yodel, her emphasised use of keening, and her strong Limerick accent. With the Cranberries, she is regarded to have written "some of the most seminal songs in music history".

Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi was a Saudi Arabian dissident, author, columnist for The Washington Post, and a general manager and editor-in-chief of Al-Arab News Channel who was assassinated at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018 by agents of the Saudi government. He also served as editor for the Saudi Arabian newspaper Al Watan, turning it into a platform for Saudi progressives.

Carole Penny Marshall was an American actress, director, and producer. She came to notice in the 1970s for her role as Laverne DeFazio on the television sitcom Laverne & Shirley (1976–1983), receiving three nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for her portrayal.

Dennis Andrew Nilsen was a Scottish serial killer and necrophile who murdered at least twelve young men and boys between 1978 and 1983 in London, England. Convicted at the Old Bailey of six counts of murder and two of attempted murder, Nilsen was sentenced to life imprisonment on 4 November 1983, with a recommendation that he serve a minimum of twenty-five years. This recommendation was later changed to a whole life tariff. In his later years, Nilsen was imprisoned at Full Sutton maximum security prison.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was an Indian statesman who served three terms as the Prime Minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 to 1999, followed by a full term from 1999 to 2004. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he was the first Indian prime minister not of the Indian National Congress to serve a full term in office. He was also noted as a poet and a writer.