Entertainment For Lively Minds
Who are the world's most famous people?
Prompted by a quiet Friday afternoon, and seeing Tiger Woods constantly referred to over the past week as the `second most famous black person in the world', the question sprang to mind - who are the ten most famous people in the world?
A quick brainstorm around the office threw up the following as suggestions... (rules were the people must be alive)
1. Barack Obama
2. Osama Bin Laden
3. David Beckham
4. Britney Spears
5. The Pope
6. Tiger Woods
7. Tom Cruise
8. The Queen
9. Eminem
10. Paul McCartney
Any challengers? We considered Eminem, 50 Cent, Will Smith, various footballers and the thought that there's probably someone in China or India known to billions but missed by four of us perched on the east coast of Scotland...
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Not exactly in the public eye anymore
but I'd put George W Bush and Tony Blair in the list.
I couldn't pick his image in a photograph, but might Neil Armstrong's name be enough to make a list? (Definition of fame might need to be confirmed.)
you missed
tu pac, bob marley, Mau, che, Amitabh Bachchan, shilpa sheti, mario, oh and the drummer from cud
George Bush
...is probably still a bit more famous than Obama. There are countries that pretend he's still president.
Elvis?!
If you're going to have The Pope then perhaps you should also have The Dalai Lama. I'm surprised nobody has challenged your claim the Bin Laden is alive so I'll suggest Elvis Presley who I'm sure has been seen more recently!
Muhammad Ali.
He the man.
I hate to say it
but I doubt that your average teenager today has even heard of him.
Please,
Don't say that.It has ruined my day that thought.
Basketball Players
Don't know much about it myself but in many parts of the world basketball is at least as popular as football. Michael Jordan? Shaquille O Neill?
Also, Usain Bolt must be pretty famous now.
Also, Madonna should probably be on the list too.
Nelson...
Mandela.
I have doubts about the inclusion Britney Spears and Eminem. I'm not certain they'd cross generational divisions. For example my dad wouldn't have a clue who they were, but he'd know all the others.
The ultimate test
would be if you arein the middle of no where and some little kid runs up to you asking for change and his ragged t-shirt has Jacko's face or similar on it well that's fame.
I got a completely fresh perspective on this...
...when I visited Africa. I had to explain to an educated and cosmopolitan Ethiopian who Elvis Presley was, which made me think.
The world's most famous people are either famous Africans (Nelson Mandela, Gadaffi) or people who are famous in Africa (which means a handful of footballers with Beckham at their head).
I would imagine the same applies in China minus the Africans. This probably means that David Beckham is the most famous person in the world. The ragged tee shirt theory I'm not so sure about because they're all sent by charities and you see kids wearing logos and faces that they don't have the first idea about.
Me too,David
Working in Spain their concept of who's famous is totally different. Example who is more famous ? Pau Gasol (LA Lakers) or Sachin Tendulkar ?
One is known in North America and some of Europe and the other is known by probably The whole of South Asia. a couple of billion people.
The consensus in my garage was
1)David Beckham-Football really is the World game but he's well known in non-traditional football areas like India,USA
2)someone like Tom Cruise or Will Smith A Hollywood star because their films are shown in nearly every language whereas Bollywood ones aren't.
3)Whoever is US president at that time.
Robert...
Mugabe?
I would suggest that once you've seen him you're very unlikely to forget him.
As a travelling Scotsman
recently returned from South East Asia after numerous trips to parts of the world you wouldn't recommend to your mother I usually explain my nationality - in response to the second question anyone asks you "Where you from?" - with reference to bagpipes (miming cuddling a squid), or whisky (miming drinking then falling over)usually to great appreciation ot total incomprehension.
My recent trip to Cambodia threw up a new one though. At first I was surprised. I was chatting to a tuk-tuk driver going through the usual conversations (what your name? You like it here?) when we got to nationality. "You Scottish?" he said. To my surprise he started miming singing into a microphone and pretending to be fat. He was being Susan Boyle!!
And then it kept happening! "Scottish?" followed by the fat singer mime.
Has anyone ever became this famous this quickly in so many places? I was astounded.
Susan Boyle
Is there anybody in the world (not the 3rd world) who does not know who Susan Boyle is? I have close friends in Thailand (they don't call it the far east for nothing) and they all know her. In fact, she is currently No.1 in the music charts over there! How bizarre is that?
And...
she'll be forgotten just as quickly as her fame spread in the first place.
Chinese hurdler...
