Joe Rogan has had over 1,500 episodes of his The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. His show is insightful, motivational, and hilarious, and the best podcast in existence.
This list of 20 people, is a list of people who Rogan would probably have had on the podcast if they had not died already. Some of them have been dead awhile, and some just recent, but they all would have made great podcast guests.
Hope you enjoy!
Jimi Hendrix
It’s no secret that Joe Rogan loves Jimi Hendrix. His podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, was in part a tribute to the late Hendrix and his rock band called The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Joe has said that Jimi is one of his favorite musicians of all time.
Joe says, “I grew up just a giant Hendrix fan…So I was trying to figure out a name for this podcast and who the f*ck has affected me more in terms of motivation than Hendrix.” (JRE episode #1341 w/ Steven Rinella, 1:29:00)
Hendrix died September 18th, 1970 at the young age of 27 from choking on his own vomit in his sleep. It is suspected that he had overdosed on barbiturates, causing him to not be able to wake up from his sleep.
George Carlin
Carlin, a stand-up comedy legend, had a unique style of fast wit comedy that would do two things to you: 1) make you laugh and 2) leave your head-spinning.
Rogan has fellow comedians on his podcast all the time and Carlin would be a perfect fit. One thing is certain, you would never want to get into a sh*t-talking battle with Carlin – he would demolish you.
On June 22, 2008, Carlin died at age 71 just a few years before Rogan started podcasting. He died from heart complications after dealing with a few decades worth of heart problems.
Bob Marley
From Jamaica, Marley was a Reggae singer and musician. He was widely known for his cannabis tendencies and advocacy for legalization.
Rogan’s podcast studio room would be quite cloudy from marijuana smoke if Bob Marley was a guest. They both smoke a lot of it, with Rogan frequently doing it during the show with guests and they both advocated for its legalization.
Marley died in 1981 at the age of 36 from malignant melanoma under his toenail. Unfortunately, this type of skin cancer is very deadly and was located in a spot that was easy to miss – until it was too late.
Carl Sagan
Rogan has had Carl Sagan’s old buddy Neil deGrasse Tyson, on the podcast a few times (episodes #919, #1159, #1347).
Sagan was a friend and mentor to Tyson, and helped clear the path for modern day astrophysicists. His mind-blowing show Cosmos: A Personal Voyage show was a massive hit.
And his amazing book, Cosmos, was written in 1980 and still holds its accuracy even today. I read it and it highly recommend.
On the Voyager spacecrafts project, Sagan was the committee chair of the team that selected the contents of the Voyager Golden Records. The Voyager spacecrafts are the farthest traveling Earth made objects, which are now in interstellar space – outside the suns gravity.
In 1996, Sagan died at age 62 from myelodysplasia, a type of cancer involved with blood cells in the blood marrow.
John McCain
McCain was a Republican Senator from Arizona and a man of integrity. He was a prisoner of war (POW) in Vietnam for 5 and a half years and went through extreme tortures.
He almost became president of the United States in 2008 but lost to Barack Obama. Whether you are Republican or Democrat, you have to like McCain, who cared deeply about what was best for our country and on numerous occasions, showed willingness to cross party lines for what was right.
McCain would have been a great guest on JRE to talk about his politics and war experience. And Rogan has had quite a few politicians on the show, including Bernie Sanders, Andrew Yang, and Tulsi Gabbard.
McCain died on August 25th, 2018 from cancer in the form of brain tumor. At his funeral, former presidents Obama and George W. Bush were amongst the people that gave eulogies.
Chris Farley
Farley was a hilarious comedian who starred on Saturday Night Live with Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Mike Myers and David Spade. He also made hugely successful movies, including Tommy Boy and Black Sheep.
Rogan has given Farley some big props on the podcast #1522 w/ Rob Lowe, and is a big fan of his work. They even met once on the set of NewsRadio, when Chris Farley was visiting his friend Andy Dick, who was on the show with Rogan.
Farley died December 18, 1997 at just 33 years old of a drug overdose, using both cocaine and morphine.
Kimbo Slice
Kimbo Slice is best known for his brutal bareknuckle street fights that went viral in the early stages of the internet. As he got older and well past his prime, he eventually got into the UFC. Although he did okay with a record of 5-2, it was obvious that he lacked the ground skills to become a champion.
Kimbo played college football for the University of Miami Hurricanes, and tried out for the NFL’s Miami Dolphins but didn’t make the team.
Rogan loves to have MMA fighters on the podcast and Kimbo would have an interesting guest. Rogan heard about Kimbo’s death live on his podcast and said, “he was a good guy man, I met that dude a few times, very nice guy.”
Bernie Mac
Born in the tough southside of Chicago, Mac was a stand-up comedian and actor. He was buddies with Steve Harvey and Cedric The Entertainer, and was widely known for The Bernie Mac Show and his role in Transformers.
Check out this small sample of his hilarious stand-up material:
Mac died on August 9th, 2008 from a heart complications and pneumonia. 7000 people attended his funeral including Chris Rock, Ashton Kutcher, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Robin Williams
One of the most beloved comedians of all time, Williams was known for his extreme wit and improvisation skills. He was an actor and comedian, starring in Ms. Doubtfire, Jumanji, and Good Will Hunting.
He’d be an awesome podcast guest because both Rogan and Williams did stand-up comedy, acting, and are super intelligent. Rogan met Williams years ago, and didn’t even realize it was Williams until a few minutes of talking.
And Williams stand-up was pretty awesome:
Robin died in 2014 by suicide from hanging. He had publicly battled alcoholism and addiction before, but his autopsy report showed that alcohol and drugs did not play a part in his death.
