Which living person would be most recognised by people worldwide?

[Sunny54321]

Middle of the night musings.

i would have said the late Queen would have been recognised in the most countries around the world but not sure who would now. Maybe Trump?

Anyone I'm forgetting?

Who are Xi and Modi?

Someone called Johnny Halliday. He was like a superstar there (French bit) and in France and I had never heard of him. He’s passed away now and his funeral was like a state event in France with the French president making a speech. I doubt many people in the UK had heard of him and we are geographical neighbours.

Ah yes, I live in a French-speaking country that claims Halliday as its own (not France!). I supposed he may have been vaguely known in the UK in his heyday, but not in later years and googled it: Fellow English Speakers: Have you ever heard of Johnny Hallyday? : r/NoStupidQuestions (reddit.com)

President of China and PM of India.

I think he would have had a cult following here in the UK if anything, but certainly wasn’t anywhere near a household name. Which shows you can be very famous in concentrated parts of the world but not the world at large. Only a few get true global recognition, and it’s often for being a tyrant/despot.

I found this an interesting comment on the Reddit thread:

"He's really well-known throughout Europe. I've lived in Greece, Italy, and Switzerland, and have friends from Germany and France. Everyone knows him. Without wanting to be antagonistic, i find it weird that English speaking people are not listening to anything not in English."

There's a British Christmas programme that's famous in many European countries, but ironically not at all in the UK. It's really weird....

Trump I’d say.
Otherwise Kate and William.

Never heard of the Natasha woman.

Why is she a joke? That’s pretty hurtful even if you don’t know who she is. Be kind

Me too. All I know is he’s a highly paid footballer. No idea what he looks like, who he plays for or what nationality he is. Not trying to be disparaging of him as obviously millions of people know exactly who he is. My football knowledge pretty much begins and ends with David Beckham.

She’s you isn’t she 😂

Whoever said that obviously hasn’t heard of Kpop.

Or Nordic folk/pop which has lots of English speaking fans (including myself).

Messi is very unmemorable looking. But Ronaldo? The tan, the hair, the wink, the smirk. He's iconic.

I (a Brit) know Johnny Halliday very well. I've seen a few of his films and eaten in his restaurant in Paris. If you are my age (Gen X) and learned French through the Tricolore textbooks you would be familiar with the phrase 'Mes vedettes favoris sont Isabelle Adjani et Johnny Halliday.'

(Please excuse my bad french).

Not sure I know any Kpop apart from Gangman and I don't know any Nordic folk/pop that is not in English.
I do think it's true in general that English speakers only listen to songs in English.
Songs in other languages that are famous, I could probably count on both hands (excepting Opera).

I used Tricolore, but don't remember that sentence!
And yes I do think Johnny Halliday is vaguely famous for English speakers of a certain age.

"But Ronaldo? The tan, the hair, the wink, the smirk. He's iconic."

He looks quite non-descript to me when I look him up.
Cristiano Ronaldo - Wikipedia

I googled and there is literally nobody with that name - but they are having a lovely time discussing this thread on a Reddit apparently

Interesting question! Unfortunately Trump is probably the correct answer.

Natasha Sparaks is certainly in contention, but I suspect that Ilana Remikee will shortly overtake her! Ilana's not going to be US President until 2030, so that gives Natasha a little time, but not much.

Taylor Swift. She seems to have an obscenely large following and even those of us who don’t listen to her know her face.

She’s doesn’t exist, Raciney.

A gorgeous song called Helvegen isn’t in English and is one of my all time favourite songs. I paricularly love the cover version by a Norwegian band called Kalandra. Also a big fan of Eivor who sings a lot of her songs in Faroese. I can’t understand a word of her album Enn but love it.

Yes, but they are not generally known by English speakers.

I would definitely know Isabelle Adjani if I was shown a younger picture of her. I was a fan of hers back in the 80s after watching a french film she was in, can’t remember the name (just googled it, One Deadly Summer). Thought she was really beautiful, haven’t seen her for years though.

I certainly know OF him, and that he was a very famous French-language singer - probably from the old Tricolore books - but I would never have known what he actually looked like.

Oh, definitely Johnny Halliday. Or maybe Charles Aznavour. Or Yves Montand. From Belgium there’s The Singing Nun and Plastic Bertrand.

World beaters, all. They would be known from Mongolia to Peru, defo.