The Artists We Lost in 2021, in Their Words

Some artists held the spotlight for generations. Others left us lamenting careers cut short. Here is a tribute to those we lost this year.

This year, as pandemic deaths ebbed and flowed, a distinctive, eternal beat — that of artist’s deaths — played on as usual, bringing its own waves of collective grief. Some, such as Cicely Tyson and Stephen Sondheim, held the spotlight for generations. Others, like Michael K. Williams and Nai-Ni Chen, left us lamenting careers cut short. Here is a tribute to just a small number of them, in their own words.

— Cicely Tyson, actress, born 1924 (Read the obituary.)

— Melvin Van Peebles, filmmaker, born 1932 (Read the obituary.)