#RestInPower: Celebs We Lost In 2019
#RestInPower: Remembering The Celebs We Lost In 2019
Share the post
Share this link via
Or copy link

Source: Steve Granitz/Timothy Fadek/Corbis/Earl Gibson III/Michael Kovac / Getty
In 2019 the world suffered tremendous loses in the arts, politics, sports, and entrepreneur communities. From Kristoff St. John, to John Singleton, Nipsey Hussle, Toni Morrison, Elijah Cummings and Diahann Carroll, the world lost and grieved those who helped to define “the culture” and what we know it to be today.
Read more abut all of the people we lost in 2019, may their lives continue to inspire those who come after them, and may their spirits rest in peace.
Kristoff St. John

Source: CBS Photo Archive / Getty
Kristoff St. John made a name for himself portraying the character of Neil Winters on the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless from 1991 to 2019. For the role, he earned eleven Daytime Emmy Award nominations, two Emmy Awards, and ten NAACP Image Awards. He suffered tremendous heartbreak after the 2014 suicide of his 24-year-old son Julian, who died during a stay at a mental health hospital in Long Beach, California. St. John was found dead at his Woodland Hills home in Los Angeles on February 3. A Los Angeles coroner ruled the actor died from heart disease and alcohol was a contributing factor. He was 52-years-old.
Precious Harris

Source: Thaddaeus McAdams / Getty
Precious Harris, 66, was a beloved member of the Cottle-Harris clan as the older, fun-loving sister of rapper Clifford “T.I.” Harris. On Feb. 12 Harris suffered an asthma attack while she was driving T.I.’s 2013 Dodge Avenger, causing her to lose consciousness and drive into a telephone pole. Her granddaughter, Kiari Chapman was in the passenger side but did not suffer any major physical injures. Harris was rushed to the hospital after responders at the scene discovered she was still breathing administering CPR. But on February 22 she died after a stay in the Intensive Care Unit.
Janice Freeman

Source: Jerod Harris / Getty
Freeman, 33, a powerhouse vocalist and contestant on the NBC hit show The Voice died on March 2 after suffering a pulmonary embolism. She was hospitalized for a bout of pneumonia, where a spokesperson said a blood clot travelled to her heart. Throughout her life Freeman stood as a tower of strength, battling numerous medical conditions including an autoimmune disease called Sjogren’s syndrome, and beating cervical cancer.
John Singleton

Source: Jon Kopaloff / Getty
Director John Singleton made audiences first take note of his talent after releasing the critically-acclaimed South Central Los Angeles tale, Boyz N The Hood. Singleton became the first African-American man and the youngest person to be nominated for Best Director at the 1992 Oscars for the film. Singleton went on to direct a variety of movies, detailing the nuances of Black American life, from Higher Learning, to Baby Boy, while also launching the movie careers of Ice Cube, Nia Long, Morris Chestnut, Cuba Gooding Jr, Tyrese and Taraji P. Henson. He also worked with other notables including Janet Jackson, 2Pac Shakur, Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne and Omar Epps. Singleton died on April 28 after suffering from a stroke on April 17. He was 51-years-old.
Nipsey Hussle

Source: Prince Williams / Getty
Rapper Ermias “Nipsey Hussle” Asghedom was tragically gunned down on On March 31 in front of his, Marathon Clothing store located in the South Los Angeles. Hussle was rising to receive mainstream acclaim, but was already regarded as a pivotal member of the rap game and his community. He often gave back to his community by devoting his time to underserved youth, but also provided numerous opportunities through his foundation which promoted arts awareness and STEM education. He was 33-years-old. On April 2, Eric Holder, 29, was arrested and charged in connection with Hussle’s murder.
DJ Official
https://www.instagram.com/p/BytuHCJjTzo/?utm_source=ig_embed
Grammy-winning DJ Official was killed in a double drive-by shooting in Los Angels on June 14. Official, whose real name was André Wakefield worked closely to help hone the sounds artists such as Cardi B, Chris Brown, Ty Dolla Sign and DJ Mustard. He was 26-years-old.
Desmond “Etika” Amofah
The popular YouTube star who went by the name “Etika” was discovered in the East River in New York City on June 24, a few days after he was last seen on June 19. Prior to his disappearance Amofah’s family and friends became concerned after he expressed suicidal thoughts on social media. A New York City medical coroner later ruled Amofah died by suicide, he was 29-years-old.
Cameron Boyce

