The DeathList 2021

4 / 50 dead

2020 holds the current record of 20 deaths

Welcome to DeathList 2021. This is a list of 50 celebrities chosen by the DeathList committee, before the start of the year, for their likelihood to die in 2021. A quick recap of DeathList’s rules: Candidates must be famous enough such that their death is confidently expected to be reported by the UK media; Candidates cannot be famous solely for the fact they are likely to die imminently and only 25 candidates can reappear from the previous year’s list. Buoyed by the global pandemic, DeathList 2020 smashed the previous record with 20 deaths, although only two of them directly related to Covid-19. With quite a few new selections joining the list this year, can DeathList 2021 match the performance of its record-breaking predecessor?

The 2021 List

Rank	Prev Year	Appear	Name	Age	Description
1	1	9	Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh	100	Casual racist
2	13	5	Betty White	99	Golden Girl
3	6	6	Dick van Dyke	96	Actor
4	10	9	Bob Dole	98	Politican
5	8	4	Emperor Akihito	88	Japanese Emperor
6		2	Loretta Lynn	89	Country singer
7		1	George Shultz	101	Politician
8		1	Rush Limbaugh	70	Political Commentator
9	11	4	Murray Walker	98	Formula 1 Commentator
10	14	3	Angela Lansbury	96	Actress
11	15	5	Bob Barker	98	The Price is Right
12	16	3	Alan Greenspan	95	Economist
13	17	9	Henry Kissinger	98	Diplomat
14		3	June Brown	94	Eastenders Dot Cotton
15	18	6	Jimmy Carter	97	Ex US President
16	21	6	Leslie Phillips	97	Comedy Actor
17	30	2	Jacques Delors	96	French Politician
18		2	Ayatollah Ali Khamenei	82	Iranian Ayatollah
19	43	2	David Crosby	80	Crosby, Stills and Nash
20	28	5	Prunella Scales	89	Sybil Fawlty
21	34	3	Abdelaziz Bouteflika	84	Algerian President
22	22	4	Tony Bennett	95	Crooner
23		1	Rosalynn Carter	94	Ex- FLOTUS
24	37	3	Dick Cheney	80	Politician
25		3	Queen Elizabeth II	95	Queen
26	23	3	Harry Belafonte	94	Singer
27		1	Bob Newhart	92	Comedian
28		4	Jimmy Greaves	81	Footballer / pundit
29		2	Barbara Walters	92	Broadcast Journalist
30		3	Pope Benedict XVI	94	Former Pope
31	39	2	Imelda Marcos	92	Former First Lady of the Philippines
32		1	Yoko Ono	88	Mrs Lennon
33		1	Walter Mondale	93	Politician
34		2	Linda Nolan	62	Nolan Sister
35	42	2	Joanne Woodward	91	Actress
36		2	Mel Brooks	95	Comedian / Director
37	31	2	Willie Nelson	88	Country Singer
38		1	Betty Boothroyd	92	UK Politician
39	46	2	Jean-Marie Le Pen	93	French Neo-Nazi
40		2	Sidney Poitier	94	Actor
41		1	Raul Castro	90	Former Cuban Leader
42		1	Burt Bacharach	93	Singer Songwriter
43	12	2	Leon Spinks	68	Boxer
44		1	Frank Williams	79	Formula 1
45		2	Stanley Baxter	95	Comedian
46		1	Bernard Cribbins	93	Actor / comedian
47		2	Vanessa Redgrave	84	Actress
48	36	3	Shane MacGowan	64	Pogue
49		1	Shannen Doherty	50	90210 Actor
50		1	Captain Tom Moore	101	UK Covid-19 Personality

Latest News

17th February 2021

Rush To The Exit

Right wing radio host, Rush Limbaugh, has chalked up the fourth success for DeathList 2021. Limbaugh was one of the original provocateurs who gained notoriety spreading his inflammatory opinions. Limbaugh’s radio career started in the 1970s, but he his fame developed in the 1980s. Limbaugh would frequently refer to feminists as feminazis, regularly slurred the LGBTQ+ community, showed his racism in attacking Barrack Obama during his election campaign and, of course, supported the myth that the 2020 US election was stolen from Donald Trump. Limbaugh announced he had been diagnosed with lung cancer in 2020. He passed away from the illness aged 70, with many happy to see the back of his bile. Limbaugh was making his first appearance on DeathList, securing 8th place.

1 appearance: 2021 (8)

4th Death
Age: 70, Political Commentator, Cause of death: Lung cancer
7th February 2021

No faults in picking Shultz

George P. Shultz has become another score for DeathList 2021, passing at the age of 100. Shultz was an economist and businessman who held several political offices under President Nixon, including Secretary of the Treasury from 1972 to 1974. He was appointed as Secretary of State by President Ronald Reagan in 1982 and stayed in that role until 1989. In his later years he was an advocate for clean energy. More recently he was caught up in the Theranos scandal, being a board director as the company started to unravel. Shultz was making his first appearance on DeathList, straight in at number 7.

1 appearance: 2021 (7)

3rd Death
Age: 101, Politician, Cause of death: TBA
7th February 2021

Spinks Counted Out

Former World heavyweight boxing champ, Leon Spinks, has provided DeathList 2021 with its second success. Spinks was a successful amateur boxer who won the light heavyweight Olympic gold medal in 1976. After the Olympics, Spinks turned professional. For his eighth professional fight in February 1978 Spinks manged to land a fight with the champion Muhammad Ali, which, in a big shock result, he won on points. As world heavyweight champion, Spinks partied hard for months. In a rematch with Ali in September 1978, Spinks was well beaten and his boxing career took a long downward trajectory finally retiring in 1995. His brother, Michael Spinks, also went on to win one version of the world heavyweight title in 1981 and his son, Cory Spinks, won world titles at several weights in the 2000s. It was announced that Leon Spinks had advanced prostate cancer in 2019. He dies aged 67, making his second appearance on this lest – this year at number 43.

2 appearances: 2021 (43), 2020 (12)

2nd Death
Age: 68, Boxer, Cause of death: Cancer
2nd February 2021

Captain Tom No Moore

Britain’s premier pandemic personality, Captain Tom Moore, has sadly succumbed to Covid-19 at the grand old age of 100. Captain Tom shot to fame in April 2020, when he vowed to walk around his garden with his zimmer frame 100 times before his 100th birthday during the first UK lockdown to rise £1,000 for NHS charities. However, Captain Tom’s activities caught the imagination of the British public and he raised more than £32M and elevated himself to national treasure status. Late in April 2020, Captain Tom topped the UK pop singles chart, being the oldest artist to hold the number one spot (and possibly also the worst singer to do so). In July, Captain Tom was knighted by the Queen to become Captain Sir Tom Moore and, in September, his autobiography became a best seller. In October he hosted his own series of podcasts. Captain Tom joined the DeathList for the first time this year, in at coveted number 50 spot.

1 appearance: 2021 (50)

1st Death
Age: 101, UK Covid-19 Personality, Cause of death: Covid-19