Bernice Offei was reported missing in Accra on September 1, 2026, and found safe days later. On September 12 she died, aged 63, and her former manager revealed that she had been living with dementia for years. Four days later Nigeria lost Olu Jacobs, and before the month was out the Calypso King of the World and the founder of Childline had gone too. These are ten of the best-known people who died in September 2026.
1. Cassandra Wilson (September 1, aged 70)
Cassandra Wilson’s deep, slow voice made her one of the most celebrated jazz singers of the 1990s, after her 1993 album Blue Light ’til Dawn. She won Grammys for New Moon Daughter and Loverly, was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master in 2022, and made her last album, Coming Forth by Day, as a tribute to Billie Holiday. The coroner said she died at home in Jackson, Mississippi.
2. Gloria Steinem (September 2, aged 92)
Gloria Steinem went undercover as a Playboy Bunny for a magazine story in 1963, co-founded Ms. magazine in 1972 and became the best-known voice of American feminism for half a century. She campaigned for the Equal Rights Amendment and reproductive rights, and her family said she kept working for equality until the end. A statement on her social media said she died peacefully at home in New York.
3. Bernice Offei (September 12, aged 63)
Bernice Offei sang “Hold On” and “Life Is Short” and was one of Ghana’s best-known gospel voices for more than thirty years, winning Best Female Vocal Performance and Songwriter of the Year at the 2009 Ghana Music Awards. Bishop Dag Heward-Mills, a schoolmate at Achimota, paid tribute to her, and the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, said Ghana had lost a true gospel legend.
4. Olu Jacobs (September 16, aged 84)
Olu Jacobs trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, appeared on British television in the 1970s and came home to become one of the father figures of Nollywood, with more than 100 films. He won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actor in 2007. His wife, the actress Joke Silva, had revealed in 2021 that he had Lewy body dementia. His son announced his death, and President Bola Tinubu called him a giant of the Nigerian creative industry.
5. Stephanie Cole (September 18, aged 84)
Stephanie Cole played Mrs Featherstone in Open All Hours, Dr Beatrice Mason in Tenko, the sharp-tongued Diana Trent in Waiting for God and Sylvia Goodwin in Coronation Street. Her agent said she had lived with Alzheimer’s disease for some years.
6. Sandro Mazzola (September 19, aged 83)
Sandro Mazzola, whose father Valentino had captained Il Grande Torino and died at Superga, spent his whole playing career at Inter Milan and won the European Cup with them in 1964 and 1965. He later worked as a commentator for Rai Sport.
7. Angry Anderson (September 21, aged 79)
Gary “Angry” Anderson fronted Rose Tattoo from 1976, had a worldwide hit with “Suddenly” and played Ironbar Bassey in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. He had a cardiac arrest during the band’s final European tour in August. Read our obituary of Angry Anderson.
8. Bob Pettit (September 23, aged 93)
Bob Pettit won the NBA’s first Most Valuable Player award in 1956 and led the St. Louis Hawks past the Boston Celtics to the 1958 title. He was the league’s first 20,000-point scorer. Read our obituary of Bob Pettit.
9. Mighty Sparrow (September 27, aged 91)
Slinger Francisco, the Mighty Sparrow, was born in Grenada, raised in Trinidad and broke through with “Jean and Dinah” in 1956. He recorded hundreds of calypsos over seven decades. Read our obituary of the Mighty Sparrow.
10. Esther Rantzen (September 30, aged 86)
Esther Rantzen presented That’s Life! on the BBC for 21 years and founded Childline in 1986. In her last years, living with stage four lung cancer, she campaigned for assisted dying to be made legal. Read our obituary of Esther Rantzen.
The last days of September were among the busiest of the year. We have also published full obituaries of Milan Panić, Gordon Johncock, Gonzalo Suárez and Pat Saiki, who died in the same fortnight.