# Music artists where you had their country of origin wrong **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 30, 2020, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231 "2020-01-30T17:34:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/1 "2020-01-30T17:34:07Z")
I was sure Foghat was from Alabama or the SE US. They are British but the latest lineup has 2 Americans. I thought Stray Cats were British but they are American. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/2 "2020-01-30T17:51:12Z")
Cowboy Junkies are from Toronto, Canada which certainly would not have been my first or second guess. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/3 "2020-01-30T17:57:05Z")
It never occurred to me that Elvis Costello was English until maybe about 10 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![neofishboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neofishboy/32/444_2.png) [@neofishboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neofishboy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/4 "2020-01-30T18:04:40Z")
When I first heard the Colin Hay, lead singer of Men At Work, was Scottish it felt like my entire life was a lie. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/5 "2020-01-30T18:15:48Z")
> [@neofishboy](#): > > When I first heard the Colin Hay, lead singer of Men At Work, was Scottish it felt like my entire life was a lie. What?? And now I know how you feel. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/6 "2020-01-30T18:15:54Z")
> [@neofishboy](#): > > When I first heard the Colin Hay, lead singer of Men At Work, was Scottish it felt like my entire life was a lie. How did you feel when you found out Malcolm and Angus Young, and Bon Scott were also born in Scotland? ---
**Author:** ![neofishboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neofishboy/32/444_2.png) [@neofishboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neofishboy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/7 "2020-01-30T18:21:49Z")
I never really thought much about it, actually. I mean, Bon Scott wore it proudly, and I never got a sense that being Australian was a huge part of AC/DC’s identity. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/8 "2020-01-30T19:34:23Z")
It was a while before I discovered the Bee Gees were born in the UK. All the publicity at the time was that they were from Australia, where they moved in 1958. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/9 "2020-01-30T20:19:45Z")
Are we talking about people merely born somewhere else, or who were raised somewhere else? There’s a huge difference between someone merely born in a foreign country like say… Andy Gibb or Kathie Lee Gifford, and someone entirely raised somewhere else, like Terri Clark (Canadian, who knew?) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/10 "2020-01-30T20:31:25Z")
Another who thought AC/DC was an American band, but I never paid much attention to them. For a long time, I didn’t know that both Joni Mitchell and Neil Young were Canadian. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/11 "2020-01-30T20:32:02Z")
I didn’t really realize Dire Straits were British for quite a while Knopfler doesn’t seem to have much of an accent when singing. Even interviews I see with him his accent seems very light almost sounds fake to me for some reason, like an American with a bad fake accent, it’s probably just my false assumption of how a British accent should sound from movies. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/12 "2020-01-30T20:35:29Z")
ABBA, how can they sing songs in English so well but not be from an english speaking country? I am saying this because I saw where they once performed “Dancing Queen” live on American Bandstand and Dick Clark could really only talk to 2 of them because only they spoke english. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/13 "2020-01-30T21:05:25Z")
I read in “Hammer of the Gods” early on a lot of fans were surprised to find out Led Zeppelin were British and not American. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/14 "2020-01-30T21:07:39Z")
Based on their name and reputation of namesake city as a music capital, I was slightly surprised to find out Manchester Orchestra were from the state of Georgia. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/15 "2020-01-30T21:35:00Z")
Sort of related, Spinal Tap was on MTV once and they took calls and a few callers did not seem to know they were a fake band. Vast majority of British rock/pop singers sing with an American accent. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/16 "2020-01-30T21:56:34Z")
Freddy Mercury being Zanzibari was a surprise to me when I found out. (I don’t know where I thought he was from!) ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/17 "2020-01-30T21:58:08Z")
some people were surprised when they saw Christian Bale on TV speaking in his normal British accent. He has done interviews using an American accent. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/18 "2020-01-30T22:01:53Z")
When I first heard that Golden Earring were Dutch, I could not believe it. I was sure that the source was mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/19 "2020-01-30T22:09:51Z")
A favorite song of mine is this song, by another Dutch group with American accents. I had no idea they were Dutch for about 20 years. [TEE-SET - MA BELLE AMIE - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bioah3q7JOk) ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/20 "2020-01-30T22:11:43Z")
I never would have guessed Dave Matthews was from South Africa based on his singing voice. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231.md?page=2)