Talk:Deaths in 2026

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Frequently asked questions

Q: There are many "rules" associated with this page. Why?

A: Recent deaths is one of the most-viewed articles in Wikipedia. Deaths in 2025 was the most-read Wikipedia article in 2025, with almost 50 million views. It is important that such a high-profile article has factual information presented in a consistent format.

Q: Why are there redlinks or redirects (deceased subject with no Wikipedia article) listed in the article?

A: Many notable people die before a Wikipedia article is written about them. The regular editors of this page have agreed that a death notice without an English-language article may remain for one month after the death, so that an article may develop. If there is no article after one month, then the death notice is removed from the list.

Q: Why is each death sourced by a simple citation only?

A: Each month, over 1000 deaths are reported. If the "cite news" template were used in each entry, the page would be slower to load as each instance of the template is rendered. Editors have decided by consensus to use a simpler cite in the form <ref>[url, title]</ref>.

Q: Why are dead animals sometimes listed in the article?

A: Many animals (like Ai) achieve notability similar to humans during their life. This article reports the death of any notable biological life with its own article, not just humans.

Q: I saw on social media that a notable person has just died. May I add this death to the list?

A: Material about living persons (or recently deceased) that is unsourced or poorly sourced is removed immediately and without waiting for discussion (WP:BLP). Blogs and social media sites are generally considered to be unreliable. Every death listed must be supported by a reference from a reliable, independent source.

Q: A new month started five days ago. Why are deaths in the old month still appearing here?

A: It takes some time for deaths to be reported in the media and published here. Editors have agreed to keep the old month listed in the article for seven days after the new month begins. After that time, the "old" deaths are transferred to the article Deaths in <old month name>.

Q: Why is there sometimes a date without entries at the top of the page?

A: A new date is added after a new day starts in the time zone that first starts a new day. A relevant time clock can be found here.

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This article has been viewed enough times in a single week to appear in the Top 25 Report 19 times. The weeks in which this happened:

Deaths requiring reliable sources for inclusion in article

Better sources needed (please supply a media source for claim)

January 1 – Bernice Moore, 91, Australian educator (sourced on Facebook here)

The date of death of Bernice Moore can be found here, but I cannot make a clickable source. WWGB (talk) 03:51, 28 April 2026 (UTC)[reply]

January 18 – Elaine Murtagh, 85–86, Irish singer (The Avons) and songwriter ("Dance On!") (sourced on LinkedIn here)

Hello. Is this a good source here for his death? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Danielvis08 (talk • contribs) 12:53, 25 April 2026 (UTC)[reply]

HER death. It has some factual errors by the look of it, or her article does. I'm not convinced. Ref ^(chew)(do) 14:51, 25 April 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I'd have felt it was workable had it included other details like DOB or place of birth to firm up more who exactly this Elaine Adams is. It certainly seems to be the same Elaine but we can't necessarily decree this as such. Rusted AutoParts 18:07, 25 April 2026 (UTC)[reply]

For starters, the Christian name Ellien has not been linked to her anywhere else. It's a puzzling source for me. Ref ^(chew)(do) 18:56, 25 April 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Page 9 of this February 1959 World Radio History release here gives her name as Ellien Murtagh. --Jkaharper (talk) 01:37, 26 April 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Such an important source that I've edited her article to reflect her true Christian name. Ref ^(chew)(do) 07:21, 26 April 2026 (UTC)[reply]

It's annoying that I can't seem to source a DOB for her. Would also give us her age at death (which I imagine was probably 85). --Jkaharper (talk) 09:25, 26 April 2026 (UTC)[reply]

February 15 – Benni Korzen, 87, Danish film producer (Babette's Feast), Oscar winner (1987) (sourced on Facebook via his wife here)

Is this too vague? --Jkaharper (talk) 15:37, 11 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

For me personally, it is. It operates too much as a passing remark. Rusted AutoParts 15:48, 11 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

February 26 – Kyoji Komachi, 80, Japanese diplomat (Japanese Wikipedia sources death with an inaccessible Official Gazette source)
February 28 – Dave Hood, 75, American television host (sourced on Facebook here)
March – Sally Grace, 74, English actress (The Animals of Farthing Wood, Coronation Street, Ghost Story) (sourced on BlueSky here)
March 22 – Stephen Fischer, British singer (Bardo), cancer (sourced on Facebook here and elsewhere on social media)
April 27 – Roger Mathey, 56, American theatre producer and playwright (sourced on Facebook here)

