Deaths So Far (and it's just July)

[IceWizard]

FEBRUARY 2026




Fred Smith
performing with Television at the
Hammersmith Odeon in London
in May 1977.

Fred Smith, the bassist for the rock band Television and a founding member of Blondie,
died at 77 on Feb. 5. Smith was the original bassist in the first Blondie lineup, which also
included Debbie Harry, Chris Stein, and Billy O'Connor, in 1974. He left the group less than
a year later to replace Richard Hell in Television, who were already a mainstay at New York's
CBGB club with members Tom Verlaine, Richard Lloyd, and Billy Ficca. He provided bass and
backing vocals on all three of Television's studio albums: 1977's Marquee Moon, 1978's Adventure,
and 1992's Television.





Brad Arnold
of 3 Doors Down performs at the
Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre in
Sterling Heights, Mich., on Aug. 7, 2021.

Brad Arnold, the lead singer and longest-tenured founding member of the
hard rock band 3 Doors Down, died at 47 on Feb. 7 following a battle with
cancer. Arnold wrote the group's biggest single, "Kryptonite," during
algebra class in his senior year of high school. The track helped launch
the band's debut album The Better Life to massive success in 2000.
3 Doors Down went on to release five more albums between 2002 and 2016,
with two of them reaching the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart.





James Van Der Beek
in 2020.

Dawson’s Creek star James Van Der Beek died on Feb. 11 after a battle with colorectal cancer.
He was 48. Van Der Beek played the lead role of Dawson Leery in the teen drama for six seasons,
from 1998 to 2003, alongside Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams, and Joshua Jackson. On television,
he later played a fictionalized version of himself Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23, and made
memorable appearances on shows like How I Met Your Mother, One Tree Hill, Mercy, Friends With
Better Lives, Pose, andOvercompensating. He also competed on Dancing With the Stars and
The Masked Singer. The father of six also starred in the films Varsity Blues, The Rules of Attraction,
Texas Rangers, and Downsizing, Bad Hair, plus cameos in Scary Movie and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.





Robert Duvall in 1981.

Robert Duvall, the legendary actor who starred in films like Apocalypse Now and TV series like
Lonesome Dove, died Feb. 15 at the age of 95. His wife, Luciana Pedraza, announced the news
via social media, writing that the actor "passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by
love and comfort." Duvall received numerous accolades for his work, including an
Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globes.