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Prominent musicians who died in 2016

Pop superstar George Michael's death over the Christmas holidays caps one of the most tragic years in memory for the music world which mourned a steady stream of top names.

Here are some of the prominent musicians who died over the momentous year:
DAVID BOWIE: The rock icon's fans were stunned by his death on January 10, just two days after releasing an acclaimed album, "Blackstar," on his 69^th birthday. Bowie, musically innovative until the end, had been battling cancer but his illness was known to few outside his immediate family.
GLENN FREY: The co-founder and frontman of the Eagles died on January 18 at age 67 after years of poor health. With the massive success of tracks such as "Hotel California," the country-tinged rockers were among the best-selling acts in US history.
PAUL KANTNER: The co-founder and creative force of Jefferson Airplane, whose psychedelic sound was a soundtrack to the 1960s hippie era, died on January 28 at age 74 after a heart attack.
MAURICE WHITE: The founder of Earth, Wind & Fire crafted tight pop songs out of funk, with the band becoming one of the top-selling acts of all time and among the first African American groups to win a wide white audience. The 74-year-old died on February 4 after suffering for years from Parkinson's disease.
KEITH EMERSON AND GREG LAKE: Emerson, one of rock's original keyboard stars who infused concerts with on-stage theatrics such as playing upside-down, killed himself in his Los Angeles area home at age 71 on March 11. Bassist and singer Greg Lake, his bandmate in progressive rock trio Emerson, Lake & Palmer, died in London of cancer on December 7 at age 69.
PHIFE DAWG: The snide rapper from A Tribe Called Quest, a group that brought a new artistic sensibility to hip-hop, died on March 22 at 45 after a lifelong struggle with diabetes.
MERLE HAGGARD: The country music legend, a self-styled outlaw whose music gave voice to disaffected conservatives in the hippie era, died on April 6 on his 79^th birthday.
LEONARD COHEN: The poet and singer, whose meditations on love and spirituality had won him an impassioned if niche audience, died on November 7 at 82, with his family quietly burying him in his native Montreal before announcing the news. In a parallel to Bowie, Cohen just weeks earlier had released an acclaimed album, ominously entitled "You Want It Darker."
SHARON JONES: The fiery soul and funk singer, who rose to fame at a late age and came to be called the female James Brown, died on November 18 of cancer at age 60.
RICK PARFITT: The hard-charging, hard-living guitarist from Status Quo died on December 24 at age 68 following an infection.
GEORGE MICHAEL: The singer, one of the brightest lights of giddy 1980s pop with the duo Wham! before a more introspective and troubled solo career, died at his home outside London at age 53, apparently on December 25. The "Careless Whisper" singer had numerous health scares and drug-related incidents late in his life.