My list:
Donald Trump
Tuesday Weld
Ye (formerly Kanye West)
Marilyn Manson
Vladimir Putin
Charo
Mitch McConnell
Frank Oz
Ezra Miller
Shannen Doherty
Tom Baker
Michael J. Fox
George R. R. Martin
Alternates:
Alex Jones
Charlie Sheen
/me moans
Since none of them have kicked it since last year, I can use the same list, rap singers. I’m figuring to score big if I get one.
Drake
Lil Baby
Doja Cat
The Weeknd
Lil Durk
Giveon
Polo G
Rod Wave
Post Malone
Moneybagg Yo
Megan Thee Stallion
J. Cole
Kanye West
Alternates
DaBaby
The Kid LAROI
Gunna
I almost forgot to post last year, so I’m putting in early this year, since I got distracted Thursday at work and put this together:
Shannen Doherty
Maggie Smith
Jane Badler
Barbra Streisand
Ben Kingsley
Benjamin Netanyahu
King Charles III
Hank Williams Jr.
George Strait
Bill Clinton
Donald Trump
Rudy Guiliani
Joe Biden
Alternate:
Camilla Parker-Bowles
Going mostly with the same Arizona politicians/people who think they’re in politics theme I go with every year. Since we have no clue who George Anthony Santos Devolder is or where he’s from, he gets a pass onto the list.
Also a question, with the Opening Kickoff in 2024, is it going to be the first person to die, or the first person to have their death reported?
Paul Gosar
Joe Arpaio
Jon Kyl
Bruce Babbitt
Fife Symington
Dan Quayle
Ann Kirkpatrick
Harry Mitchell
Debbie Lesko
Gabrielle Giffords
Dr. Shiva
Jovan Hutton Pulitzer
George Santos
Alternates:
Wendy Rogers
Janet Napolitano
Ron Barber
I’m repeating most of 2023’s list with one or two changes.
Jimmy Carter
Tommy Smothers
Dick Smothers
Woody Allen
Robert Redford
Jerry Mathers
John Williams
Bob Newhart
Barbara Eden
Tom Cruise
Mel Brooks
Hal Linden
Max Gail
Alternates
Benjamin Netenyahu
Warren Buffett
Britney Spears
Jimmy Carter
Dick Van Dyke
Frankie Valli
Bill Wyman
Neil Diamond
Linda Ronstadt
Ian Anderson
Neil Sedaka
Shannen Doherty
Manfred Mann
Chubby Checker
Eric Burdon
Ozzy Osbourne
Alternates:
Alan Price
John Steel
Grace Slick
It’s the first person to die, which means in theory it can change up until 11:59:59 on December 31st if later information invalidates a previous opening kick-off winner.
I forget how it works when multiple people kick it the same day for opening kick-off and the time of death is not known.
Shakur died in July.
Dick Van Dyke
Derek Jacobi
Michael Douglas
Morgan Freeman
Martin Scorsese
Clint Eastwood
Brian Blessed
Bernie Sanders
Michael Caine
Mel Brooks
Maggie Smith
Judi Dench
Imelda Staunton
In 2015 we had two kickoff on January 1. They were Mario Cuomo and Jeff Golub. I did not try to find out times of death and declared those who had picked them were joint winners of the award. No rule, but something like that is not going to happen often, so I have played it by ear.
The dangers of copy and paste. 
Correcting:
Jeanette Lee
Shannen Doherty
Linda Nolan
Michael James Whale
Jonnie Irwin
Vanessa Redgrave
Liza Minnelli
Vladimir Putin
Ryan Dale Minor
Bruce Willis
Franz Beckenbauer
Michael J. Fox.
Ron Jeremy
Alternate:
Tim Curry
Got to start somewhere, so here is my first list:
Vladimir Putin
Ramsan Kadirov
Jared Kushner
Tom Lehrer
Sophia Loren
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Pope Francis
Julio Iglesias
Bruce Willis
Franz Beckenbauer
Stephen Fry
Celine Dion
Adriano Celentano
Alternates:
Art Garfunkel
Shannen Doherty
I don’t want Tom Lehrer to die!
Don’t worry: He probably won’t if he is on my list. Two is the most I ever got right so far.
King Charles III
Donald Trump
Tom Brokaw
Jimmy Carter
Shannen Doherty
Andy Taylor
Dick Van Dyke
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Lou Gramm
Salman Rushdie
Bill O’Reilly
Liza Minelli
Bruce Willis
Alternates:
William Shatner
Ringo Starr
Andy Taylor is from Duran Duran
Nm, put it in the wrong list.
Andy Taylor
John Williams
Gene Hackman
Celine Dion
Hunter Biden
Robert Redford
Stephen King
Joe Biden
Christopher Walken
Britney Spears
Shannen Doherty
James Earl Jones
Bruce Willis
Alternates:
Val Kilmer
Dick Van Dyke
Bill Clinton
Andy Taylor from Duran Duran
Damn it, I just thought of a great one.
You can still change your list. Or tell it to me!