Source: David Livingston / Getty
Boyce, 20, was found unresponsive at his California home on July 6. The actor and dancer reportedly suffered an epileptic seizure, a disease he had previously been diagnosed with. During his career Boyce starred in a variety of movies (Grown Ups, Mirrors) and television shows, but grew national fame starring in lead roles in two Disney series, Jessie and The Descendants.
Pernell Whitaker

Source: The Ring Magazine / Getty
Whitaker, a former boxer who won an Olympic gold medal in 1984 died on July 14 after he was struck by a vehicle in Virginia. He was 55-year-old.
Art Neville

Source: Erika Goldring / Getty
New Orleans musical icon Art Neville died at the age of 81 on July 22. Neville was the founding member of the Meters and The Neville Brothers which he formed with his brothers, Charles, Aaron, and Cyril and Ivan. The keyboardist, singer and songwriter known as “Poppa Funk” in his hometown and abroad and was a respected innovator of funk, soul and R&B music that we know today.
Katresse Barnes

Source: New York Daily News Archive / Getty
Barnes was a talented musician, composer and the former musical director of Saturday Night Live. She died on August 3 at the age of 56 after battling breast cancer. In the 1980’s Barnes and her brother formed the R&B duo Juicy and produced three albums. During her tenure as SNL‘s musical director she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics twice, first in 2007 for The Lonely Island’s “D–k in a Box” and again in 2011 for the “I’m Not Gonna Sing Tonight” musical monologue delivered by Justin Timberlake.
Toni Morrison

Source: Timothy Fadek / Getty
Toni Morrison, the prolific author who garnered a Nobel Peace Prize in Literature and a Pulitzer Prize, died on August 5 at the age of 88. Morrison died from complications with pneumonia at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. Morrison’s writing career spanned over 50 years across different genres including fiction, non-fiction and essays. Her groundbreaking books include, The Bluest Eye, Sula, Song of Solomon, Beloved, Jazz, Love, and A Mercy. Morrison also was a long-term professor at Princeton University in New Jersey. Prior to her life as a writer, Morrison was one of the only Black female book editors at Random House who helped hone the writing voices of the most important leaders in the civil rights movement including Angela Davis, Toni Cade Bambara, Gayle Jones, and Muhammad Ali.
LaShawn Daniels

Source: Leon Bennett / Getty
Daniels was an impeccable singer/songwriter who was most famously known for penning the tunes of some of the biggest hits of the last 20 years. Daniels, a New Jersey native, worked closely with producer/songwriter Rodney Jerkins and frequently collaborated with Whitney Houston, “It’s Not Right (But It’s Okay), Michael Jackson, “You Rock My World,” and the smash hit featuring Brandy and Monica “The Boy Is Mine.” Daniels worked with countless others including Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga, The Braxton’s and Destiny’s Child. In 2001 he won a Grammy award for “Say My Name” by Destiny’s Child. Daniels died from injuries related to a car accident in South Carolina on September 3. He was 41-years-old.
Joan Johnson
Johnson died on September 6 at the age of 89 after battling a long illness. Entrepreneurs Joan Johnson and her husband George Johnson co-founded Johnson Products Company in 1954, the pioneering black hair care company which created Ultra Sheen and Afro Sheen. The company went on to become a multi-million dollar enterprise and also was one of the first Black-owned companies publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
John Wesley

Source: Amy Graves / Getty
Wesley, 72, had a long career in acting, appearing in over 100 movies and television shows including The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air Baywatch, Martin, Frasier, Melrose Place, Medium and NCIS. He died of complications relating to multiple myeloma in early September.
Jessye Norman

Source: julio donoso / Getty
Opera singer, Jessye Norman, 74, known for her soaring vocals and soprano tone died on September 30 in New York. Her cause of death was ruled septic shock and multiple organ failure, as a result of complications due to a 2015 spinal cord injury.Norman made her mainstream debut in 1983 at the Metropolitan Opera, where she performed the role of Cassandre in “Les Troyens” by Berlioz. Norman repeatedly wowed her audience, performing there over 80 times during her career, according to the Times. In 1997 she received a Kennedy Center Honor, and in 2009 she was the recipient of the National Medal of Arts, awarded by former president Barack Obama.
Diahann Carroll

