In the third week of January 2025, the film world lost David Lynch, the British stage lost Dame Joan Plowright and Manchester United lost Denis Law, all within three days. By the end of the month Marianne Faithfull, who had been singing since 1964, was gone too. These are ten of the best-known people who died in January 2025.
1. Wayne Osmond (January 1, aged 73)
Wayne Osmond played guitar and sang with his brothers in the Osmonds, from their barbershop beginnings on The Andy Williams Show to the teen hysteria of the 1970s. He co-wrote “Crazy Horses”. His brother Alan died in April 2026.
2. Peter Yarrow (January 7, aged 86)
Peter Yarrow was the Peter in Peter, Paul and Mary, the folk trio that sang “Blowin’ in the Wind” at the March on Washington in 1963. He co-wrote “Puff, the Magic Dragon” and spent his life singing at rallies for civil rights and against war.
3. Sam Moore (January 10, aged 89)
Sam Moore was the higher voice of Sam and Dave, the Stax duo behind “Soul Man” and “Hold On, I’m Comin'”. The pair were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. Moore kept performing for decades after the duo split.
4. David Lynch (January 15, aged 78)
David Lynch made Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive, and with Twin Peaks in 1990 he changed what American television thought it could show. He had emphysema after decades of smoking and died days after being forced to leave his Los Angeles home by the wildfires.
5. Linda Nolan (January 15, aged 65)
Linda Nolan was one of the Nolans, the Irish sister group behind “I’m in the Mood for Dancing”. In later years she spoke openly about her cancer treatment on British television. She died after a long illness.
6. Joan Plowright (January 16, aged 95)
Dame Joan Plowright was one of the leading actresses of the National Theatre in its first years and was married to Laurence Olivier from 1961 until his death in 1989. She was nominated for an Oscar for Enchanted April in 1992. Failing eyesight ended her career in 2014.
7. Denis Law (January 17, aged 84)
Denis Law won the Ballon d’Or in 1964, still the only Scottish player to do so, and was part of Manchester United’s “holy trinity” with George Best and Bobby Charlton. He scored 30 goals for Scotland, a joint national record. He had been living with Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.
8. John Sykes (January 20, aged 65)
John Sykes played guitar in Thin Lizzy in the early 1980s and then with Whitesnake, where he co-wrote much of the band’s 1987 album, including “Still of the Night”. He died of cancer.
9. Garth Hudson (January 21, aged 87)
Garth Hudson played the organ, saxophone and accordion in The Band, which backed Bob Dylan when he went electric and then made Music from Big Pink. He was the last surviving member of the group.
10. Marianne Faithfull (January 30, aged 78)
Marianne Faithfull was 17 when “As Tears Go By”, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, made her a star in 1964. After years of addiction and homelessness she came back with Broken English in 1979, her voice deepened and roughened, and worked steadily for the rest of her life.
Three of these ten died within three days of each other in the middle of the month: Lynch, Plowright and Law: a film director, a stage actress and a footballer.