2016 The Year of Celebrity Death.

There's no doubt that 2016 has been a seriously significant one from the point of view of celebrity mortality.

I don't buy this idea of "more famous people now, therefore more famous people die, it'll be the same in 2017". I fully expect 2017 to be much less significant than 2016.

A good few of these guys had very secret illnesses, and died at neither young nor old ages. The spectrum of ages and causes of death mean that a hell of a lot more died compared to what one might have expected. As for the idea that the names aren't significant, that's just not true. It took a hell of a lot of people who remained iconic in the world of entertainment.

George Michael - 53, a megastar in music from the 80's and 90's. He was probably in the top 5 biggest musicians at any point in time during that period. Propert star quality.

Prince - 57, same, probably more so. What both of these guys had was star quality.

Bowie - 69 - a combination of the genius and stardom of the above two. Between the three of these guys you're talking of absolute genius musicians, superstars. I'd argue that the only people who could compare with these two in terms of the whole package were Michael Jackson and.........well, who knows, maybe Madonna? I think the big deal there is that they were such unexpected deaths, it would be different if they died in old age or if their illnesses were very well known.

Obviously each generation thinks theirs is the best, but I'm not really seeing that much in the way of the current crop and talent + star quality, it's just so thin on the ground.

With the passing of the old school it does have genuine sadness for a lot of people. On a personal level the biggest loss was Maurice White of Earth, Wind and Fire, to me he was in a class of his own, a proper genius and leader of a truly great musical act. He didn't have the same mystique of back story compared to the other guys, so understandably his demise was more understated.

What I find most striking about this year is not so much the careers of those who died, but the popularity, particularly in the UK.

Bowie, Ali, Wogan, George Michael, Victoria Wood (as much as I find that strange), Johan Cruyff, Alan Rickman, Paul Daniels, Ronnie Corbett, one half of Status Quo and then the iconic figure of Fidel Castro. That's leaving out a hell of a lot of names, and not to mention the events relating to Brexit and the US election, throw in the league title for Leicester City even. It has been a truly massive year of flux, up there with the biggest in my 34 years. The only others I'd compare it to would be 2001, for one momentous day, and 2011, which I thought would never be outdone in terms of crazy ****.

Gordie Howe? Hardly a household name or celebrity, though Mrs Krabappel thought he was a looker in The Simpsons.