Elvis was at his peak in the 50s (Especially 1955)
The Beatles were at their peak in the 60s (1964)
Michael was at his peak in 1980s (1983 --- when he was the "IT")

These guys were pretty much everywhere... anywhere, any time.

But who was more popular or who had everybody, literally everybody excited at the time?

The org is overrun with Jackson fans, so you know he's gonna be the default answer.

Michael is popular in countries where they've never even heard of The Beatles or Elvis.

Militant said:

Michael is popular in countries where they've never even heard of The Beatles or Elvis.

Really? What countries do you know of that haven't heard of the Beatles and/or Elvis?

Beatles. If all members were alive and toured as the beatles they would out sell MJ.

The biggest selling album worldwide between 2000 and 2010 was the Beatles' hits collection "1".

NoVideo said:

The biggest selling album worldwide between 2000 and 2010 was the Beatles' hits collection "1".

I think the OP is talking about during their heyday, not today. A lot of people don't know it today, but Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis as a duo had the big crowds and screaming girls before any of them. Mary Pickford, Louis Armstrong, and Shirley Temple were really popular during their day too. Pickford was so popular that she started her own studio (United Artists) with a few others like Charlie Chaplin.

I'm Biased but E-L-V-I-S was the 1st global music superstar and still is...

Well, as a guy who lived during the heyday of Michael Jackson, and after I visited a lot of countries including Egypt, Morocco and such.. I think Michael Jackson is the most popular among these guys.

I'm just saying, I think his Thriller album and videos were just everything at the time, Michael is also popular because his skin color and appearance caused controversy = causes curiosity = causes questions = causes "phenomen", he was this big culture thing, I'll bet you go to a desert and ask someone about him, they'd either say he looks like a woman or start dancing to Billie Jean.

Prince would've been also that popular if Purple Rain expanded worldwide. I think non-American cultures didn't appreciate his look or music at the time.

JoeBala said:

I'm Biased but E-L-V-I-S was the 1st global music superstar and still is...

I think James Brown is more popular in Africa than Elvis.

Elvis.

MickyDolenz said:

JoeBala said:

I'm Biased but E-L-V-I-S was the 1st global music superstar and still is...

I think James Brown is more popular in Africa than Elvis.

Elvis who never toured out the US that says something about his popularity. JB, MJ and Beatles toured mostly everywhere I think.

JoeBala said:

MickyDolenz said:

I think James Brown is more popular in Africa than Elvis.

Elvis who never toured out the US that says something about his popularity. JB, MJ and Beatles toured mostly everywhere I think.

An act can't tour a place without an audience, especially overseas which is expensive. It's like when Wham! toured China, when foreign performers weren't generally allowed in the country. There records had sold there already. So they had to have some popularity already, just like Muhammad Ali was popular in Africa, which he found out during the Rumble In The Jungle. Ali had never been there. James hadn't either until Rumble, but his records had influenced some of the Afropop there. Sixto Rodriguez was really popular in South Africa, and he had no idea about it or that his records had even gotten over there as they did little business in his home country.

[Edited 3/24/14 13:23pm]

^^ I don't doubt it.

If Elvis had someone other than Colonel Parker as a manager, he probably would have toured in other countries. Elvis had offers to do so, but the Colonel couldn't go.

Empress said:

Militant said:

Michael is popular in countries where they've never even heard of The Beatles or Elvis.

Really? What countries do you know of that haven't heard of the Beatles and/or Elvis?

The depths of Africa and Asia. Also, from my own experience being signed to Sony/BMG India and having toured extensively there, you see Michael's albums and t-shirts and fans EVERYWHERE. Hear his music on the radio all the time. Can't recall ever seeing any evidence of Elvis or The Beatles being popular there. I remember performing in a club in Delhi that had a huge wall painting of Michael.

USA - ELVIS

ALL OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES - THE BEATLES

THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES - MJ

Bruno Mars!!!




















































Just kidding

^^Who?

it's hard to say,but it seems like to me,that Michael crossed over in a way that nobody else did.People from all races and nationalites own a copy of Thriller,but how many R&B fans own anything by Elvis? I'm saying that Michael had more mass appeal,on a global level.

SoulAlive said:

but how many R&B fans own anything by Elvis?

Several of Elvis' early records went Top 10 on the R&B chart (Billboard) in the 1950s and others were Top 40 R&B. Elvis had been written about in Jet magazine and he even did an interview with them.

equally popular

perhaps Elvis more popular in certain areas of the USA

michael...the cultural and racial bounderies he crossed were unmatched. little 3 year olds to this day love michael jackson

nvrmnd

[Edited 3/24/14 18:09pm]

lowkey said:

michael...the cultural and racial bounderies he crossed were unmatched. little 3 year olds to this day love michael jackson

[Snipped. This is a discussion about the popularity of musicians. Slanderous personal attacks on artists are unnecessary. - Militant]

I would say MJ.... HOWEVER... The Beatles and Elvis did not have MTV, internet and social media to boost their careers in their prime...MJ did...

MJ's career was almost 40 yrs... Beatles was about 6yrs...Elvis 22 yrs...

avasdad said:

I would say MJ.... HOWEVER... The Beatles and Elvis did not have MTV, internet and social media to boost their careers in their prime...MJ did...

MJ's career was almost 40 yrs... Beatles was about 6yrs...Elvis 22 yrs...

haha! no

dude fell off the face of the earth (musically) after 2001

There was no internet in the 1980s, so that couldn't have helped Mike. Most people didn't have a computer, and if they did it was the green screen ones where you had to type in a bunch of codes to make it do anything, lol.