Artists and TV Figures: Remembering Famous People Lost This Year in Celebrity Deaths 2026

Comics and rock anthems

Scott Adams worked for a telephone company in the 1980s, an experience that inspired his comic strip, “Dilbert.” At its height, the strip appeared in more than 2,000 newspapers. A “Dilbert” animated series began in 1999 and ran for two seasons. Brad Arnold, lead singer of 3 Doors Down, helped propel the band to fame with “Kryptonite,” which reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2000.

Hip-hop pioneers

Lance Taylor, known as Afrika Bambaataa, first drew attention as a Bronx DJ and became a hip-hop pioneer during the 1970s and 1980s. He founded Universal Zulu Nation in the 1970s to help steer young people away from gang life.

Bambaataa stepped down as the organization’s head in 2016 following sexual abuse accusations. Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock created “It Takes Two,” a track associated with hip-hop’s move into the mainstream.

Television and music legacies

Nicholas Brendon played Xander Harris throughout all seven seasons of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” His family said he died in his sleep on March 20 from natural causes. Two-time Grammy winner Peabo Bryson became known for love ballads and Disney songs. He recorded “Beauty and the Beast” with Céline Dion in 1991, then joined Regina Belle on “A Whole New World” for the 1992 release of “Aladdin.”