Older years

There may be a need for a concentrated effort to bring alot of the back year articles up to date, I've been combing through Deaths in 2004 and some other years prior, and there's been multiple examples of entries being unsourced, and even in a few instances on the complete wrong day/in the complete wrong month. I've been updating the ones I can find but I'm certain there's many I missed. Sourcing for older entries I recognize could be very hard given how long ago their passings occurred and there's a chance there's no articles or obituaries for them. Rusted AutoParts 05:30, 6 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

On the latter point, they'll need to be removed according to our strict rules on redlinks and referencing. If I find any spare time (!), I'll see how far I can go back but I can't promise. Ref ^(chew)(do) 07:24, 6 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

RIP RFD

A bit off-topic, and I'll understand if this is pulled as talk pages aren't memorials, but I happened to notice User:RFD had passed away. I recall him being a semi-regular editor on these deaths pages a few years back now, he'd not edited since 2023. Wasn't sure if any of the other regulars here knew about his passing or not. Rusted AutoParts 07:21, 15 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Obituary. Wylie pedia @ 07:48, 15 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for this post. May he rest in peace--Noel baran (talk) 07:58, 15 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

His death is also noted at Wikipedia:Deceased Wikipedians/2026. WWGB (talk) 10:28, 15 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I thought it appropriate that I post condolences at the obituary site linked above, so I have. I hope this is agreeable to all. Ref ^(chew)(do) 15:02, 15 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for this information (wikipedians obituaries in generally)! Noel baran (talk) 08:10, 16 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

He did an amazing job with the State Wiki's. When one of us would post a red link article for a state politician, he would be johnny on the spot. RIP.Sunny Doo, 07:15, 23 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Deaths in 2026 a redirect to Deaths in May 2026?

I see no consensus whatsoever anywhere in any discussion anywhere for this change to be made and a redirect created. Discuss now please. Ref ^(chew)(do) 14:41, 31 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Correct, no consensus at all, Interstellarity made a big mess, but I will not try to restore it since I am afraid I will create an even bigger mess. --Marbe166 (talk) 15:11, 31 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@Marbe166 I reverted the moves pending discussion. Because almost all of the entries on this page were for May 2026, I think it would be appropriate to make these moves especially since most of the entries do not cover the entire year other than previous months. Interstellarity (talk) 15:21, 31 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

There are well established procedures for the monthly changes to this page. The previous month gets its own page on the 6th or 7th of the new month. Marbe166 (talk) 15:27, 31 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

This page begins every year as “Deaths in X”. We listed all the passings in a given month, and then a week into the next month the entries from the month prior are moved to their specific time period page (Deaths in January 2026, February 2026, etc). Rusted AutoParts 15:41, 31 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

The rationale just mentioned (used for many years) is still sound, and there's also the fact that renaming the Deaths in 2026 page to just one month of 2026 creates knock-on effects, which I'm sure Rusted AutoParts will explain if required to. Ref ^(chew)(do) 15:58, 31 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

It will be created eventually so no need for a redirect. Stephen"Zap" (talk) 15:39, 31 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

That's not the point at all - the point is, should this main article, which acts as a front page for the whole project, be said to encompass the whole of 2026 or just the month being posted, irrespective of whether it eventually becomes Deaths in May 2026? It boils down to a technical naming issue in relation to archived months. Keep an eye on the above discussion. Ref ^(chew)(do) 15:58, 31 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I was trying to figure out what happened this morning, too. The Deaths in 2026 link on the main page was being redirected to Deaths in 2026#Previous Months all the way at the bottom of the page. Doing it that way makes it hard for readers clicking through on that link to see the most recent listings. No matter what, that's the wrong target and I reverted it. I will concur that there is indeed a standard procedure on how these pages operate, and renaming and redirecting the whole page after the current month is not the consensus. There is an FAQ that explains this procedure as one of its questions, and it was even one of the pages that Interstellarity moved. Doc Strange (talk) 16:08, 31 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, Interstellarity made a mess, I hope, that that it won't happen again because there's no need to "reinvent the wheel" and there are well established procedures for the monthly changes to this page, as pointed out above one of the colleagues--Noel baran (talk) 05:18, 1 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]