A fond farewell to celebrities, musicians, actors and writers who died in 2016

It wasn’t just your imagination, and it wasn’t just another irrational social media freak-out.

A lot of entertainers, actors and celebrities died in 2016.

There are the icons everyone remembers, of course: David Bowie, Prince, Muhammad Ali.

But we also lost country music legends Ralph Stanley and Merle Haggard; news broadcasters Gwen Ifill, John McLaughlin and Morley Safer; authors Pat Conroy, Jim Harrison and Richard Adams.

And Carrie Fisher wasn’t the only “Star Wars” alum who passed in 2016: Kenny Baker, who played R2-D2; Erik Bauersfeld, who uttered the famous “It’s a trap!” line via Admiral Ackbar; Drewe Henley, who played Red Squadron leader, also died this year.

It’s a sad hard fact of our lives and times that 2016 likely won’t be an anomaly. With the proliferation of filmed and recorded entertainment in the past century, we’re sure to recognize the names of many more entertainers who touched and enriched our lives before they slipped the surly bonds of earth.

But, as the song goes, life is just a party, and parties weren’t meant to last.

Check out the notable entertainers who left us this year in the photo gallery above.

This story was originally published December 30, 2016 at 1:08 PM with the headline "A fond farewell to celebrities, musicians, actors and writers who died in 2016."