# \_We Didn't Start the Fire\_ - who is still alive? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [September 16, 2024, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire-who-is-still-alive/1007328 "2024-09-16T01:23:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire-who-is-still-alive/1007328/1 "2024-09-16T01:23:28Z")
As best I can tell, there are four people named in the song _We Didn’t Start the Fire_ who are still alive (counting either people mentioned by name, or people uniquely personally identified, ie, QE2 in the lyric “England’s got a new queen”). Without looking up the song lyrics, can dopers name all four? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire-who-is-still-alive/1007328/2 "2024-09-16T01:36:57Z")
Tiger Woods, Obama, Taylor Swift, and Robert Downey Jr. (OP didn’t specify which version of the song we were to use.) 😁 ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire-who-is-still-alive/1007328/3 "2024-09-16T01:45:59Z")
Only one I could come up with was Bernie Goetz. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire-who-is-still-alive/1007328/4 "2024-09-16T02:01:32Z")
Bernie Goetz is correct. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire-who-is-still-alive/1007328/5 "2024-09-16T02:06:18Z")
Besides Goetz, I’ve got Dylan and Chubby Checker. Can’t think of the fourth. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire-who-is-still-alive/1007328/6 "2024-09-16T02:09:04Z")
Damn, I forgot Chubby Checker was in the song and I knew he was still alive! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire-who-is-still-alive/1007328/7 "2024-09-16T02:16:23Z")
Brigitte Bardot is still around. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire-who-is-still-alive/1007328/8 "2024-09-16T02:19:09Z")
How about the “children of thalidomide”? ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire-who-is-still-alive/1007328/9 "2024-09-16T02:27:27Z")
I think the argument there would be that they weren’t really “named”. Also there are still Ayatollahs in Iran (although not that one) and presumably Russians in Afghanistan. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire-who-is-still-alive/1007328/10 "2024-09-16T02:38:22Z")
Going through the lyrics, and people who are specifically named, it looks like Goetz, Bardot, Dylan, and Checker are the only ones still alive. Two other arguable corner-cases: - “British Beatlemania”: Two of the four Beatles (McCartney and Starr) are still alive. - “Wheel of Fortune”: Both of the hosts of the show in 1989 – Pat Sajak and Vanna White – are still alive, and the show is still in production. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire-who-is-still-alive/1007328/11 "2024-09-16T02:40:48Z")
All four have been named: Bob Dylan, Bernie Goetz, Chubby Checker and Brigitte Bardot. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire-who-is-still-alive/1007328/12 "2024-09-16T18:34:40Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Bob Dylan, Bernie Goetz, Chubby Checker and Brigitte Bardot. Time to play “One of these is not like the other …” BB is a woman. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire-who-is-still-alive/1007328/13 "2024-09-16T18:37:06Z")
Is that Bernhard Goetz, the subway shooter? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire-who-is-still-alive/1007328/14 "2024-09-16T18:39:23Z")
It is. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire-who-is-still-alive/1007328/15 "2024-09-16T18:40:55Z")
Wow! Shoot a guy in the spine, end up immortalized. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire-who-is-still-alive/1007328/16 "2024-09-16T20:29:04Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Two other arguable corner-cases Adding to this, the OG members of Sugar Ray are still alive: Mark McGrath, Rodney Sheppard, Murphy Karges, and Stan Frazier. Two of the three founding members of Alabama are still alive: Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry. All four original and only members of U2 are still alive. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire-who-is-still-alive/1007328/17 "2024-09-16T21:33:44Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > Adding to this, the OG members of Sugar Ray are still alive I’m deeply embarrassed to admit that in my initial mental playback of the lyrics I initially thought, “Oh, Sugar Ray Leonard is still alive” only to quickly realize the song reference is to Sugar Ray Robinson. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire-who-is-still-alive/1007328/18 "2024-09-16T22:13:56Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > Adding to this, the OG members of Sugar Ray are still alive: Mark McGrath, Rodney Sheppard, Murphy Karges, and Stan Frazier. > > Two of the three founding members of Alabama are still alive: Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry. > > All four original and only members of U2 are still alive. Assuming that I’m not being whooshed: I don’t think that any of those mentions in the song refer to those bands, but to boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, the state of Alabama, and the U-2 spy plane. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire-who-is-still-alive/1007328/19 "2024-09-16T23:56:22Z")
I wanted to make that U2 joke, but just couldn’t come up with a version that worked. I will add that the spy plane is still in service for a little while longer: > **[Air Force prepares to retire U-2 spy planes in 2026](https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2023/05/02/air-force-prepares-to-retire-u-2-spy-planes-in-2026/)** > > Congress needs to approve the retirement plan, which has run afoul of lawmakers in the past. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire-who-is-still-alive/1007328/20 "2024-09-17T01:18:34Z")
While not directly named, Caril Ann Fugate who accompanied Charles Starkweather during his murder spree is still alive. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire-who-is-still-alive/1007328.md?page=2)