2016 was a particularly tough year for music fans, who were forced to say goodbye to some of the most popular, unique and influential stars of the rock era.
It’s not like we came into the year on a happy note. Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland and Motorhead legend Lemmy Kilmister both died in December of 2025, with the latter passing away over the holidays, just days after celebrating his 70th birthday on Christmas Eve.
We didn’t get very far into the new year before losing another massive star, as David Bowie died on January 10th, just two days after marking his 69th birthday with one last masterpiece of an album. It later came to light that Bowie had been fighting a secret cancer battle, but was determined to leave Blackstar behind as a farewell to his fans.
Read More: More Rock Stars We Lost in 2016
Barely a week later, Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey died after a long series of health battles. Within weeks of that, we lost Earth, Wind & Fire leader Maurice White and then two different founding members of Jefferson Airplane – with the latter pair dying on the very same day.
No genre was safe, as fans of rock, pop, country, funk, soul and hip-hop all endured painful losses before 2016 came to a close. Here’s a look at the biggest music legends we lost and how their fans, peers and bandmates mourned them.
10 Years Gone: 14 Music Legends Who Died in 2016
It was a particularly tough year for music fans.
Gallery Credit: Matthew Wilkening