Phil Hartman
Hartman was an actor and comedian and starred in the hit TV show NewsRadio from 1995-1998, Saturday Night Live, and The Simpsons.
Know who else was on NewsRadio at the same time? A young rising star in Joe Rogan. If Hartman were still alive, he’d definitely be on Joe Rogan’s podcast like fellow NewsRadio star Andy Dick was in JRE episode #88.
In 1998 at age 49, Hartman was tragically shot and killed by his wife Brynn over a domestic dispute, and then she killed herself.
Kurt Cobain
Cobain was the lead singer and guitarist for the rock band Nirvana. Hs band was part of the grunge music uproot in Seattle, along with other bands like Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, and Soundgarden.
Amazingly, Cobain was born just 6 months before Joe Rogan in 1967 (February and August). And Rogan has frequently had other rock stars on the podcast like Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins, and Paul Stanley of KISS.
Similar to Jimi Hendrix, Cobain died at the young age of 27 in 1994. His death was ruled a death by suicide, although there was some public controversy whether his wife Courtney Love was involved.
Rodney Dangerfield
Dangerfield was an old school comedian, actor, and producer. Best known for his “I get no respect” setup and punchline. He could go for hours just reeling off hilarious one-liners.
Rogan said about Dangerfield, “That guy was awesome. I’m so glad I got to meet him.”
Dangerfield died in 2004 from complications of heart surgery at the old age of 82.
Chester Bennington
Bennington was the lead singer for the rock band Linkin Park. The dude had great vocals and his band had numerous huge hits, including:
- Numb
- In The End
- Crawling
- Somewhere I Belong
- Heavy
Bennington died in 2017 at the age of 41 due to suicide by hanging. Tragically, his death occurred just two months after his buddy Chris Cornell, Soundgarden’s lead singer, died by suicide from hanging.
Evel Knievel
Knievel was an American daredevil, stuntman, and entertainer. He was best known for his wild stunts, often involving long motorcycle jumps from one ramp to another.
Joe mentioned on his podcast with guest Rob Zombie (#1353), that he worked with Evel’s son Robbie Knievel back in his Fear Factor days.
Unfortunately, Knievel died in 2007 just 2 years before Rogan recorded his first JRE podcast. He died at age 69, and had been suffering from diabetes and lung issues.
John Belushi
Belushi, known for his on and off camera partying, was an actor and comedian. He was a star on Saturday Night Live (SNL), and had a huge box office hit in the movie Animal House.
Rogan had Belushi’s close friend and SNL castmate Dan Aykroyd on the podcast in episode #1351 and has talked about him a few times.
At age 33, Belushi died in 1982 from an overdose on a speed-ball, a mixture of cocaine and heroin.
Steve Irwin
Steve Irwin, nicknamed “The Crocodile Hunter”, was an Australian wildlife expert and TV personality. He became famous for his show The Crocodile Hunter where he would often grab and wrestle animals, especially crocodiles and snakes.
Sadly, Irwin died in 2006 from a stingray barb piercing his chest while filming some material for the show Ocean’s Deadliest. Irwin’s deaths shocked the world because people never thought an expert like him would be killed by a wild animal.
On podcast #1527 with David Blaine, Rogan and Blaine ponder if Irwin would have lived if he had kept the barb in his chest. Sometimes, the act of pulling it out causes the most damage (like an arrow).
Irwin had said, “If there was one thing I, Steve Irwin, would want to be remembered for, is be remembered for passion and enthusiasm.”
Dale Earnhardt
Dale Earnhardt was one of NASCAR’s most dominant drivers in racing history. Nicknamed “The Intimidator” and driving the black number 3 car, he won 7 Winston Cup Series championships (NASCAR champion) and was by far the most beloved driver by fans.
Rogan had his son Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the podcast in episode #1196 and talked about his relationship with his dad.
Earnhardt died tragically in 2001 at NASCAR’s biggest event of the year, the Daytona 500. He died on the final lap of the race when his car, going about 180 mph, slammed head-on into the wall causing skull and brain damage.
Kobe Bryant
Bryant was one of the best basketball players of all time and won 5 NBA Championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. Nicknamed “The Black Mamba”, Bryant was an 18-time NBA All-Star and 11-time first team All-NBA.
Rogan said, “I don’t know anything about basketball.” But, Rogan and Bryant lived in the same city, Los Angeles, for a long time, so it was sad that Kobe never got on the podcast. And Rogan has talked about him a few times and really admired his competitive drive.
Bryant famously died in a helicopter crash in January 2020 at the age of 41, just 4 years after he retired. He had stayed ambitious after his basketball career, and was busy with entrepreneurship, and producing his TV series Detail.
Tom Petty
Petty was one of the all-time great rock band musicians, playing guitar and singing. He was in a band called Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and did associated acts with Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, and Roy Orbison, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 2002.
In October 2017, Petty died at age 66 from an accidental overdose of a mixture of opioids, sedatives, and antidepressants.
Amy Winehouse
Winehouse was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. She was extremely talented and won 5 Grammy awards.
Amy Winehouse had left her mark and passed into the great beyond. She was certainly troubled, but DAMN that bitch had talent. #RESPECT RIP
— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) July 24, 2011
Rogan has mentioned Winehouse on the podcast a few times and noted that she was extremely talented, and that he still listens to her music.
In 2011, like Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain, Winehouse died at the young age of 27. The autopsy report indicated she died from alcohol poisoning, with her blood alcohol content exceeding 0.4.