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A note to our viewers. As this video was being
finalized, we received the late breaking news

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that NASCAR legend Kyle Busch died Thursday, May
21st, 2026, following a severe illness at the age

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of forty-one. We'll publish a full tribute
on our website and in next week's video.

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Here are the most recent deaths in the national
news, as reported at Legacy.com in the third

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week of May, 2026.  I'm your host, Linnea
Crowther. I'm the news editor at Legacy.com,

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where you can read full obituaries for most of
the people featured in this video, and leave your

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own condolences on their Legacy page.

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I want to let you know that my Legacy teammates
will be helping out for a few weeks while I'm on a

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brief leave of absence. You'll still hear me later
in the video, when we share this week's memorial

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anniversaries. But first, here's my fellow editor
Stephen Segal with this week's headlines.

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Dennis Locorriere, the lead singer of the
classic rock group Dr. Hook, died May 16,

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2026, of kidney disease at the age of 76.
Locorriere and Dr. Hook boasted six Top 10 hits

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in the U.S., including "Sylvia's
Mother," "When You're in Love

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with a Beautiful Woman," and "Sexy Eyes.”
He is also being remembered as a songwriter, whose

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work has been recorded by the likes of Bob Dylan,
Willie Nelson, and Olivia Newton-John.

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Blues and soul singer Clarence Carter died May
13, 2026, in Atlanta, Georgia of complications

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from pneumonia. He was 90.
Carter, who was born blind,

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was known for hits like “Strokin’,” and the Grammy
Award-winning “Patches.” He was inducted into the

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Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 2003.
He is being remembered for his soulful

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voice and risqué lyrics, as well as
for writing the original version of

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the Etta James hit “Tell Mama.”

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died May 14, 2026, at the age of 84.
She became the central figure in a tragic

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criminal case in 1977, when she was convicted
of the negligent homicide of her boyfriend,

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Olympic skier Vladimir Sabich.
Longet is being remembered for such

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songs as “Nothing to Lose,” from her 1968 film
“The Party” with Peter Sellers. Music lovers

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are also remembering her first marriage in the
1960s to singer Andy Williams.

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Christian television broadcaster Joni Lamb died
May 7, 2026, after a back injury exacerbated

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previous medical issues. She was 65.
Lamb was best known for her show “Joni’s

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Table Talk,” which debuted in 2001 and over the
years garnered five Daytime Emmy nominations.

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She is also being remembered as the cofounder of
the Christian television network Daystar.

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Stage and screen actress Aleta Mitchell
died April 14, 2026, while in hospice care

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in Branford, Connecticut. She was 74.
Mitchell graced the stage in the original

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Broadway production of August Wilson's
“Ma Rainey's Black Bottom,” which was

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nominated for three Tony Awards in 1985.
She is also being remembered for television

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and movie roles including “The Cosby Show,”
“Law & Order,” and “Malcolm X.”

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Voice actor Tom Kane died May 18, 2026,
at a hospital in Kansas City, Missouri,

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of complications from a stroke. He was 64.
Kane delighted a generation of viewers as

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Professor Utonium in “The Powerpuff
Girls,” a role he played throughout

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the series, and in multiple spinoffs.
He is also remembered for his work in the

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Star Wars universe, playing Yoda and performing
the opening narration in “The Clone Wars,” as well

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as voice work in series such as “Archer,” “Kim
Possible,” “Shrek,” and many others.

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Actress Ann Robinson died September 25,
2025, in Los Angeles at the age of 96.

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Her death was publicly reported in May 2026.
Robinson is best remembered for her leading role

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in the 1953 science fiction classic, “The War of
the Worlds,” in which she played Sylvia Van Buren,

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a woman trying to survive an alien invasion.
She is also being remembered for appearances in

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such television shows as “Rawhide,” “Gilligan’s
Island,” and “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.”

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Televangelist James Robison died
May 16, 2025, at the age of 82.

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Robison was the founder of the Christian ministry
organization Life Outreach International, and the

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co-host of the television program LIFE Today.
He was also the author of more than a dozen

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published books about faith,
life, and family.

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Influencer and U.S. Navy veteran Kenny Jary,
known to fans as Patriotic Kenny, died May 18,

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2026, in Willernie, Minnesota after being
diagnosed with lung cancer. He was 84.

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Over 4 million people followed his messages
of positivity on Instagram and TikTok.

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Jary used his fame to create
the Patriotic Kenny Foundation,

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a nonprofit that has provided over 130
mobility scooters to veterans in need.

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Inventor Greg Hyman, who co-created the wildly
popular Tickle Me Elmo toy, died May 1, 2026,

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in Boca Raton, Florida at the age of 78.
Hyman’s invention began life as a laughing

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monkey named Tickles the Chimp, created with
fellow inventor Ron Dubren. Toy manufacturer

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Tyco suggested it be made into the Muppet
character Elmo instead. The rest is history.

