When Michael Jackson died, was he the most famous living person in the world?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCct5t2KFS4
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$11 Answers
Michael Jackson was a lightweight. More today than he was 10 years ago, when he was still toping the charts. During the last 10 years a new generation was born and the ones who may have heard him are now landing at the 3rd floor.
At this moment in politics... Fidel Castro, Vladimir Putin, Silvio Berlusconi, Barack Obama, Alvaro Uribe, Ehud Barak, Nicolas Sarkozy, Hugo Chavez, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or George W. Bush are swimming in circles for fame around Michael Jackson.
In sports... Tiger Woods, Lewis Hamilton (just to name a few black people), Roger Federer, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kobe Bryant, Michael Schumacher, Rafael Nada, Michael Phelps or Kaka are taking the headlines wayyyy ahead of Michael’s.
In entertainment... Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Giselle Bunchen, Robert DeNiro, The Spice Girls, Ricky Martin, Anthony Hopkins, Simon Cowell, Britney Spears... heck! even oldies like Madonna or Bono are much, much famous today than Michael.
Michael Jackson was ONE of the most famous persons during the peak of his career; let’s say between 1984 thru 1990. Nowadays he was turning in to old news... until his death 2 days ago.
Fidel Castro, arguably the most famous political leader in the world.
Cristiano Ronaldo, the best football (soccer) player in the world.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, the most famous actors and the most celebrated couple in the world.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/search.cms
Michael Jackson - "about 544" hits. Probably the vast majority are about his death. Just "Jackson" with no first name, about 1,110 hits.
Obama - about 89,100 hits.
Bush - about 17,500 hits.
Michael Jordan - about 101.
Britney Spears - 872.
Madonna - 1,730
It's almost funny that the Young Turks think Michael Jordan would be in the top five most famous people in the world. It tells you a lot about how much they understand about the world.
My little example was not exactly a scientific study. But if you want to do a real study, you're going to have to go out into the villages of the world where no-one speaks English, and there's maybe one TV set in the village, and ask them if they know who Michael Jackson is.
I think you might find that study wasn't a great use of your time and money. :)
I'm pretty sure that Barack Obama is the most famous person in the world by a mile. But there'll be plenty of people on the planet that are only vaguely aware of even him.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
@stanar... If you are going to critique people's use of data, you had better understand it first. I didn't measure how many searches there are, I measured the number of references in a newspaper archive.
There are sample biases in such an approach, but if you're smart you use the best indications you can get from what data is available, and make a judgement about all those issues.
Also I mentioned in my answer that it's far from scientific evidence, but I am willing to say it's way more likely to be right that anyone's hunch.
At least someone like JK Rowling gets translated into most languages. There are probably more people who have heard of her in either India or China alone than have heard of those other guys worldwide.
to @philipy and others who use " search" to gauge the famous factor
IMHO, if you use who was searched the most, the number would mostly depend on the recent events. Just after 9/11 Osama was the most searched. Would you consider him as the most famous? maybe most infamous.
in the 80s and early 90s, when this guy was most active, most of the world's population didnt have internet access, or even television. But I bet they knew or at least heard his name.
Being "Most famous" good reasons depends on various factors, That's why I said he would be "one of the most of famous entertainers of all time". When he died, he brought down a lot of websites to their knees due internet traffic, think mahalo was also slow due to his video links.
Btw, that link that doesnt work.
check this out:
http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=michael%20jackson&cmpt=q
A couple of years back, Paris Hilton was the most searched for "different reasons" or even "Octomom".
Here's my two cents.
When I would visit the small villages in the West Bank where there would be no electricity (computers) or running water... the people in these places all had a radio and would always be listening to music.
My guess would be that yes, they would know who the president of the US is, but they would also know and like the pop music coming out of the box more.
Michael Jackson infiltrated the nooks and crannies with so many hit songs, I'm sure that they're being played as if they just were just released.
Plus, third world places hold on to and replay songs that were great, long after they fall off the billboard.
My guess is that they're still playing and listening to Jackson's hits, just like when I visited the West Bank villages in the late 80's, they were listening to Hotel California like it was just released yesterday!
@albanian : I would say that lot of people know "Harry Potter", but not JK Rowling. Music reaches deep and wide than books.
@bunnyphuphu... That's pretty unexpected. Did you mostly visit with people that speak English?
I was born in Kenya, I have lots of family in India, and I've travelled a lot. In my experience people like that don't speak English, don't listen to music in English and have never heard Hotel California or Michael Jackson.
Does this look like someone who cares about the The Eagles? :)
I'm afraid songs about "pretty pretty boys" and the "Mercedes bends" don't have a lot of meaning for her.
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1121
Radio is a very important communication medium for sure. People are not always literate, they can't afford more expensive items like TVs or computers, and even if they could the power supply is unreliable or non-existent. However they listen to radio in their own languages, which may not even be the official language of their country.
There are plenty of middle class kids in those countries too, and they are a different story. But overall, I'm pretty sure the story about Barack Obama's election got to far more people than ever heard of Michael Jackson.
Lets look at North Korea for instance. They may not have exposure to Michael, but they hear on a daily basis about Obama I believe (probably not as rosy a version as in the US... well in the majority of discussions anyway)
Plus Michael's star had been fading for a few years. So when he died (as opposed to right now, since he IS the news) there might be a few younger folks who didn't know of him.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
Though he had his own share of troubles and other issues with the media outside the Entertainment industry (almost all the celebrities have, that's the price they pay for being a celebrity), I think people will forgive/forget other accusations and remember him as one of the best entertainers of all time.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
So, my conclusion is Britney Spears is the most famous person in the world.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
I think google is a heck of a lot better measure than Mahalo for fame. Mahalo doesn't have the numbers or the international reach.
Mahalo page views aren't exactly a scientific measurement. :)
My Roger Federer page has over 1,000 views. Is he more famous than Barack Obama and Madonna? I doubt it. Most likely his page just happens to have acquired a lot more inbound links than Mahalo's Obama page.
Also on that measure we'd have to conclude that more people have heard of Andy Murray than have heard of laptops. :)
