Golden Globes to remember dead celebrities in unprecedented change of plans

Carrie Fisher presents her mother Debbie Reynolds with the Screen Actors Guild life achievement award in 2015. The pair will likely be honoured by the Golden Globes next week. Photo/AP

2016 will forever be remembered as the year all our favourite celebrities died, and it is a grim honour that the Golden Globes won't be ignoring next week.

For the first time ever, the Globes is looking at recognising some of the famous faces that have passed away over the last year.

"We have not done an 'In Memoriam' on the Golden Globes. Those things are handled really well by the Oscars and the Screen Actors Guild," Globes producer Barry Adelman told People.com on Wednesday.

"But we do realize there were some special circumstances of very recent nature that happened and I think we'll be acknowledging that."

The Globes, which are organised by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, are generally viewed as a more light-hearted and fun event than the more serious ceremonies that come after.

However, the significant number of prominent celebrity deaths in 2016 has forced a change of hand, and the deaths will likely be mentioned by presenters and award winners regardless of what the organisation does officially.

The list includes Gene Wilder, Alan Rickman, David Bowie, Anton Yelchin, George Michael, and most recently, mother-daughter duo Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher, who died just a day apart at the end of December 2016.

While there has been some division online as to whether last year's deaths were significant or not, the BBC has to use 46 pre-prepared obituaries in 2016, compared to 2012 when they only had to use 16.

The Golden Globes take place Monday from 2PM our time, and will be broadcast live on Vibe.