Notable deaths in 2017: Famous people around the world who left us this year

Chris Cornell, 52, was the frontman of Soundgarden, one of the leading bands of the grunge music movement in the 1980s and '90s, releasing albums such as "Badmotorfinger" and the Grammy-winning "Superunknown," which brought the band mainstream music scene success.

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, 91, helped usher in the 1960s sexual revolution with his groundbreaking men's magazine and built a business empire around his libertine lifestyle. Hefner was sometimes characterized as an oversexed Peter Pan as he kept a harem of young blondes that numbered as many as seven at his legendary Playboy Mansion. Hefner created Playboy as the first stylish glossy men's magazine and in addition to nude fold-outs, it had intellectual appeal with top writers such as Kurt Vonnegut, Joyce Carol Oates, Vladimir Nabokov, James Baldwin and Alex Haley for men who liked to say they did not buy the magazine just for the pictures.

Chinese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, 61, was a prominent dissident since the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests. He was jailed for 11 years in 2009 for "inciting subversion of state power" after he helped write a petition known as "Charter 08" calling for sweeping political reforms.

Chester Bennington, 41, was known for his powerful, belting vocals as singer for the band Linkin Park. He spoke openly in the past about his struggles to overcome his demons when Linkin Park first found fame in 2000 with their best-selling debut album "Hybrid Theory" and went on to become one of the most popular alt-rock bands of their generation.

Chuck Berry, 90, duck-walked his way into the pantheon of rock 'n' roll pioneers as one of its most influential guitarists and lyricists, creating raucous anthems that defined the genre's sound and heartbeat. Considered one of the founding fathers of rock 'n' roll, Charles Edward Anderson Berry was present at its infancy in the 1950s and emerged as its first star guitarist and songwriter - a nearly 30-year-old black performer whose style electrified young white audiences and was emulated by white performers who came to dominate American popular music.

Actor Sir Roger Moore, 89, earned international fame playing British secret agent James Bond in seven movies. His 12 years as action man 007, the fictitious spy with a voracious appetite for danger and sex, made Moore a millionaire and a heartthrob the world over, though in reality he was a shy, private man who found some of Bond's escapades embarrassing.

Jonathan Demme, 73, was an eclectic movie director whose work ranged from thrillers like "The Silence of the Lambs" to documentaries on leading musicians. Demme's work was wide ranging, including comedy and thrillers to bold fare like 1993 film "Philadelphia," one of the first mainstream Hollywood movies to tackle the AIDS crisis. The movie brought an Oscar for Tom Hanks. Demme also directed concert and music documentaries for Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Chesney and Neil Young, the band Talking Heads, and more recently, "Justin Timberlake + the Tennessee Kids."

Malcolm Young, the AC/DC guitarist and cofounder died on November 18 at the age of 64 after a three-year battle with dementia. Images and text credit: Reuters