Source: ABC Photo Archives / Getty
Actress, singer, and activist Diahann Carroll was a groundbreaking entertainer who first entered the industry as an esteemed singer in New York City’s nightclub circuit during the 1940’s and 50’s. She soon transitioned to a successful career on Broadway, where she won a Tony Award for her performance in No Strings. During her acting career she worked and rose with her contemporaries including Sydney Poitier, Harry Belafonte and Dorothy Dandridge. But in the 1960’s it was her role in Julia where she portrayed a single Black mother, making her the first Black woman to star in a role where she was not playing the role of a domestic worker. She garnered a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy nomination for her portrayal in 1969. Years later she was nominated for an Oscar her role in Claudine opposite James Earl Jones. Over the course of her career she had multiple popular resurgences in Dynasty, The Five Heartbeats, and is still hailed as one of the most prolific actors of her generation. She died on October 4 after a battle with breast cancer. She was 84-years-old.
Patrick Day

Source: Rich Schultz / Getty
The 27-year-old boxer died after suffering a brain injury during his super welterweight tittle fight in Chicago on October 12. He was struck behind the ear when he fell to the ground and loss consciousness. After an emergency surgery he went into a coma. Four days later on October 16 he was pronounced dead.
Rep. Elijah Cummings

Source: The Washington Post / Getty
Rep. Elijah Cummings, 68, died on October 17 after battling a rare form of cancer called thymic carcinoma which he was first diagnosed with in 1994. His death was reportedly due to an unrelated cause, stemming from different medical challenges. Cummings represented Maryland’s 7th Congressional District, which encapsulated a populated area of Baltimore from 1996 right up until his death. In congress Cummings served as chairmen of the House Oversight Committee. Prior to serving time in congress Cummings held a state in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1983 to 1996.
Rep. John Conyers

Source: The Washington Post / Getty
Rep. Conyers died on October 27 at the age of 90. He was named the longest serving African-American in congress, holding office from 1965 until 2017 when he was forced to step down due to a sexual harassment scandal. Conyers was once chairman of the House Oversight Committee and later the House Judiciary Committee. He was also one of the co-founders of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1969.
John Witherspoon

Source: Shareif Ziyadat / Getty
Witherspoon, a revered actor and comedian, died on October 29 at his home in Sherman Oaks, California. He was 77-years-old. Witherspoon was a beloved father figure, playing the dad we all wished we could hang out with in TV series and movies alike including Friday (and its sequels Next Friday and Friday After Next) as well as Hollywood Shuffle, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, Bird, Vampire in Brooklyn, Boomerang, The Wayans Bros., and The Meteor Man. He was also a respected comedian who rose in Hollywood with the likes of Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, Jay Leno and David Letterman.
Ernest J. Gaines

Source: Sophie Bassouls / Getty
Gaines, 86, was a noted and prolific author whose most popular works, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, A Gathering Of Old Men and A Lesson Before Dying, drew national attention and critical acclaim. Cicely Tyson starred in a TV adaptation of his book The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, stemming the decades of a Black woman’s story who endured slavery to the civil rights era. Tyson was nominated and won her first Emmy in 1974 for her performance. Gaines wrote to show the full humanity of Black Americans, and his work is widely studied in universities and colleges around the world. He was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and won the National Book Critics Circle Award for A Lesson Before Dying. Gaines died on November 5 at home in Oscar, Louisiana.
Juice WRLD

Source: Kevin Mazur / Getty
The Chicago-born rapper whose real name was Jarad Anthony Higgins, died on December 8 after reportedly having a seizure and going into cardia arrest at Chicago’s Midway Airport. Higgins had just turned 21-years-old. The rapper first made airwaves broke with his 2018 single “Lucid Dreams,” which peaked at No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot 100, and his second studio album, “Death Race for Love,” debuted in March and reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Mama Cax

Source: Noam Galai / Getty
Cax, a model and disability advocate who helped challenge the beauty standards of the fashion industry by regularly fighting for the underrepresented died on December 16 in London. She was 30-years-old. Cax was hospitalized earlier in December due to blood clots near her lungs and legs. The Brooklyn native and Haitian-American activist whose real name was Cacsmy Brutus, rose through the fashion ranks covering Teen Vogue and walking the runway for some of the biggest names in fashion including Chromat, Tommy Hilfiger and most recently appeared in Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty show. Cax is also a cancer survivor and at the age of 14 was forced to undergo a hip replacement due to her illness. She later had to amputate her leg due to her body rejecting the replacement. However, Cax used her platform to show that beauty is not restricted to one standard, and proudly sported her prosthetic leg and cancer scars as she strutted runways and posed for photos.