Ted Turner bought the Atlanta Braves in 1976 and in 1990 brought Bobby Cox back to run the team. In May 2026 they died four days apart. It was a month that hit sport hard: a two-time NASCAR champion died at 41, the NBA’s first openly gay player died at 47, and Alex Zanardi, who lost his legs in a racing crash and then won Paralympic gold, died on May 1. These are ten of the best-known people who died in May 2026.
1. Alex Zanardi (May 1, aged 59)
Alex Zanardi drove in Formula One and won two CART championships in the United States before a crash at the Lausitzring in Germany in 2001 cost him both legs. He came back as a handcyclist and won Paralympic gold medals in London in 2012 and Rio in 2016. In 2020 he suffered severe head injuries when his handbike hit a lorry in Tuscany, and he spent his last years recovering out of public view.
2. Ted Turner (aged 87, early May)
Ted Turner turned a small Atlanta television station into a national network with satellite technology in 1975 and launched CNN, the first 24-hour news channel, in 1980. TNT, Cartoon Network and Turner Classic Movies followed. He owned the Braves and the Hawks, gave more than a billion dollars to charity and became one of the largest private landowners in the United States. He had disclosed in 2018 that he had Lewy body dementia.
3. Bobby Cox (May 9, aged 84)
Bobby Cox managed the Braves for 25 seasons, winning 14 straight division titles, five National League pennants and the 1995 World Series. He holds the record for most ejections of any manager in baseball history. He had a stroke in 2019. The Braves said he died in Marietta, Georgia, four days after Turner, the owner who brought him back to the club.
4. Alexx Ekubo (May 11, aged 40)
Alexx Ekubo was first runner-up at Mr Nigeria in 2010 and became one of Nollywood’s best-known romantic leads, in films such as Weekend Getaway. He had been out of the public eye for some time. His family said he died at Evercare Hospital in Lagos of complications from advanced kidney cancer. Funke Akindele was among the actors who led the tributes.
5. Jason Collins (May 12, aged 47)
Jason Collins played thirteen NBA seasons as a centre and, in a Sports Illustrated cover story in 2013, became the first openly gay man to play in one of the four major North American leagues. He was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, and sought experimental treatment abroad. His family said he died peacefully at home in Los Angeles.
6. Donald Gibb (May 12, aged 71)
Donald Gibb was Ogre, the huge, grunting Alpha Beta fraternity brother in Revenge of the Nerds, and he played the same character in the sequels. He also appeared in Bloodsport alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme. He died the same day as Jason Collins.
7. Clarence Carter (mid-May, aged 90)
Clarence Carter, blind from early childhood, recorded “Patches” in 1970, the story of a boy left to run the family farm, and it won a Grammy for its writers. Decades later his risqué “Strokin'” made him a fixture of southern soul radio. He died of complications from pneumonia and other illnesses.
8. Claudine Longet (May 15, aged 84)
The French singer and actress had hits in the 1960s and was married to Andy Williams. In 1976 she shot dead her boyfriend, the Olympic skier Spider Sabich, at his home in Aspen. She said the gun went off by accident. A jury convicted her of misdemeanour criminal negligence, and she served thirty days in jail.
9. Kyle Busch (aged 41, announced May 21)
Kyle Busch won the NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2015 and 2019 and more races across NASCAR’s national series than any other driver. NASCAR, his team Richard Childress Racing and his family announced his death in a joint statement that called him a future Hall of Famer. He had been ill.
10. Rob Base (May 22, aged 59)
Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock made “It Takes Two” in 1988, a record built on a sample of Lyn Collins’ “Think (About It)” that went platinum. He was still touring on the I Love the ’90s bill in his last years. He died of cancer four days after his 59th birthday.
Ekubo and Busch, at 40 and 41, were the youngest people on this list, and both died at an age when most of their peers were still at the peak of their careers.