Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and spiritual leader of India during the Indian independence movement. He was the pioneer of satyagraha—resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, a philosophy firmly founded upon ahimsa or total nonviolence—which led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi is commonly known around the world as Mahatma Gandhi; mahātmā or "Great Soul", an honorific first applied to him by Rabindranath Tagore), and in India also as Bapu ("Father"). He is officially honoured in India as the Father of the Nation; his birthday, 2 October, is commemorated there as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Non-Violence.

The word Mahatma, while often mistaken for Gandhi's given name in the West, is taken from the Sanskrit words maha meaning Great and atma meaning Soul.

Lennon's life was one of searching, contronted with the paradoxical juxtaposition of his ideals and his own human temperament. According to music historians Urish and Bielen, "What remains the most intriguing and ultimately significant effort are the self-portraits Lennon left in his songs. In holding the mirror up to himself and detailing what he saw for the public, Lennon went beyond himself, both inwardly and outwardly. That was the gift given to him as an artist, and that is the gift he gave to the public." Expressing his experiences and his ideals through his lyrics, "simultaneously humanistic and transcendent", Lennon was able to "transform the intensely personal into the deeply universal (as well as the reverse), often with humor and pointed insight. His songs spoke to, for, and about, the human condition. They continue to resonate with significance and meaning for new audiences in each succeeding generation ... they, and he, will undoubtedly continue to be relevant as long as humans are concerned with themselves, each other, and their place in the world."

Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), known by his stage names 2Pac (or simply Pac) and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is is one of the best-selling music artists in the world with 37.5 million albums sold according to the RIAA. In addition to his status as a top-selling rap artist, 2Pac was a promising actor and a social activist. Most of 2Pac's songs are about growing up amid violence and hardship in ghetto's, racism, problems in the society and conflicts with other rappers. 2Pac's work is known by many for often advocating egalitarianism.

Stephen Robert Irwin (22 February 1962 – 4 September 2006), known simply as Steve Irwin and nicknamed "The Crocodile Hunter", was an iconic Australian television personality, wildlife expert, and conservationist. Irwin achieved worldwide fame from the television series The Crocodile Hunter, an internationally broadcast wildlife documentary series co-hosted with his wife Terri (née Raines). Together, the couple also co-owned and operated Australia Zoo, founded by Irwin's parents in Beerwah, Queensland.

Irwin died on 4 September 2006 after being fatally pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming in Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship MV Steve Irwin was named in his honour, christened by his widow, who stated: "If Steve were alive, he'd be aboard with them!"