THERE were big stars of rock and pop, legends of literature, towering figures in sport, great men and women of politics and public life as well as many well-known figures in film and television – famous people who have made us laugh and cry and hope. These are some of the ones we lost in 2018.

The music industry lost one of its greatest this year: the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin. Franklin, who died aged 76 in August, sold a million records for every year of her life, making her the most successful female star of all time.

Another diva of music – opera and pop – was Montserrat Caballe, otherwise known as La Superba, who died in October aged 85. Caballe was a major star of international opera but was more widely known for her duet with the lead singer of Queen Freddie Mercury.

The music world also lost some of its most quirky and interesting characters this year. January saw the death of Dolores O’Riordan, the lead singer of the Cranberries who had a huge transatlantic hit with Linger in the 1990s. She was only 46.

Also in January, the vocalist and lead singer of The Fall, Mark E Smith, died aged 60. Dressed in black and pushing music in new directions, Smith always cut an uncompromising dash.

Then in May came the tragically early death, aged 36, of Scott Hutchison, the lead singer of Scottish indie band Frightened Rabbit, whose appeal to fans owed much to the openness and honesty of his lyrics.

The world of politics felt the loss of several of its heavyweights in 2018. Towards the end of the year, Paddy Ashdown died aged 77. The Liberal Democrat was a former leader of his party but will be particularly remembered for dealing with the fallout from the break-up of the former Yugoslavia.

Another heavyweight was Peter Carrington, who died in July aged 99. Lord Carrington held office under six different prime ministers, starting with Churchill in 1951, and will be mostly remembered for two key events in his life: the Lancaster House agreement that led to the establishment of Zimbabwe and his honourable resignation over the Argentinian invasion of the Falklands.

This year also saw the death of Dame Tessa Jowell, who died in May aged 70. Dame Tessa was a Labour minister who played a pivotal role in bringing the Olympics to London. Her strength of character was in evidence after she became ill in 2017 and campaigned for NHS brain cancer patients to be given more treatment options.

Another redoubtable woman of politics was Baroness Trumpington, who died aged 96 in November. The baroness was one of the great characters of the House of Lords, particularly for the moment she gave her colleague Lord King a two-fingered salute when he referred to her age.

America lost two of its most significant figures in 2018, firstly in August with the death of John McCain aged 81. McCain was a long-serving US Senator for the Republican Party, a former presidential candidate and a decorated war hero respected on both sides of the political divide. His criticism of Donald Trump made him, in the eyes of some, a traitor to the Republican cause - in the eyes of others, he was a beacon of decency and reason.

The 41st president of the USA died in December. George Bush, who was 94, was the president who won three wars - Cold, Panamanian and Gulf - with minimal loss in American life. He died just a few months after the death of his wife Barbara Bush, one of the most popular first ladies ever.

The film and entertainment industry suffered some heavy losses this year, including Stan Lee, the co-founder of Marvel Comics who died in November aged 95. Alongside revered artists like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, the slew of characters Lee devised throughout the 1960s included Spider-Man, Iron Man, and the Hulk.

Two movie stars from different eras who died this year were Burt Reynolds, one of the most popular leading men of the late 1970s and early 1980s who died aged 82 in September, and Tab Hunter, a golden boy of Hollywood who was forced to hide the fact that he was gay. Hunter died in July aged 86. May also saw the death of Margot Kidder aged 69 – Kidder was best known for her role as Lois Lane in the series of Superman films opposite Christopher Reeve.

In television, the famous faces we lost included Katie Boyle, the model, agony aunt and one of the most familiar faces on television in the 1960s and 70s, who died aged 91 in March; the television and radio presenter Dale Winton, known for his kindly and camp personality, who died in April aged 62; the actor Leslie Grantham, who died in June aged 71, who was once one of Britain’s most loved actors when he starred in EastEnders; and the actress Jacqueline Pearce, who died in September aged 74 – Pearce appeared in Doctor Who and Hammer films but was best known as the villain Servalan in the science fiction show Blake’s 7.

