Every year a sick ‘deathlist’ does its best to pick out 50 celebrities that ‘might die’ in the forthcoming year, but its 2025 offering had all the accuracy of an English seamer on an Australian pitch
A sick annual “deathlist” which ranks celebrities in order of “how likely they might die” has only predicted 11 out of 50 famous deaths this year.
The DeathList – which sounds like the name of a band my teenage self would pretend to be into for street cred at school – publishes a list of 50 names of people its admins think will die at the start of the year.
Often, the list gets it right with chilling accuracy – in 2023 it predicted the demise of Rolf Harris, Bobby Charlton and Burt Bacharach, alongside 16 other celebrities. Some years though its eye for death is misplaced.
In the website’s own words, 2024 “was an annus horribilis for DeathList – just six deaths – the worst score for over 30 years and a world away from the record of 20 deaths”.
Although slightly more accurate this time around, with just three days left of the year 2025’s list has only predicted 11 celebrity departures.
Chief among the A-list expirations picked out by the Deathlist this year were Beach Boys crooner Brian Wilson and Hollywood icon Gene Hackman.
Wilson died peacefully at his California home aged 82 back in July, while Hackman was discovered dead at 95 in Sante Fe alongside his wife Betsy Arakawa.
On the DeathList’s website, there are mini articles referring to the two star’s deaths. “Wilson no longer getting around” is the headline for Wilson’s passing, while Hackman’s tribute is titled “Trench connection”. Ha, ha (not).
Other notable departures predicted by the list included 65-year-old Irish singer Linda Nolan and the legendary designer Giorgio Armani who passed at age 91 in September.
Scottish comedian, actor, and impressionist, Stanley Baxter, passed at the age of 99, recording the 11th “success” for DeathList 2025.
Despite the Deathlist’s chilling predictions, many people were “marked” but are very much still alive…
Japanese artist Yoko Ono has been on the list for years, while Dick Van Dyke was ranked number one and is doing just grand.
Similarly, cricketer Sir Geoffrey Boycott appears to be playing a typically stubborn innings – just like he did on the pitch – having been named. Anyone who listened to the Yorkshireman provide some withering analysis on England’s diabolical showing in the Ashes this month will be aware the 85-year-old is still with us.
There are also many, many notable absences in terms of celebrities who did pass away this year and were not on the list. Brigette Bardot – didn’t have her down, did you DeathList.
The list’s reassuring inaccuracies serve as reminders that death is – thankfully – not easily predicted.