Hi guys,

I was watching special Dateline on NBC today; The Rolling stone magazine editor said Michael Jackson is/was most famous artist all the time in America even more famous than Elvis Presley.

I think personally he is the 2^nd most famous person in the world all the time after Bruce Lee.

What do you guys think who is the most famous/known person in the world all the time?

To No Quiero
Popularity of MJ in China
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8214344/

Another excerpt from another article
Whip... Elvis may be in USA,....... but here in China, Japan, Korea,
India, Taiwan, Malaysia, Pakistan, North and South Africa, Srilanka,
Michael Jackson is the King.

That covers more than 50% of world population.

If he was not the most famous personality of this generation, would this have happened?

Jackson dies, almost takes Internet with him
LONDON, England (CNN) -- How many people does it take to break the Internet? On June 25, we found out it's just one -- if that one is Michael Jackson.
Read more..

MY OLD MAN IS THE MOST FAMOUS KNOWN PERSON IN THE WORLD TILL I HAVE KNOWN !!

If tomorrow obama dies, he will take internet with him as well. That is no mean to measure.

Obama definitely gonna take internet with him as MJ, no need to debate on this issue dude!!

I don't think you need to learn English to know about Michael Jackson.  Look at Elvis Presley he is very popular figure in Japan, i believe most of the Japanese don't even understand English.  I think Michael Jackson is the most popular person in the world regardless of the era and place.  I don't think music is limited to certain era, if you look at Elvis, he earns more money every year than the current singer.   Since Michael Jackson is dead i won't be surprise if i see him among the   top dead earner. About taking internet with him, this was the second time after Obama inauguration.
 

I agree with no queiro in this regard. Only rational thinking with abundance of logic can prove that there are other people who surpass MJ in this list. Have you thought about Muhammad, the pioneer of Islam? What about Pele, Maradona? Definately Jesus and Buddha are strong contenders. Don't tell me Buddha cannot be taken as a person.One thing is for sure....I can guarantee that Pele and Maradona are more famous than MJ in Nepal.

I agree with no queiro in this regard. Only rational thinking with abundance of logic can prove that there are other people who surpass MJ in this list. Have you thought about Muhammad, the pioneer of Islam? What about Pele, Maradona? Definately Jesus and Buddha are strong contenders. Don't tell me Buddha cannot be taken as a person.One thing is for sure....I can guarantee that Pele and Maradona are more famous than MJ in Nepal.

I thought that we are talking about entertainment industry.  Why are we even talking about religious figure?  If we are talking about sports  besides Pele what about Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan? I think people who never watch their games  knows the  name.

Michael Jackson indeed seems to be the most well-known or widely known "name" after he became famous. We can't just say he is the most famous man of all time..because no body knew about him before he was famous, and there are individuals (or god?) like Buddha and Jesus who have been famous for decades of centuries..But, well after he became famous, I don't know about the person, but seems like his name has penetrated most corners of the world..And, he is not limited to English..Dance and music can easily penetrate language barriers..most people here are limiting his popularity to English language; but, as far as I know he is equally well known for his dances..So, any kid, soldier, terrorist, doctor or old lady would compare anybody dancing well to Michael Jackson..and these people are found in anywhere in the world, whether Nepal or South America..I  think he is way more popular than Maradona, Pele or Mike Tyson although they are very popular too. Many people even don't know the person Micael Jackson but know the name..MJ is an icon of the pop culture.

No sir, the question clearly states " who is the most famous person of all time?"

Thats what I am saying, we can't measure sth like "most popular of all time"..and it is not worth asking too..because that way the question is baised against people who were born later..But, Michael Jackson is arguably the most famous person among X and Y generations.