Comedy will never be the same again after the death in March aged 90 of Sir Ken Dodd. Eccentric, idiosyncratic and inventive, Sir Ken became a huge star in the 1960s and never stopped working. “The feeling of hearing an audience laugh is the most beautiful sound in the world,” he said.

Other comedy stars we lost included Fenella Fielding, who died in September aged 90 – she was best known as the Morticia Addams-style vamp Valeria Watt in one of the best Carry On films, the horror spoof Carry On Screaming. Fellow Carry On star Liz Frazer also died in September aged 88.

In August, Barry Chuckle died aged 73 – he and his brother Paul were among the most popular children’s entertainers on television from the 1980s onwards. Another star of family entertainment, Bella Emberg, best known for her work with the comedian Russ Abbot, died in January aged 80.

Comedy also lost some of its finest writers. Ray Galton, known for his work on Hancock and Steptoe And Son with his co-writer Alan Simpson, died in July aged 88. Denis Norden, known for his ground-breaking work with Frank Muir and as the presenter of It’ll Be All Right on the Night, died in September aged 96.

Sport suffered heavy losses, especially football. January saw the loss at 59 of Cyrille Regis, who became a pioneer for black players in the 1970s, and Scotland and Liverpool goalkeeper Tommy Lawrence, who played in Bill Shankly’s first great Liverpool side of the 1960s.

Other football greats who died early in the year were Jimmy Armfield, the England football captain, club manager and journalist; Liam Miller, the midfielder with Celtic, Manchester United and Republic of Ireland; John Lambie, the manager of Hamilton Accies and Partick Thistle; and Ray “Butch” Wilkins, the Rangers star and England captain.

Football fans also lost Neale Cooper, one of Aberdeen’s ‘Gothenburg Giants’, who died in May aged 54, Harold Davies, the player, manager and coach dubbed the Iron Man of Ibrox, who died in June aged 85, Johnny Hubbard, the Rangers player known as Scotland’s Penalty King, who died in June aged 87, and Davie McParland, the legendary player and manager at Partick Thistle, who died in July aged 83.

And the sad deaths among footballers did not end there. In July, the former Dundee, Tottenham Hotspur and Scotland international footballer Alan Gilzean died – at his height, he was seen as one of Scotland’s finest centre forwards.

Other greats of sport lost in 2018 were Sir Roger Bannister, the distinguished neurologist who became the first person to run a mile in less than four minutes – he died in March aged 88. The first woman to run the mile in under five minutes, Diane Leather, also died in September aged 85. Another pioneer in sport Hilary Lister died aged 46 in August – Lister was the first disabled woman to sail solo around Britain.

Sadly, we lost yet more of the men and women of the Second World War in 2018. Geoffrey Wellum, who died aged 96, was one of the youngest Battle of Britain Spitfire pilots at 18 years old. Mary Ellis, who died aged 101, was one of the last of the “Spitfire girls” and flew over 400 Spitfires and 76 different aircrafts during the War. And Rosemary Bamforth, who died aged 93, was the distinguished Glasgow-born pathologist and Bletchley Park code breaker.

Elsewhere, literature lost Philip Roth, the grand old man of American letters, and the visionary novelist Ursula K Le Guin. Philosophy lost Mary Midgley aged 99 – Midgley was one of the leading figures in the revival of moral philosophy. And religion lost one of its towering men: Billy Graham, the superstar of Christian evangelism who became famous for holding massive rallies all over the world – he died aged 99 in February.

In science and medicine, one of the greatest losses was Stephen Hawking, who died aged 76 in March. Professor Hawking was a revolutionary physicist, teacher and writer and became the most famous cosmologist in the world after the publication of his book A Brief History of Time.

And finally, Scottish business lost two of its most distinguished figures. In September, Sir Eric Yarrow did aged 98. Sir Eric was a leading member of one of the great families of Clyde shipbuilders whose names were famous around the world and was only the third chairman of Yarrows in more than 100 years. Another giant of Scottish business, Sir William McAlpine died in March aged 82. Sir William was a director of the famous family construction firm and managed their Scottish operations for 40 years.