So... is he?

I've always wanted to know that, because I've been doing research and I'm curious about decades and who the biggest artist from each is. I guess if you go to such a diverse decade like the 90's, then no one really dominated the 90's. Unless you say Kurt Cobain's huge influence (1991-1995) or Mariah Carey's record sales.

You could even say the biggest artist is subjective, because one artist might have sold more, but their originality/influence is low. On the other hand, someone's artistic creativity is high and influence, but their record sales are ok. It depends on if you go by influence or sales I guess. But how do you measure influence? Lol

Not exactly an easy call - as you say, the answer is subjective.  I'll say I believe so.  At the beginning of the 80's MJ was still riding the success of his Off The Wall  smash.  MJ's influence peaked in the 80's (naturally) at the time of his uncanny Thriller  release (82/83), which kept MJ on top for quite a long while.  In between he also participated with his siblings as "The Jacksons" and collaborated with others like Paul McCartney.  This was a great time to be MJ.  As an artist his influence waned later in the decade although he still sold a ton of records.  It seems the "weirdness" factor started playing a bigger role regarding his influence starting sometime around his next solo release, Bad (87).  Even so he remained popular.

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc313/Claybricks/Madonna%20Vir/l4.jpg?t=1229274305



Dan

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc313/Claybricks/Madonna%20Vir/l4.jpg?t=1229274305



Dan


Are you saying you think Madonna is the biggest artist of the 80's? You're not wrong really because Madonna was "the" female artist of the 80's as far as influence goes. But I think that about 80% of people would admit that Michael though, was the biggest star.

i also think madonna was the biggest female artist of the 80's..  although MJ had a lot of exposure and cetrainly had his fans, im not sure you could say he was the biggest star! i also think his antics in later years affected his popularity!

i also think madonna was the biggest female artist of the 80's..  although MJ had a lot of exposure and cetrainly had his fans, im not sure you could say he was the biggest star! i also think his antics in later years affected his popularity!


I meant Michael Jackson might have been the biggest star of the years 1980 to 1989, not of all time. I see your point though.

I wouldn't measure it by world-wide sales, but based on # of hits and popularity by location because it's different for each country ...

In the UK, Shakin' Stevens was the biggest selling solo artist of the 80s with 28 Top 40 hits (30 hits in total between 1980-1989)

2nd place in the UK belonged to Sir Cliff Richard with 25 Top 40 hits (33 in total between 1980-1989)

Undeniably next to Madonna, Micheal Jackson was one of the biggest artists of the 80s.  He truly earned the tiitle 'The King of Pop'. In those days he could no wrong , I'll always consider the 'Thriller' album to be best to come from the 80s.

Speaking globally... and I mean from Africa to Asia, Europe to America... Michael Jackson was the biggest. Madonna was big, but he was bigger.

So... is he?

I've always wanted to know that, because I've been doing research and I'm curious about decades and who the biggest artist from each is. I guess if you go to such a diverse decade like the 90's, then no one really dominated the 90's. Unless you say Kurt Cobain's huge influence (1991-1995) or Mariah Carey's record sales.

You could even say the biggest artist is subjective, because one artist might have sold more, but their originality/influence is low. On the other hand, someone's artistic creativity is high and influence, but their record sales are ok. It depends on if you go by influence or sales I guess. But how do you measure influence? Lol




er Caroline/Maria/'Red Blooded Woman' is that you??  :D

No question about it MICHAEL JACKSON was and still is the biggest artist of the 80's and is a prodigy - with MADONNA of course - though she has clearly been much more astute in businesss. Michael will make a comeback eventually.

I have two Michael Jackson dolls that were manufactured in 1984 at the crest of Michael's popularity and plain as day on both bozes it reads:

MICHAEL JACKSON: SUPERSTAR OF THE 1980S.

;D

http://bigreds.com/MJACK3.gif

This is the pciture advertised on www.bigreds.com where my mother bought my MJ dolls from. And you can see at the top, over Michael's head in orange writing (it's red in person) "superstar of the 80s" And Michael must be doing something special because the price of the dolls have risen 25 dollars since my mother initially bought mine.  :) Someone said he was weird. I assume that "weird sells".  ;)

^^I remember those MJ dolls!  :) I knew a few people who had one and I really wanted one too, but never did!  :\'(

^^I remember those MJ dolls!  :) I knew a few people who had one and I really wanted one too, but never did!  :\'(


Me too! I always wanted an MJ doll but never got one. I used to borrow and watch "Thriller" from our local video store on a weekly basis. What I did have was a digital Thriller watch and if you pressed a button, the Thriller tune would play. Used to get me into lots of trouble at school!

http://tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:rjuSlEuErvLY2M:http://farm1.static.flickr.com/171/420510700_403c2c1406_m.jpg

^I wanted the Thriller doll, but at the time Big Reds was sold out  :( ^^

I ended up with the Billie Jean doll. and the Beat It Doll a year later. (Those were the 2 best christmases of my life To open up the box and see a little bitty Michael Jackson lying there looking at me)

Alot of my memorobilia is Thriller related--though Thriller is not my favorite MJ album. (Bad is)

I have:

Thriller on Cassette
Thriller on CD
Thriller on Vinyl
Thriller Special Edition with Bonus Tracks from 2003
Thriller 25 CD
Thriller 25 Commeorative Poster
Vintage Thriller poster
Thriller Music Video in it's entirety
Making of Thriller on VHS.
Thriller CD single
Two Thriller-era Books

Gosh... :o Michael would be very proud of me.  ;D  I went through a major Thriller phase about 10 years ago and that's where most of the stuff came from! LOL!

I would say it was Jacko.  Madonna a close second, maybe then U2/Simple Minds/Prince a tied third.....

In regard to Shakin' Stevens being the most popular in terms of record sales, all I can say is that he must have sold one heck of a lot of singles from 1980-1983, because by '84 he was pretty much as spent force...

Back in the mid-eighties I bought a Michael Jackson cigarette lighter at a novelty shop in NYC. The flame came out of his head. I know this  was SOOOO wrong but I was freaky-crazy back then.

And remember, Madonna actually sold just as much of her 90's material as her 80's work (and has sold more '00s work than say MJJ's 3 '90s + '00s albums). Madonna, while most famous for being associated with the 80's, also had equally good material in the 90's and considering the stale state of the current decade, not too bad of a work. But when you look at worldwide chart performace/sales/tours/news headlines at the time, there was clearly more demand for Madonna than MJ.

So is Madonna the biggest star ever?  Even bigger than Elvis?

MJ was up there but I'd have to put my money on "Journey". One hit after another PLUS a video arcade game! Can't beat that!