The Goodbye Song Trivia Quiz

Answer: David Bowie

Born David Jones, and also known as the Thin White Duke and Ziggy Stardust, he was a British singer and songwriter whose signature hits included 'Let's Dance', 'Heroes', 'Life on Mars' and 'Space Oddity'. Over his career, he collaborated with several other musicians, including Trent Reznor, the Pet Shop Boys and Iggy Pop. He also played the odd acting role, such as the Goblin King in 'Labyrinth'.

Bowie died of liver cancer two days after his 69th birthday. 'Blackstar's producer Tony Visconti described the album as a 'parting gift'; Bowie had been seriously ill during the recording, but had kept his illness private.

Answer: Alan Rickman

As well as Professor Snape, Alan Rickman's many roles included Marvin the Paranoid Android in 'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy', the Sheriff of Nottingham in 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves', Colonel Brandon in 'Sense & Sensibility', and Hans Gruber in 'Die Hard'. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and started out in theatre. Outside film, he co-edited the play 'My Name is Rachel Corrie', about a pro-Palestine activist.

Like Bowie, Rickman died of cancer - in his case, pancreatic cancer - and kept the fact that his illness was terminal private. 'Alice Through the Looking Glass', in which he played Absolem the Butterfly, was dedicated to his memory.

Answer: Terry Wogan

Terry Wogan presented a regular breakfast show on BBC Radio 2 in the '90s, before later moving to Sundays. On TV, he presented 'Blankety Blank' and 'Children in Need', and was the UK's commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest (which he also hosted in 1998), replaced by Graham Norton in 2009. Franz Ferdinand namechecked him in their single 'The Dark of the Matinée' ('So I'm on BBC 2, telling Terry Wogan how I made it...') Players of a certain age may remember he also voiced and narrated the children's show 'Stoppit & Tidyup'.

Wogan died of cancer after a long period of illness, which had prevented him from presenting 'Children in Need' in 2015.

Answer: Lady Penelope

Sylvia Anderson, née Thomas, worked on several puppet shows with her third husband Gerry, the most well-known of which are 'Thunderbirds', 'Stingray', 'Joe 90' and 'Captain Scarlet'. She worked mainly on character development and voice acting. Aloysius Parker is Lady Penelope's chauffeur in 'Thunderbirds'; Anderson came up with the idea for Lady Penelope as the Tracy brothers' English ally, and also voiced her. She was used as a template for the Lady Penelope puppets. 'Supermarionation' was a highly sophisticated style of puppetry, combined with animation, which made the puppets lip-sync to their actors' voices, like animated characters.

Anderson died ten days before her 89th birthday.

Answer: Victoria Wood

Victoria Wood started out writing plays, then became known as part of a double act with fellow comedian and actress Julie Walters, first on 'Wood & Walters', and then on 'Victoria Wood as Seen on TV'. One of the most notable recurring sketches was 'Acorn Antiques', a parody of 'Crossroads', starring Walters as the cleaner Mrs Overall. 'Let's Do It' also made its debut on this show. Although she was mainly known for comedy, Wood could also play serious acting roles, such as Nana in 'Ballet Shoes'.

Wood was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2015, but kept her illness private until her death.

Answer: Prince

Prince, or Prince Rogers Nelson to give him his full name, was only 7 years old when he wrote his first song, 'Funk Machine'. His many albums included 'Diamonds & Pearls', 'Lovesexy', 'Rave un2 the Joy Fantastic' and 'Purple Rain', the soundtrack to the film of the same name in which he also starred. He was one of the very few musicians who refused to let 'Weird Al' Yankovic cover any of his songs. He also wrote for other musicians, such as the Bangles and Sheena Easton, and Sinead O'Connor's cover of his 'Nothing Compares 2 U' became her breakout hit.

Prince died after accidentally taking an overdose of fentanyl, an opioid painkiller.

Answer: Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen was a poet as well as a musician; in fact, he actually started out as a poet and novelist. He even won an award for his poetry collection 'The Book of Mercy'. In 1966, he stated that he was going to focus on writing songs, and he released his debut single 'Suzanne' in 1967, famously covered by folk singer Judy Collins. Jeff Buckley, Alexandra Burke and Rufus Wainwright are among the musicians who have covered 'Hallelujah'. Cohen's albums included 'I'm Your Man' (which my mum played to me as a kid), 'Songs of Love & Hate', and 'Death of a Ladies' Man'.

Cohen died as the result of a fall in his home. He was also ill with leukemia at the time.

Answer: Zsa Zsa Gabor

Zsa Zsa Gabor, born Sári Gábor, moved from Hungary to the US in 1941. Her older sister Magda became a socialite, married six times, and her younger sister Eva was an actress (fans of 'The Rescuers' may remember she voiced Bianca). Although she had a decent acting career, appearing in films such as 'Moulin Rouge' and 'We're Not Married', she was also famous for her many marriages: nine, to be exact. In 1989, she was convicted for slapping policeman Paul Kramer after he pulled her up for a traffic violation.

Gabor died of cardiac arrest nearly two months before what would have been her 100th birthday.

Answer: Last Christmas

If you live in the UK, as Christmas draws nearer, you'll hear Wham!'s 'Last Christmas' being played in shops and on the radio. It was just one of Wham!'s many hits, along with 'Club Tropicana', 'Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go', 'Wham! Rap' and 'Everything She Wants'. George Michael was the main writer in the duo, and embarked on a solo career after Wham! split in 1996. His Number 1 hits include 'Don't Let The Sun Go Down on Me' (with Elton John), 'Jesus to a Child', 'Fastlove' and 'Faith'. He came out as gay in 1998, and later revealed that 'Jesus to a Child' was about a former boyfriend who had died of AIDS.

Michael's death was attributed to dilated cardiomyopathy. After his death, it came out that he had donated generously to many charities, but requested that his name be kept private.

Answer: Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds

Although many will know Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia (and later General Leia) in the 'Star Wars' series, she also appeared in 'Hannah and Her Sisters', 'The Blues Brothers' and 'The Women'. She also wrote 'Postcards from the Edge', which was later turned into a film. Debbie Reynolds' major films included 'The Unsinkable Molly Brown', 'Divorce American Style' and 'How the West Was Won'. Later in her career, she appeared in the Disney Channel series 'Halloweentown'. Both Reynolds and Fisher appeared in a documentary about their relationship, 'Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds'.

Fisher was plagued by drug abuse and alcoholism throughout her life, and was hospitalised after she stopped breathing on a plane journey, and an ambulance was called. She was in intensive care for four days before dying of a cardiac arrest. Reynolds followed her to the grave a day later as the result of a stroke. A joint private memorial was held for the two women the following month.