The shadow of death haunted popular music in 2016.
David Bowie. Prince. Leonard Cohen. Leon Russell. Merle Haggard.
The loss of so much musical genius in a year's time is especially hard to bear.
There are many others who also will be missed, including soulful powerhouse Sharon Jones, Beatles producer George Martin, composer/conductor Pierre Boulez, Texas singer-songwriter Guy Clark, jazz singer/pianist Mose Allison and the Eagles' Glenn Frey.
And it didn't help that we came into 2016 still feeling the loss of Allen Toussaint on Nov. 10, 2015.
Bowie and Cohen had late career resurgences, releasing albums that seemed to foreshadow what was to come. They are gone, but they left us some of the best music of their storied careers.
This year, as the cultural and political wars raged and ripped us apart, musicians lifted our spirits, gave us hope and inspiration, made us think, touched our hearts and urged us to escape and find solace on the dance floor.
In the midst of all that tumult, the once-lowly album -- seemingly heading to obsolescence, swamped by a sea of downloads and streaming -- staged something of a comeback. From Beyonce's sudden drop of Lemonade and Adele's 25 to Drive-By Truckers' American Band, the album became hot once again.
So, as 2016 fades into history, here's a look at the best of popular music from staff members of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, along with views from other newspapers, magazines and websites.
Style on 12/18/2016