Elvis Presley was and still is over-rated just like Britney
Spears is. Okay, how many of Elvis songs do they still play on the
radio these days? He did not write many of his popular songs. He was a mediocre guitarist and toward the end of his life in his
late 30s he got too fat to shake his bom bom thus defying his Elvis the
Pelvis persona. The actual King of Rock N' Roll  as many contend was a pioneer called Chuck Berry back
then but he was too black to be dubbed so. The second close to Berry was
probably Jerry Lee Lewis. One of the theories behind Elvis garnering so much media attention was because of his appealing White and Jewish background.

Regarding Obama Vs Michael Jackson, Obama was a glimmer of hope of the time for the voters after the
Iraq War Fiasco, Global financial collapse engineered by the Republican
economic philosophy which went disarray after so much excess. Obama's orating skills,
stances on certain issues, brilliant campaign strategy and likable personality
are some qualities that set him apart from his contenders and also helped in raising a lot of money for his campaign. He is barely
been in office for six months and has a lot to prove. God forbid but if
he died suddenly while in office, the news of the death of a sitting American
President would definitely send shock-waves across the world. But if it
happens as it should that is well after him leaving office, it will be as normal as death of Reagan who was a wildly popular President too.
Still many years from now , I bet you would get stirred up with Michael Jackson's song suddenly appearing on your radio and you would start dancing with your torso on your car-seat
as opposed to Obama or Reagan speech being played.

Regarding Pele and Maradona, they are definitely icons but only to
people who follow soccer as being most popular game in any country.
Unfortunately, some of the most populous nations just to name one or two
like India and USA are rather more obsessed with Cricket, Baseball or
American Football.

TM you really dont' know about Elvis.. He was not only singer but a very famous actor too.


And regarding soccer being famous in India. So how can you say  English songs are famous in china which is predominantly chinese speaking country. Do you really think people dont' know about pele, maradonna in india. I saw one video of diego maradonna in Kolkata. hundreds of thousands of people came to stadium just to watch him. It was match when bengal played some other club. But whole stadium was gripped with maradona mania.

Its gotta be Chairman Mao. For one, 1/3 of the world population knows about him for sure. Now add
the Indian population who are facing Maoist problem to it. He is probably most known person in the world. Not popular but known for sure.

There are innumerable singers who can and have easily got their foot into the door of cinema world because of their existing star power. I know Elvis was an actor too but I know for a fact that he did not perform with Oscar-worthy kind of intensity. How many movies of Elvis have you watched? I have watched none.
All of the above are very famous individuals but not as recognizable or well-known as MJ who was a top of the line lyricist, singer, dancer, humanitarian etc all in one package entertainer.

No quiero!
with due respect to a fellow blogger, I urge you to be honest to yourself and watch/read the outpouring of people on any news media from here on.

Peace

Cowboy has a point here...

My list of top five most famous people in the world

I found it on some website.