Liu Xiang certainly was up there with Tendulkar, Beckham, Woods, Messi, Ronaldo et al
Madonna would be my shout in music. Brangelina in film.
Not sure about the Pope...the office is famous but is the man himself?
It's a big world after all
Wasn't there an English woman who was the world's most watched person because she presented a TV show in China, teaching english?
I live in a country of 4m people and there are local celebrities here that do not have any presence overseas. My thinking is that celebrites from Asia (particularly Bollywood stars) would have far more reach to more people than, say, Eminem.
Sachin Tendulkar
Nelson Mandela,
Hugo Chavez,
Fidel Castro,
Jackie Chan,
Edison Chen,
Michael Jordan (still),
Bill Clinton (still),
Shakira,
George Weah (still).
George Weah
Is he really that famous?
Ali Dia - George's "nephew"
Very famous in Southampton!
What do they look like?
I think that to be properly considered as famous then it's important for people to know what you look like too. In which case I think we should only allow Nelson Mandela, Fidel Castro, Bill Clinton and possibly Jackie Chan from your list.
I understand
that FIFA delegates from some African countries were returning votes for George Weah as World Player of the Year for up to five years after his retirement, and that his name is known - and worn - by children who have never seen his face, let alone seen him play. He was simultaneously World, European and African player of the year, and was voted African player of the Century, an honour he shared in parallel with Johan Cruyff and Pele. He was the first pan-African sports star, and the fact that his name has retained its currency in the second largest land mass without the benefit of his face doesn't make him a star, but, quite literally for once, a legend.
As for Edison Chen, an actor and tv star who has also released best selling records in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin and who became infamous when he gave China (with a paltry population of about 1.3bn) its first taste of a good old-fashioned Western-style sex scandal? Well I think he's done enough to imprint his face on the minds of a fair few people.
Micheal Jordan managed to become the most famous sportsman in the world for a bit while we in Britain weren't looking, and wherever Shakira (the most popular Hispanophonic star of her generation, and the woman who has - so far - released the best selling single of the 21st century) goes, her face goes with her.
Go to anywhere in America, north or south...
...and try talking about Sachin Tendulkar.
In the Jackie Chan vein...
... guys like Dharmendra or Amitabh Bachchan - big in Bollywood, and throughout South Asia
Homer Simpson...
..does he count as alive?
Most...
definitely, even if sitting on a couch and drinking beer does not strictly constitute 'living'.
Doesn't it?
Aw, crap. I'm going to need a new hobby.
Wayne Rooney and Alex Rodriguez.
The figureheads of the two biggest teams in sport.
I would also say Jesus Christ because, in the minds of many, he is alive.
You try to argue with them. I'm not going to start.
When did Rooney...
...sign for Real, then?
Ahem- Madonna. Surely she's
Ahem-
Madonna.
Surely she's massive all over the world.
Prob agree with Beckham though: World famous in the far east, Middle east, south eact, USA ( Chris Rock was talking about him in stand up recently)
Madonna isn't that well known...
...in Africa. Probably not in China either. Or, for obvious reasons, in most of the Muslim world. Actually, the most famous person in the world will be revealed in June of next year, during the World Cup, which is surely going to have to biggest and most cosmopolitan TV audience in history.
a series of unlikely events
If Beckham is picked, and even more unlikely IF we win the world cup, I can't help thinking the FA would be losing a marketing opportunity if they let John Terry pick up the world cup rather than Beckham.
Still not going to happen, so nevermind. But I do think that Beckham is famous everywhere they play football - and a few places they don't.
Michael Owen & Wayne Rooney
Most Chinese taxi drivers, the arbiters of national sentiment, mention Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney before Beckham.
(Or maybe they are trying to impress me with their English pronounciation after listening to me massacre putonghua, which would be fair enough).
And add Yao Ming to the list. He is definite top ten material.
'It's Beatle Paul! It's Beatle Paul!'
Wasn't Macca the victim of an attemped mugging whilst recording 'Band On The Run' in Lagos? Linda, so I read somewhere, had to explain to the miscrants that their planned victim was more than just yer average Western tourist. For Paul what was worse I wonder? Almost being mugged...or not being recognized?
Couple of points
First, as has been alluded to - famous where ? If we're talking the whole world, the number of people famous on all the continents is going to be pretty small.
And how come I haven't seen Pele mentioned, who I would wager probably still tops David Beckham in a lot of territories, maybe not the yoof demographic ? And working off the english speaking world's tabloid fascinations, Angelina Jolie/Brad Pitt/Jennifer Aniston, based purely on magazine cover acreage at the check outs.
