Makers, Boundary-Breakers, & Pop Culture Icons: All The Influencers We Lost In 2016

This year has been a particularly difficult one in terms of pop culture losses. Beginning with the tragic death of David Bowie in January, these 12 months have been seemingly riddled with great departures. We lost a wave of important influencers — musicians, actors, fashion designers, and all of the above.

Seriously, what was it about 2016? Is it the fact that this is a leap year? Or an election year? Or is there some giant conspiracy to rid the world of its most lauded figures? We can't explain why 2016 gave us such monumental pop culture tragedies, but we can celebrate the people we lost. They were makers and boundary-breakers all of them. Here are the monumental figures that we lost in 2016.