Outside of The Queen, Obama and maybe The Pope?
McCartney or Madonna but that’s about it.
Didn’t happen.
Very few people care about Paul M or Dylan or Ted Kennedy or Woods in India, for example. Sure, some do, but everyone knew Michael. My parents’ parents knew Michael. My nephews and nieces’ kids know Michael.
Definitely not Oprah.
It would have to be Obama, or the Pope. Obama would be guaranteed though - he made so much news when he was elected.
FTR, Osama Bin Laden is only a year older than Michael Jackson; he is not up there in years.
It seems that many of our nominees are in music. We have a personal relationship with them that we don’t have with other entertainment.
For a moment, I thought you wrote “Peter Cetera”. :smack:
I do think Oprah would blow him off the front page. Muhammad Ali also.
Nah. Hate to say it, but MJ probably whups Carter or Bush, Sr.
Say the name “Neil Armstrong” to a group of people under 20 and see how many blank expressions you get.
Buzz Aldrin, on the other hand…
It would have to be an unusual death for anyone to eclipse him. For instance a John Lennon type assasination would do it.
Madonna settled down after she had kids and outside of her adoptions hasn’t produced any controversy. The Queen of England? No, she’s old people kind of expect it.
Jackson was freakishly famous but part of this show is because of the child molestation charges. If he didn’t have those, his death would’ve been major but people would be like “Oh yeah I forgot about him.” Kind of like Elvis’s death was much bigger looking retrospective than when it happened. Marilyn Monroe and James Dean as well. There deaths are bigger looking back then when they happened.
If Obama had a heart attack or was assasinated, people would be more concerned about the new government then him.
So I don’t think there is anyone who could produce this constanst media phrenzy. Remember all these people wanting to “remember” Jackson are basically looking for a chance to get their mug on TV.
The last time someone died that 'caused this big a stir, was probably Lucille Ball, and even that wasn’t as a media cirucs, 'cause she was in poor health, and there was no controversy with her death. She was banner headline, interrupt shows to report death, produce tributes ASAP, but I don’t think anyone could eclipse this, unless the circumstance of death were criminal and the fame level high.
Yeah I know all that. My point is, if Teddy were assassinated, the event would inevitably tie into his brothers’ deaths and stir up a lot of residual emotions. If he just kicks the bucket I don’t think it would have the same emotional impact. Still, he’ll undoubtedly get a state funeral and it will be a genuine Media Event.
Granted, it’s unlikely that he’ll be assassinated at this point, and I certainly hope none of the things I suggested come to pass.
That’s why I suggested Diana’s sons. They’re young, healthy and look a lot like her. I think if either of the young princes died suddenly it would cause a bigger scene than if the Queen or even Prince Charles ate some bad mushrooms.
I agree - Obama would do the trick. Kim Jong Il might too, since the whole North Korea scene is a freakshow.
Speaking of Media Events - after watching what seemed to me the excessively televised mourning rites following Tim Russert’s death, I suspect Walter Cronkite’s death will also be a certifiable Big Deal for the people who program the news.
I think pretty much ANYONE’S death, assuming they are a celebrity, could eclipse Jacksons, and what I mean is that this too shall pass and be replaced by the next media feeding frenzy and item of interest.
Lennon’s death was HUGE in terms of media coverage and global reaction (I was 15). So was Elvis’s (though I was younger and not quite as tuned into the coverage). Diana, also, days of front page coverage and public reaction.
In a few days, the Jackson story will be down the page and replaced by something else. It will flare up again for a few days when the final autopsy report is released.
None of this is meant to rate Jackson or anyone else on their impact or worth…just to point out the transitory nature of these events and stories. And the impact is more for some than for others…for some, just an interesting story to discuss over the water cooler or on-line. For others, the person who died had a big influence in their lives.
Ultimately, the death of someone you know personally, or your OWN, could easily eclipse the death of ANYONE else in the world. It’s all relative.
Elvis. For real, this time.
How about Elizabeth Taylor? She was a (the?) huge international star of her time. I realize she is not on the non-tabloid radar much these days, but her connection to MJ makes her more “current.”
Add to these that Jackson was an incredibly talented and famous child. When Madonna passes, we won’t be watching clips of her as a preteen singing No. 1 hits and improving on James Brown’s footwork. Having that amazingly gifted child gives his ultimate fate more impact.
Why speculation? Charles is heir apparent.
Sure, regarding OBL, but he’s been sick and in fact for a time it was suspected that he was already dead.
As Anaamika noted, I think most of the nominees are known in a Western European/US context mostly. There was a Filipino prison troupe that did a Thriller tribute; I can’t see anyone else topping that. Sir Paul will garner a huge amount of attention but it’s not as if it would be unexpected. He seems healthy, but he’s outlived half of the band already.
I can think of a few deaths that had similar shock value, but obviously not the impact (except the first one I’ll mention). John Lennon, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. All of them were re-emerging after a period of dormancy (at least to the general public), had violent, sudden deaths (assassinations for the first two and a helicopter crash), and were pretty much unexpected.
TWDuke’s point that MJ has been an international A-list celebrity for four decades is another point to consider. The only persons mentioned with that longevity are QE2 and Sir Paul. Tiger is famous but nobody knows him, really - and that’s the same for all of the sports figures mentioned, except Ali, but as it’s been mentioned, he’s not in the best of health.
I think Obama would be the one, and it would have to be sudden and unexpected. I hope like hell we never find out, though.
That’s a good point. Any news event involving the news media itself always gets a lot more attention. Cronkite’s death will get a lot more coverage than an equivalent figure in some other business would.
The death of Queen Elizabeth II or either of Diana’s sons might bump Jackson’s death off of the BBC at least. As it stands now, it’s suddenly become the Michael Jackson News Network.
I think both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush would have deaths dominate the news in a manner similar to or even greater than MJ. 1) They’re both ex-presidents, which would obviously make huge news. 2) They’re both relatively young (at least as far as ex-presidents are concerned), and in decent health, to my knowledge. 3) Clinton was the first Baby Boomer president, and the first MTV-era president, so people of all ages have an attachment to him. 4) Bush is just out of office, and it would just seem bizarre in this day and age for him to die before his dad, before Cheney, et al. 5) They’re both hugely polarizing figures, that both sides would have endless words for them. 6) Both had major influences on foreign affairs (duh, they’re presidents), and I think it goes without saying that in the US, there’d be shock.
I recall President Johnson had the misfortune of dying on the same day the* Roe vs Wade* decision was handed down. His death rated barely a mention compared with that, and he’d been out of office only four years.
You are probably right on that and I concur now that I think of it. I still don’t get why people keep naming old people though. They die. That is what they are best at and nobody would be all that surprised.
The shock value is key to this question regardless of what the person accomplished. Even a random teenager that dies in a car accident in some backwater town is going to get much more press than a former 80 year old mayer that falls over from a heart attack. In my town, a football player took a bad hit, got treated by a coach, went back onto the field, and then collapsed and died an hour later. The funeral home could not accommodate the number of visitors so they were stretched out for blocks disrupting normal traffic. The youth and shock are what caused this. He didn’t have any time to do anything of note but it shocked people so badly that they had to mourn.