7 Global Icons Who Blew Their Last Hurrah In 2020

The year 2020, to say the very least, has been an unusual year. With the end of the second decade of the new millennium in 2019, there was so much anticipation, funfair and excitement as to what the new decade would usher in.

It would go without a saying that the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, a pathogenic factor which has claimed no less than 1.7 million lives around the world has been the contributory factor which has ensured that the new decade has not begun as scripted; but then, some very extraordinary, thin on the ground events have taken place globally to also contribute to the outlandish spectacle birthed by this very eventful year.

As very characteristic of human existence, many have made their entry into this vast complexity called life in the year 2020, while some, on the other hand, have regrettably made their exits. Whereas some of these exits have made the rounds within the narrow corridors of indigenous communities, others have reverberated more viciously and produced vibrations across global media due to the eminence of these individuals.

As this very dramatic year draws towards its end, Eko Hot Blog takes a look at seven prominent figures who blew their last Hurrah in the year 2020.

(1) Chadwick Boseman: Wakanda forever, as he was fondly called has been heralded as a “true original” who “shattered stereotypes”. Chadwick Boseman won legions of fans for his role in Black Panther – the first big-budget superhero movie with a black hero, director and a majority black cast, and also the first superhero film to get an Oscar nomination for best picture.

Boseman achieved international fame for playing superhero Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) from 2016 to 2019.  As the first black actor to headline an MCU film, he was also named to the 2018 Time 100.

In 2016, Boseman was diagnosed with colon cancer. Boseman kept his condition private, continuing to act until his death from complications related to the illness in 2020. He died in his Los Angeles home on August 28, 2020, aged 43.

(2) Kobe Bryant: Bryant was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Bryant went on to garner numerous accolades and silverware in an illustrious career which spanned across two decades.

Bryant died at age 41, along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others, in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. A number of tributes and memorials were subsequently issued, including renaming the All-Star Game MVP Award in his honour.

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(3) Diego Maradona: Diego Armando Maradona is a name which needs no introduction. His was a name which resonated across time and space even amongst persons who had little or no interest in football. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, Maradona was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the 20th Century award.

The Argentinian advanced playmaker was without equal in his prime, displaying supreme football skills with his vision, passing, ball control, and dribbling abilities which pegged him above his contemporaries.

Despite garnering many individual awards and titles at club level, the highlight of Maradona’s career came in the 1986 World Cup held in Mexico where he led the national team to glory, producing unparalleled individual brilliance en route an unforgettable World Cup success which saw him score a goal that would later be voted as goal of the century during the quarter-final game against England.

On 25 November 2020, at the age of 60, Maradona suffered a heart attack and died at his home in Dique Luján, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.

(4) Sean Connery: Many actors have played the role of James Bond in the British secret agent series, but none has been able to replicate the charm and charisma of the Scottish actor. He became known as the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983.

Connery would become the British spy seven times in total, also starring in From Russia With Love, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever, Never Say Never Again, and Goldfinger, arguably the greatest Bond film of all, in 1964.

Connery died in his sleep on 31 October 2020, aged 90, at his home in the Lyford Cay community of Nassau in The Bahamas.

(5) Jonathan Huber: Jonathan Huber was an American professional wrestler and actor. He was best known for his time in WWE under the ring name Luke Harper. The Rochester born wrestler had plied his trade with several wrestling outfits prior to making his WWE debut in 2012.

During his time in the WWE, Harper formed a formidable alliance alongside Bray Wyatt and Erick Rowan in a three-man tag team which was known as ‘The Wyatt Brothers’. The highlight of Huber’s career came in Wrestlemania 34 where he would team up with Rowan to capture the tag team titles at the greatest stage of all.

Huber departed WWE in December 2019, subsequently making his AEW debut in March 2020 as “Mr.” Brodie Lee.

He died on December 26, 2020, at the age of 41 in Jacksonville, Florida, after hospitalization for lung problems.

(6) Kenny Rogers: Country music legend Kenny Rogers was a star whose music career spanned six decades, with hits including Coward Of The County, The Gambler and Islands In The Stream, with Dolly Parton.

The Houston-born singer, known for his trademark husky voice and silver beard, broke through into the world of pop to sell more than 100 million records. He also gained fame as an actor, starring in TV movies based on The Gambler and other songs, making him a superstar in the 1970s and 80s.

He died peacefully in a hospice, surrounded by family, aged 81.

(7) Gerard Houllier: Not many millennial football fans will remember Gerard Houllier, but for the generation of the football world he affected, is held as one of the greatest tacticians of an era.

Houllier is best remembered for the six years he spent at Anfield between 1998 and 2004.

Though League title glory proved elusive for Liverpool under Houllier’s stewardship, the former Les Bleus manager oversaw FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Cup, Community Shield and UEFA Super Cup triumphs in a remarkable 2001 that saw Liverpool run haywire on the trophy front.