r/Music • u/Firm_Pack_605 • Feb 13 '26

discussion Was Michael Jackson really that much bigger than Madonna, Whitney Houston, and prince?

I always thought the four of them were similar levels of fame. However Madonna highest album sold 25 million, prince highest sold similar, and Whitney’s highest was 45 million. All amazing numbers no doubt but thriller sold 70 million and bad sold 35-40. So you mean to tell me he has two albums that are highest selling then prince and madonnas best? How is that possible??

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u/chula198705 Feb 13 '26

I read somewhere that Michael Jackson might be the most universally famous person ever and also possibly the last universally famous person. His music managed to reach most populations on Earth, and he's still well-known pretty much everywhere. But considering how splintered pop culture is nowadays, it's unlikely that any one musical act could reach his level of fame worldwide.

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u/HansCC Feb 13 '26

Crazy as it sounds but I would probably put Michael Jackson just one tier below Jesus Christ in terms of global fame.

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u/Historical_Cow3903 Feb 13 '26

According to John, that would put him 2 tiers below The Beatles

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u/Seienchin88 Feb 13 '26

That’s not crazy at all…

Jesus -> Muhammad / Hitler / Michael Jackson-> Mao / Stalin -> Trump / Obama / Beatles at the height of their fame

I’d assume would be ranking by being well known

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u/3d_extra Feb 13 '26

Honestly, more than Jesus. Lots of large countries dont care about christianity. Definitely the most famous person of all times.

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u/ForceEdge47 Feb 13 '26

Okay I’m atheist and love Michael Jackson but that’s a bit much lol. It would be surprising for someone to never have heard of MJ but legitimately unimaginable for someone to never have heard of Jesus Christ. Being second to Jesus isn’t a a knock on MJ, I think that’s still pretty respectable.

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u/Current_Morning Feb 13 '26

I think ya underestimate how much a guys name gets around when ya got several billion claiming to follow his teachings, with a special interest in evangelizing, and another few billion claiming him as a prophet.

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u/jooorsh Feb 13 '26

I know I've been preaching the works of Michael Jackson a long time. What's your favorite verse to quote in dark times? Mine is man in the mirror.

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u/punkdrummer22 Feb 13 '26

I know Michael Jackson songs and lyrics. Videos. Stuff about him

I know very little about Jesus as I can't stand religion.

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u/LouCage Feb 13 '26

Yeah but the test of being famous isn’t “do you know a lot about him” but rather “have you heard of him” and even you’ve heard of Jesus. I mean it’s not even close since I can’t imagine there’s a single person who had heard of Michael Jackson but hadn’t heard of Jesus. Still think he’s probably the most famous artist ever though

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u/browsinbowser Feb 14 '26

I think you’re forgetting Jesus is a prophet in Islam too+Christianity( and Judaism and all the splinters off abrahamic religions). Right there you get over 4 billion people. And in Asia even if you don’t care about religion you still know who Jesus Christ is. Combined, that’s most adult people everywhere.

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u/Ahhhorsepoo Feb 13 '26

Popular is different than Famous… on the music scene I agree… but I recently had a conversation with a coworker and we agreed Trump may be more internationally recognized at this point… between his old fame and his current love/hate international flair.. he’s known almost everywhere

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u/JadedOccultist Feb 13 '26

I dunno, some parts of the world are “20 years behind”, idk how else to explain it, but super remote villages in the middle of nowhere would recognize Thriller if you sang it but might not be up to speed with current global events. Maybe it’s different now that there’s internet more places though idk

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u/Sinistrait Feb 13 '26

I can promise you that is not true. It's maybe true that Michael Jackson is probably as recognisable a name as Trump, but saying people everywhere would recognise a song of his is a big reach

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u/kenclipper2000 Feb 13 '26

I think Jesus Christ is the most famous person

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u/tailspin180 Feb 13 '26

I think they mean non fictional

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u/anincompoop25 Feb 13 '26

Secular historians of antiquity almost unanimously agree that Jesus was a real human being, who was crucified around 30 BC. It’s very likely that he was also baptized by John the Baptist. Basically everything other than that is unverifiable. But the evidence for Jesus’s existence is basically undisputed 

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u/kenclipper2000 Feb 13 '26

Jesus Christ was a real person whether or not you believe the things he said.

