So Michael Jackson has passed recently. We have lost over the years:
Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Miles Davis, George Harrison, Brian Jones, Keith Moon, Marvin Gaye, Mahalia Jackson, Frank Sinatra, 2 Pac, Barry White,
Isaac Hayes, Rick James, Jimi Hendrix, Donny Hathaway and more.

Who will cause major news coverage? Who is legendary enough to garner international media?
[Edited 7/16/09 15:42pm]

Madonna.

Yeah, Madonna will

Oprah will

Garth Brooks probably will

Stevie Wonder probably about the same as James Brown

Prince a little less than SW and JB more than likely

blumer said:

Not here in Europe. There are hundreds of entertainers who are more known here than he is.

My first thought was the Queen of Soul...

You morbid fuckers make me sick!

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

different view points.

growing up everything in my grandmother's house was divided up before she died. it wouldn't be uncommon for my mom and her brothers and sister to say oh don't forget that right there is mine when mom dies.

RnBAmbassador said:

[b]ARETHA FRANKLIN
STEVIE WONDER
MADONNA
PAUL MCCARTNEY
MICK JAGGER
OPRAH WINFREY

If you are wondering who will be the next to get coverage like Michael Jackson, the answer is none of them, ever. Oprah is pretty big but she's not a pop/rock star and rock stars get the most attention because they have more mass appeal and they also have more fans that are interested in seeing the coverage 24/7 than an actor or actress would. Nobody has ever been as big as Michael Jackson and no one has even come a fraction close except for Elvis Presley. Any other pop/rock star might get mentioned on the news for a brief moment or get a day long marathon on VH1 (only if it were someone as big as Madonna) but that's about it.

I don't like thinking about this ... depending on how that said person dies it'll mater. It still won't reach the level of Mike. Mike has been the top headline for 2 weeks and a day now.

ehuffnsd said:

Yeah, but there have always been large demographics that Madonna could not reach.... AT ALL! So you won't see the same kind of universal response that Mike's receiving. Also, she'll (most likely) be a lot older so it won't be so tragic and there won't be so many who remember her at her peak. Still, it'll be a big one for sure. But nowhere near Mike.

No one else will even come close. Barack Obama will be a big one, but he's a politician and people don't feel so personally connected to politicians.

Refuse 2 think about this.
Bad karma.

My sister and I was discussing this not too long ago, we both agreed that no other celebrity will receive this much public reaction when they pass away, EVER! When the House of Representatives gives an entertainer moment of silence, that's deep. I thought about Stevie, but now I absolutely doubt it. When somebody mentioned Prince, I laughed my ass off.

thatruth said:

Stevie, maybe, Ali, what about the other MJ's, Magic and Jordan? Madonna of course, Janet

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Stevie, Magic, Jordan and Janet..... forget it!! Outside America no one knows Magic or Jordan. Janet was only moderately big outside the US and is known mostly now for being Mike's sister (outside the US at least). Young people don't care about Stevie at all (and many older people are indifferent).

Only Ali out of the ones you listed will really effect people when he dies. White women of a certain age and gay men will be moved by Madonna's death, everyone else will just hold their tongue!

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Ali, the world would definitely celebrate his life. But still, 24 hour-around the world coverage, the news of your death is on PBS, TV Land, ESPN, Telemundo, and C-SPAN? 8 cable channels shut down for a day and play your videos, never again will you see that.

Who is the Ali y'all are referring to? Muhammad Ali, the boxer? I thought he had already passed on.

thatruth said:

No! NOBODY will ever touch Michael on that! That's what's got Bill O'Reilly's and that Congressman King's and the haters just like them...britches in such a twist!!

On the day Michael Jackson died...pretty damn near...the whole WORLD cried!!!

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

This is true.

Graycap23 said:

For the sake of argument...I'm going to restate that...

It should say...

When Michael Jackson died...pretty damn near...the whole WORLD cried!!!

vainandy said:

I agree.I can't think of any other artist or celebrity who would get that same type of coverage that MJ received.

I agree many listed, especially Madonna.

I'll add:

Hugh Hefner
Mariah Carey
Britney Spears
Steven Spielberg

This thread should be locked. Why are people now so obessed with this, now. Who cares how much coverage someone gets once they die.

People Michael only got this much coverage because of his scandlous and bizzare lifestyle and people are watching it for the same reason. The media will say they're covering it because of his impact on society. Yeah right. If that were the case, why is all the coverage about soap opera stuff like custody of the kids, Micheal relationship with his parents, Michael's percieved self-image, Micheal drug use, etc. I haven't heard a damn thing about Michael's music and legacy instead of a blurb every now and then. Why, because the media doesn't give a damn about MJ. They only care about ratings.

Getting back to the orgininal question. Yeah another celebrity could get this much attention once they die if the media can get enoug. dirt on them to keep people tuning in every night for the latest in an ongoing scandal.

adam sandler

candy2277 said:

Yeah it's a lot of things, I've heard people refer to his music in some form or another but I knew even before his death that his death would attract a lot of attention and dominate headlines. We can only hope that his music will outlast this but even that's a question mark. They'll never respect it anyway but yeah this will likely be locked if Anxiety or luv4u come in here.

How about giving them their deserved love & dues while they're here for the time being?

Harlepolis said:

We shouldn't have to wait until they're not here to smell the roses to appreciate them. That's the tragedy of so many of our great stars.

I don't think anyone alive today will get the same reaction, garner as much media attention, and spur so many tributes and memorials as Elvis, Lennon and MJ. Maybe Madonna. But not Prince, Stevie Wonder, Oprah or any of the others listed in this thread so far. Sure they are big names, influential people and their loss will be recognised. But not on the level of Elvis, Lennon or MJ.

RnBAmbassador said:

BONO of U2
KISS members

Heh. No one.

http://www.youtube.com/wa...e1KOcBYGjM

^ Would something like this happened if Garth Brooks passed? "Hey guys! Let's all....square dance?" Certainly here he's not known.

They repeated the Jacko memories multiple times throughout the day across all the commercial channels. All of our political scandals got pushed back to snippets on newsbreaks. Of course, there was the tragedy and untimely circumstances around his death, but that's the power of an artist who reached all corners of the globe.

vainandy said:

co-sign