The Most Famous People of All Time

1. Albert Einstein
   
2. William Shakespeare
   
3. George Washington
   
4. Abraham Lincoln
   
5. Leonardo Da Vinci
   
6. Elvis Presley
   
7. Walt Disney
   
8. Christopher Columbus
   
9. John F. Kennedy
   
10. Martin Luther King
    
11. Benjamin Franklin
    
12. Michael Jackson
    
13. Mozart
    
14. Princess Diana
    
15. Michelangelo
    
16. Mohammad Ali
    
17. Gandhi
    
18. Napoleon
    
19. Ludwig van Beethoven
    
20. John Lennon
    
21. Marilyn Monroe
    
22. Bill Gates
    
23. Thomas Edison
    
24. Paul McCartney
    
25. Isaac Newton
    
26. Vincent Van Gogh
    
27. Mother Teresa
    
28. Michael Jordan
    
29. Cleopatra
    
30. Thomas Jefferson
    
31. Madonna
    
32. John F. Kennedy, Jr.
    
33. Neil Armstrong
    
34. Bill Clinton
    
35. Pablo Piccaso
    
36. George W. Bush
    
37. Ronald Reagan
    
38. Oprah Winfrey
    
39. Clint Eastwood
    
40. Tom Cruise
    
41. John Travolta
    
42. Bob Dylan
    
43. Tom Hanks
    
44. Mark Twain
    
45. Aristotle
    
46. Jack Nicholson
    
47. Charles Dickens
    
48. Alexander Graham Bell
    
49. Harrison Ford
    
50. Spider Man
    
51. Jim Carrey
    
52. Plato
    
53. Houdini
    
54. Bill Cosby
    
55. Elizabeth Taylor
    
56. Darth Vader
    
57. Britney Spears
    
58. Dr. Seuss
    
59. Hillary Clinton
    
60. Bob Hope
    
61. Dwight D. Eisenhower
    
62. Sean Connery
    
63. Robin Williams
    
64. Alfred Hitchcock
    
65. Eddie Murphy
    
66. Mick Jagger
    
67. Paul Newman
    
68. James Dean
    
69. Ray Charles
    
70. Margaret Thatcher
    
71. Julia Roberts
    
72. Ernest Hemingway
    
73. Denzel Washington
    
74. Sigmund Freud
    
75. Pamela Anderson
    
76. Charlie Brown
    
77. Justin Timberlake
    
78. David Letterman
    
79. Edgar Allen Poe
    
80. Steve Martin
    
81. Beyonce
    
82. Magic Johnson
    
83. Helen Keller
    
84. Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis
    
85. Michael J. Fox
    
86. Whoopi Goldberg
    
87. Jessica Simpson
    
88. Pele
    
89. Lucille Ball
    
90. Anna Nicole Smith
    
91. Meryl Streep
    
92. Stephen Hawking
    
93. Mr. Rogers
    
94. Keith Richards
    
95. Billy Crystal
    
96. Fred Astaire
    
97. Neil Diamond
    
98. Jesse Jackson
    
99. Steve Irwin
    
100. Colin L. Powell
     
101. Vladimir Putin
     
102. C. S. Lewis
     
103. Kanye West
     
104. Andy Griffith
     
105. Louis Pasteur
     
106. Hank Aaron
     
107. Weird Al Yankovic
     
108. Howard Stern
     
109. Henry A. Kissinger
     
110. Michele Pfeiffer
     
111. Chevy Chase
     
112. Tyra Banks
     
113. Borat
     
114. James Taylor
     
115. Dan Aykroyd
     
116. Frank Lloyd Wright
     
117. Tommy Lee
     
118. Norman Rockwell
     
119. Liberace
     
120. Yogi Berra
     
121. Walter Cronkite
     
122. Peyton Manning
     
123. Ashley Simpson
     
124. Mae West
     
125. Miles Davis
     
126. Jane Austen
     
127. Roy Rogers
     
128. Danny Glover
     
129. Lewis Carrol
     
130. Shirley MacLaine
     
131. Terry Bradshaw
     
132. Susan B. Anthony
     
133. Willey Mays
     
134. Sigourney Weaver
     
135. George Carlin
     
136. W.C. Fields
     
137. John Candy
     
138. Dan Rather
     
139. Alicia Silverstone
     
140. Carol Burnett
     
141. Jimmy Conners
     
142. Bob Newhart
     
143. Peter Jennings
     
144. Carrie Fisher
     
145. Nathaniel Hawthorne
     
146. Phil Donahue
     
147. Paul Harvey
     
148. Michael Landon
     
149. Julia Child
     
150. Chuck Yeager
     
151. William F. Buckley, Jr.
     
152. Henri Mancini
     
153. Tom Brokaw
     
154. Elizabeth Dole
     
155. Benny Goodman
     
156. Carl Sagan
     
157. Norman Schwarzkopf
     
158. Andy Rooney
     
159. Arthur Ashe
     
160. Ross Perot
     
161. Gloria Steinem
     
162. Newt Gingrich
     
163. C. G. Jung
     
164. Bill Hicks
     
165. Marilyn Vos Savant
     
166. Charles Everett Koop
     

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© 2006 Andrew Davidson. Contac

Spreadlove, I cannot help laughing seeing your naive list.