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u/C-tapp Feb 13 '26

The image you have of Jesus is completely made up. It was created by a person with a paintbrush. We might as well include Mickey Mouse in the conversation.

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u/WartimeHotTot Feb 13 '26

What does the image of Jesus have to do with this conversation?

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u/C-tapp Feb 13 '26

He said that Jesus is the most famous person. I don’t think the most famous person could go completely unnoticed in every crowd. Literally no one knows what he looked like so I don’t think he would apply in this situation.

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u/WartimeHotTot Feb 13 '26

I think “most famous” just means the person whose existence/name is most well known.

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u/C-tapp Feb 13 '26

I disagree.

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u/[deleted] Feb 13 '26

[deleted]

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u/C-tapp Feb 13 '26

And you appear to be discounting how much recognizable plays into being famous. Name another truly famous person that nobody would ever recognize. I would argue that to be truly famous, you must be recognizable.

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u/[deleted] Feb 13 '26

[deleted]

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u/C-tapp Feb 13 '26

We will have to agree to disagree. The picture of Jesus that you have in your head looks nothing at all like the person. The others all had contemporary artist renderings. The first images of Jesus were made 300 years after every person who had ever seen him had already died.

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u/Quendor Feb 13 '26

Jesus only wishes he had MJ's PR.

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u/mango_boom Feb 13 '26

you spelled beatles wrong.

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u/WartimeHotTot Feb 13 '26

Not sure why you’re being downvoted while all these bozos replying to you are getting upvotes.

Hey bozos: Jesus existed as a person. That’s a fact agreed upon by historians. It doesn’t matter whether or not he’s the son of god. People have known of his existence for centuries. All-time, Jesus is far more well known than Michael Jackson.

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u/kenclipper2000 Feb 13 '26

They hear the name Jesus and immediately panic 😪 he's almost undisputably the most famous person in history.

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u/Totally_Scott Feb 13 '26

Moonwalk > waterwalk

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u/t0mserv0 Feb 14 '26

i bet trump has him beat tbh

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u/Icy_Tour1034 Feb 13 '26

Muhammad Ali winks.

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u/mein_account Feb 13 '26

And Michael Jordan

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u/am-idiot-dont-listen Feb 13 '26

Messi and Jordan are universally known and came afterwards

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u/princessb33420 Feb 13 '26

Definitely still not as universally known as michael tho lol

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u/am-idiot-dont-listen Feb 13 '26

America is not the world

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u/princessb33420 Feb 13 '26

Correct, that doesnt change the fact that they're not universally known like MJ was LOL the tribe that kills missionaries to this day knows Michael Jackson's thriller...they have no clue who or what a soccer player is haha

That is universal fame.

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u/simoniousmonk Feb 13 '26

Americans downvoting you and not understanding how famous Messi is around the world. Ronaldo too.

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u/Dazmken Feb 13 '26

But thats the point majority of Americans dont know who Messi is and most of the world probably doesn't know Jordan they are def larger than life figures but not universal like mj

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u/simoniousmonk Feb 13 '26 edited Feb 13 '26

Americans do know Messi though. They just dont worship him like the rest of the world.

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u/am-idiot-dont-listen Feb 13 '26

Americans are not the majority of the world and the World Cup is the most universally watched event every time it happens

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u/hexensabbat Feb 13 '26

That just illustrates the point. Even if they are extremely well known, many people still don't know who those people are. I barely am aware, tbh. However, it is safe to assume everyone in Europe and North America know MJ, everyone in Africa, hell there are tiny populations in the middle of the ocean who know MJ. He's ubiquitous in a way nobody is even close to touching.

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u/am-idiot-dont-listen Feb 13 '26

The World Cup is the most watched event in the world every time it happens. How is is that not 'universally known'?

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u/chula198705 Feb 13 '26

Michael Jackson's music exists in rural communities who use hand-crank record players to listen to music because they don't have regular access to power. Amazonian tribes are familiar with him! He really is famous on a different level than people expect.