Whose death would be most significant?

I think their news significance is higher, but if you're talking about deaths that'll cause the press to overreact and the world to sob, I don't think Ross and Taylor have anything on celebrities who thrive in the world of the Internet.

There will be many, many an Internet child who says, "Diana who?" and "Oh, some friend of Michael Jackson's" when those two die, but sadly, those folks - and their kids - will tear their hair out if Spears or Madonna kick the bucket.

And relevancy matters, too. Like has been said, Elvis' death was bigger, if just because he was an active entertainer at the time. Ross, not so much. (And she's so plastic these days I kind of figure she's only about 40 percent alive in the first place.)

But Spears will probably be irrelevant in a few years anyway. Or at least we can hope.

I'd remove Palin, the elder Bush and Spears and add Nicolas Sarkozy, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton - but not in that order.

 

All of them? Jeez, that would be something...

 

When Elvis really dies, it'll be huge.

 

It's fine that you don't like him. But "he's horrible"?

Please.

 

When either Jagger or Keith Richards dies, it'll be enormous, largely because of the boomer significance. McCartney, too, but Lennon's death kind of mitigates that a bit. Those other two blokes have been playing together for nearly five decades.