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He is being remembered for delighting countless
children, frustrating just as many parents,

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and kickstarting a toy craze that
dominated the late 1990s.

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Longtime U.S. Congressman Barney Frank died May
19, 2026, in Ogunquit, Maine after suffering from

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congestive heart failure in April. He was 86.
Entering Congress in 1981, Frank established

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a reputation as a blunt and direct elected
official focused on civil rights and economic

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equality. His signature legislation was the
2010 Dodd-Frank Act, drafted to address the

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causes of the 2007–2008 financial crisis.
He is also being remembered as a staunch advocate

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for LGBT rights. He was the first openly gay
member of Congress, and the first representative

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to be in a same-sex marriage.

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known to fans as Totó La Momposina, died May 17,
2026, of a heart attack at the age of 85.

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Often called the “Queen of Cumbia,” she helped
bring the Afro-Colombian rhythms of cumbia and

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bullerengue to audiences across the world.
In 2013, two years after her album “Latinoamérica”

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won the Latin Grammy for Record of the
Year, she was honored with the Latin

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Grammys’ lifetime achievement award.

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mass shooting at the Islamic Center of San
Diego. The community mourns the loss of

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Amin Abdullah,
Mansour Kaziha, and

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Nader Awad.
In this video,

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we do our best every week to bring you the week’s
obituary headlines. To find tributes to millions

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more people, you can visit our website,
Legacy.com, where ANY family can publish

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an obituary in honor of a loved one’s memory,
online and in local newspapers everywhere.

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In addition to featuring current deaths in
the news, Legacy.com also honors the lives and

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legacies of notable people who died in the past.
Here are some of this week’s anniversaries.

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Five years ago this week, actor Gavin MacLeod
died at the age of 90. He played newswriter

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Murray Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore
Show and starred as the cheerful Captain

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Stubing on The Love Boat.
Fifteen years ago this week,

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actor Jeff Conaway died at the age of
60. He played Kenickie in the beloved

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1978 musical film Grease and was Golden Globe
nominated for his role on the sitcom Taxi.

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Fifteen years ago this week, jazz poet and
musician Gil Scott-Heron died at the age of 62.

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Widely regarded as a forefather of hip-hop, he is
best remembered for his landmark 1971 recording

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"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised."
Thirty-five years ago this week, singer-songwriter

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Gene Clark died at the age of 46. A founding
member of the folk-rock band the Byrds, he

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was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
with the group just months before his death.

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Rapper Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes would
have been 55 this week. The fiery

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creative force of the Grammy-winning trio
TLC, she co-wrote and performed on hits

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including "Waterfalls" and "No Scrubs."
She died in 2002 at the age of 30.

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Astronaut Sally Ride was born 75 years ago
this week. The first American woman in space,

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she flew aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger
in 1983. She died in 2012 at the age of 61.

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Actress Beth Howland was born 85 years ago
this week. She starred in Stephen Sondheim's

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original Broadway production of Company, and
earned four Golden Globe nominations playing

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the waitress Vera on the sitcom Alice.
She died in 2015 at the age of 74.

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Actor Louis Gossett Jr. was born 90 years ago
this week. He was the first African American to

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win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor,
for An Officer and a Gentleman, and won an Emmy

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Award for his role in the landmark miniseries
Roots. He died in 2024 at the age of 87.

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Jazz legend Miles Davis was born 100
years ago this week. An innovator

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who helped shape jazz from bebop to
fusion, his record Kind of Blue is

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the best-selling jazz album of all time.
He died in 1991 at the age of 65.

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Every week in the United States, flags
are lowered to half-staff to honor the

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lives of Americans whose communities are
mourning their loss. Here are the most

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recent half-staff memorial flag honors.
Flags in South Carolina have been lowered

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in tribute to Officer Don “DJ” Keller
of the Greenwood Police Department,

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who died in the line of duty.
Flags in Michigan have been lowered

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in honor and memory of former state
Representative Paul Clemente.

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Flags in Delaware have been lowered in honor
of former Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki.

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Flags in Alabama have been lowered in
honor of former state Representative

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Harry DuWayne Bridges.
Flags in Maine have been lowered

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in honor of Morrill firefighter Andrew
Cross, who died in the line of duty.

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Flags in Massachusetts have been
lowered in honor of former United States

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Congressman Barney Frank.
Flags across the nation are expected

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to be lowered in observance of Memorial Day,
in honor of the members of the Armed Forces

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who died while serving their country.
You can read more about the lives of the people

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featured in this video on Legacy.com.
Follow Legacy.com on Instagram and Facebook

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and subscribe to our channel on YouTube to
stay up to date on national news deaths.