Most well-known musical artist in history? (1 Viewer)

[AAABatteries]

Not sure how many of you watch Rick Beato on YouTube but he had a video just released about who he considers to be the most well-known musical artist in history.

He makes the argument that the answer is

Spoiler

John Williams

Here’s the video:

The MOST Well-Known Musical Artist In History?... It's Not Even Close

Whose music is the most well known of anyone in recorded history? Here's a hint: It's not Taylor Swift, The Beatles, The Weeknd, Drake, Bach, or Beethoven. ?...

youtu.be

Curious what other people think and who you would say or guess.

 

[fruity pebbles]

By that question I’d say Michael Jackson. Who wrote the most well know music in history…….maybe John Williams

 

[El Floppo]

By that question I’d say Michael Jackson. Who wrote the most well know music in history…….maybe John Williams

Question is poorly written, as you point out. Argument can be made for Williams' music being the best known, but not the artist.

 

[BassNBrew]

By that question I’d say Michael Jackson. Who wrote the most well know music in history…….maybe John Williams

Michael would have been my answer.

Personally artist invokes singer/musician in my mind, not songwriter.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

At this moment in time, it might be Taylor Swift.

 

[El Floppo]

At this moment in time, it might be Taylor Swift.

Who?

 

[3C's]

Beethoven

 

[Kanil]

At this moment in time, it might be Taylor Swift.

I think It depends on what the definition of "most well-known" means. If it means total number of people at any point in time, I think you're 100% correct. If it's percentage of the global population at any moment in time, I'd say it's MJ.

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

At this moment in time, it might be Taylor Swift.

Wouldn't suprise me. I think it deff depends on generation. I think the op's answer makes a ton of sense though. I might argue that it could be Beethoven or Mozart since eventhough a lot of people don't listen to them regularly we know who they are. or maybe not, idk.

 

[Scoresman]

Thanks for the spoiler reveal OP. I hate how videos these days take forever to get to the point. This does not need to be a seven minute video.

 

[Skipdog77]

Beethoven

Now we are getting ridiculous. I mean he was a good dog, but how many records/songs did he even write/perform? Let's stick to humans.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Beethoven

Now we are getting ridiculous. I mean he was a good dog, but how many records/songs did he even write/perform? Let's stick to humans.

Is it wrong that I read this like I'm in a Bill and Ted movie? Bee tho ven.

 

[Eephus]

John "Hot Rod" Williams or John "Hot Plate" Williams?

 

[Long Ball Larry]

Patty and Mildred hill

 

[belljr]

Rick Astley

An entire generation got rolled

 

[Zow]

By that question I’d say Michael Jackson. Who wrote the most well know music in history…….maybe John Williams

Right. If we're going off of this metric, I assume the answer would actually be the composer or writer of some of the Catholic hymns that have been around for centuries or some such.

 

[AAABatteries]

By that question I’d say Michael Jackson. Who wrote the most well know music in history…….maybe John Williams

Question is poorly written, as you point out. Argument can be made for Williams' music being the best known, but not the artist.

Somewhat agree but I presented it how he did. I would consider Williams a musical artist. My bigger issue is what someone pointed out in the comments - while his music may be the best known, the average person probably couldn’t come up with the name John Williams.

 

[TennesseeJed]

At this moment in time, it might be Taylor Swift.

Who?

Travis Kelce's girlfriend.

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

beatles would be up there too.

 

[rockaction]

I’m looking at the man in the mirror/I’m asking him to change his ways . . .

 

[NutterButter]

Never even heard of him. I was gonna say Elvis.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Never even heard of him. I was gonna say Elvis.

So was I.

 

[Eephus]

Never even heard of him. I was gonna say Elvis.

So was I.

I love The King but I don't think an artist who peaked in popularity 65 years ago would be the correct answer. Roughly 7% of the people who've ever lived are alive today, compared to 3-4% during the heydays of Elvis or the Beatles. Those artists were probably more popular at the time on a percentage basis but the increased population since then works against them.

I suspect more people today know Elvis by image only rather than for his music. He's kind of the musical equivalent of Marilyn Monroe--more famous as an icon than as a person.

 

[Sand]

Nothing like twisting a question to get the answer you want. I'd say Michael Jackson.

Now if we twist a little more and ask who the biggest music artist in history the answer is Bruddah IZ.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

By that question I’d say Michael Jackson. Who wrote the most well know music in history…….maybe John Williams

Right. If we're going off of this metric, I assume the answer would actually be the composer or writer of some of the Catholic hymns that have been around for centuries or some such.

Between going to church as a kid and watching movies as an adult I've heard a tremendous amount of J S Bach, including the first song about an air conditioned strip club.

HAUSER - Air on the G String (J. S. Bach) - YouTube Music

Follow HAUSER: https://www.instagram.com/hausercello https://www.facebook.com/hauserofficial https://www.tiktok.com/@hauser_official From the debut album CL...

music.youtube.com

 

[zamboni]

By that question I’d say Michael Jackson. Who wrote the most well know music in history…….maybe John Williams

Right. If we're going off of this metric, I assume the answer would actually be the composer or writer of some of the Catholic hymns that have been around for centuries or some such.

Between going to church as a kid and watching movies as an adult I've heard a tremendous amount of J S Bach, including the first song about an air conditioned strip club.

Never gets enough credit for his transition from classical maestro to the charismatic lead singer of Skid Row.

 

[Ghost Rider]

I thought everyone knew that the correct answer here is Dexy's Midnight Runners.

 

[Ilov80s]

Williams music is certainly widely widely heard but he’s not very famous himself.

Elvis isn’t even close. I don’t think he impacted Asia and Africa much at all. He’s pretty much an American phenomenon. He never toured overseas. I would probably say Michael Jackson. He was hugely popular and very international at a time when there truly was a world wide monoculture and his music has remained popular. I would think MJ’s international impact exceeded The Beatles.

 

[zamboni]

Elvis isn’t even close. I don’t think he impacted Asia much at all.

Only time will tell

 

[Mr. Mojo]

Elvis isn’t even close. I don’t think he impacted Asia much at all.

Only time will tell

Oh, I see. It's Asia.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Elvis isn’t even close. I don’t think he impacted Asia much at all.

Only time will tell

This feels like a heat of the moment reaction.