Who is the most famous person alive today?

[virgocatlover]

As in, well known world wide by face or name.

I would say the Queen was up there when she was alive but not sure Charles would make the top 10 now.

Trump, Putin or Elon Musk perhaps?

Obviously there are many famous Hollywood actors and singers but are any the most famous worldwide where English isn't the first language?

Football is really popular in China so I wouldn’t be surprised if they do know the big stars of global teams

I’m stunned by such closeted answers about football. It’s global and for rich and poor. it’s the common global language. Ronaldo or Messi for sure!

Surely it has to be Trump or Putin

Trump or Putin.

They did interviews on the street with people from the USA showing them Messi and Ronaldo and the vast majority didn’t know them. Lot of people living in the USA, so I don’t think a footballer could ever be considered as the most famous person in the world.

just on a whim I googled the highest grossing ever movies in China. the only non-domestic entry in the top 10 was an 'avengers' flick (looking further down the list marvel generally seems popular). the same avengers was also the highest grossing Hollywood film in India. so maybe someone from this films would be surprisingly well known globally, even if middle aged westerners mostly consider them to be more than a bit stupid. Chris Hemsworth, say? Scarlett Johansson?

It's more likely to be a world leader, Trump, Biden, Putin, King Charles

Would love to know what year and where those interviews were conducted because in a report earlier this year, Messi replaced Michael Jordan as America's most popular athlete 😅

Yeah but a lot of those followers follow him on all platforms, it’s really about individual followers as well as genuine ones

As a proportion of the world’s population, the American population is small (c.4%). You’re showing a Western bias in this thinking…

edited to say not you… I quoted the wrong post!

I’ve also seen interviews on the street asking Americans to point out the USA on a map and they couldn’t. I wouldn’t base everything on street interviews 😄

Also, it would depend where in America they go.

I'm willing to bet most Americans of Hispanic origin know very well who Ronaldo and Messi are. In any case, America has less than a quarter the population of either India or China, so it's not that big a deal one way or the other.

Harry Styles

This is a good vote for Ronaldo!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn5r5nk4ry6o

Well I don't have Instagram, actually most of the world don't have it ?

I know Ronaldo is a footballer but I've no idea what team he plays for - no clue at all what he looks like. Actually when I think of what he looks like my brain is conjuring Pele I think - so basically I think Ronaldo is Pele

No idea who Selina Gomez is and yet someone has also said she has 400 million followers

I'd be shocked if it wasn't Putin, that's hardly Euro centric when he's in bed with China - meaning you can bet your butt half of Taiwan also know who he is

Trump and Putin are incredibly recognisable

Can't believe anyone would think a bloke who plays football is more recognisable.

I think when it comes to celebrities a lot of people are going to recognise someone like Tom Cruise as he's constantly in films that probably billions of people have seen

This is very timely!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn5r5nk4ry6o

USA is famously not a football country. Although it is third most populous it is only 10 percent the size of the top two and sits alongside massive youthful and football crazy nations throughout the world.

i travel globally a lot and Ronaldo and messi are the lingua franca

Can’t get my head round the fact Selena Gomez is ar just under 700 million, which according to some folks logic on here would make her the second most famous person on the planet. As you can’t use it for Ronaldo and not her,

and Gomez is not that famous.😂

I travel a lot globally. Genuinely, and I’ve never went and discussed Ronaldo and messi. ever.

If you are, it tells me you’re a huge huge footie fan and that’s what you talk about, irrelevant of how sad that is.going to peoples countries and talking about two footballers rather than their country and culture. It however doesn’t mean it’s the most famous folks, simply it means you like to talk football

Not true for me, it’s always initiated by them… “where you from?” “England” “ah you like football yes? You know Ronaldo/ Man U / David Beckham “ etc etc

I spent a week in hospital in Asia, so many staff in broken English asked me about football. Even though have no interest in it whatsoever!

It’s called small talk and it happens around the world… just so happens foootball is more popular than weather for small talk outside of the U.K. 😁

Could be to do with your type of travel or your appearance. Dunno. But people often ask me about football in developing countries (Africa, Asia, Latin America)

Are you male? Do you maybe dress down or in footie tops? Or look like a typical football fan?

im female, and no one has ever said oh you’re English so,you like football, but to be fair they don’t to my husband either,