Countries with the least World-wide Fame
I think some years ago, the Japanese government commissioned a survey of other parts of the world to find out which Japanese people they had heard of. Japanese brand names were universally recognised, but Japanese cultural figures were almost unknown outside of Japan. Yoko Ono was the most famous, and she has lived most of her life in America. The Japanese, on the other hand, were very familiar with Western culture, from Beethoven to the Beatles
I'm not sure what this proves, possibly that certain cultural activities export and others don't. To be famous world-wide, you have to be part of those activities, such as Hollywood movies and football.
Famous people - a load of baloney!
Eminem????? Do me a favour! He's just an average musician.
David Beckham???? He's just a footballer - usually a short career.
Britney Spears! This suggestion just beggars belief.
Tiger Woods; Tom Cruise - There seems to be an overweaning and quite mistaken belief that success in the fields of music, film or sport actually equates to fame.
What does it mean to be famous - really, globally, famous where people recognise you and listen to you everywhere you go? Our modern view of fame is surely a myth brought about by our culture of TV and film, as well as hype from newspapers and magazines. X-factor contestants, boy bands, ballroom dancers - all flashes in the pan enjoying their 15 minutes of fame before returning to obscurity.
If we are looking at really famous people then it's surely people like Nelson Mandela, Neil Armstrong, Tony Blair (get over it!), Bill Gates, Richard Branson. I agree that both Barack Obama and Paul McCartney would make the list. Mick Jagger might even creep in.
Most famous people are dead.
But...
Sports are watched everywhere in the World where there are TV sets. I once met a Mongolian nomad who asked me if Michael Jordan was having a good year but had no idea who Bill Clinton (the President at the time) was. And on a train journey through Iran I shared a compartment with a guy who knew the name of almost every player in the Premiership, but didn't know we had a Queen.
Local fame vs global fame
I suppose that's not unusual. I expect many Japanese can name their top 10 sumo wrestlers, but the average UK punter would struggle to name one. TV exposure is a factor - when I lived in South Korea the AFKN channel (American Forces Korea Network) helped ensure that lots of Koreans had an avid interest in the World Series and the Superbowl. These were not big events outside the USA. Even the UK had only a passing interest in the Superbowl until a few years ago.
Charlie Chaplin was truly famous globally because most of his films did not have dialogue and relied on visual jokes. This made his comedy universal, including for many of the new migrants to America who had little or no English. I attended a Chaplin film show in Pakistan a few years ago (sponsored by the British Council) where most people in the audience were Pakistani and had never seen a Chaplin film. Over a couple of days they showed 'City Lights' and 'The Gold Rush'. Attending those cinema shows was like being at a Chaplin first night - hardly any of the locals spoke English yet they got all the jokes and laughed uproariously at the antics. It brought home to me the genius of Chaplin and the extraordinary power of silent comedy and mime.
On a Chaplinesque note..
dlusher's excellent point about dialogue-free comedy raises a worrying prospect.
One of The World's most widely-identified people is probably Mr Bean.
Real first timers
I started thinking the same way shortly after posting earlier, so +1 for Neil Armstrong, and you should probably chuck in Yuri Gagarin (well ahead of Eminem and David Beckham anyway.....). But that would probably pre-suppose an education system where history might cover this, or a TV service that wasn't just soap operas and sport.
Beckham
When Real Madrid signed him, one of their primary motivations for doing so was because of the number of replica shirts they would sell in China and the Far East.
Interesting thought:
I noticed that Channel 4 is showing British director Steve McQueen's "Hunger" tomorrow night, and it reminded that for a few weeks in 1981 at least, this man was probably the most famous person in the world.
http://mkcommunists.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/bobbysands.jpg
Hunger
Fantastic film.
Not so much President Obama or Prime Minister Blair,
more anyone whose happened to have held the job in the last 10 years. Obviously some of the people concerned do achieve a high level of fame but I'd suggest that once out of office, they quickly drop from public memory - see comments above about President Clinton and you could say the same for at least one and probably both President Bush's. I'd also suggest that Mr. Blair is dropping rapidly from public consciousness, as did Mr. Major despite being one of the best PM's in the last 50 years.
I'm surprised there's not much mention of Muhammed Ali, probably the biggest sporting icon of the 20th century.
Maybe as we see more and more niche TV / radio / marketing / media, we see fewer and fewer global, pan-generational stars.