“Although born in Glasgow, Al Stewart grew up in the town of Wimborne, Dorset, England” (WIKI)
There he and Tony Blackburn (famed British soft-rock radio DJ since forever) formed a folk group called “Tony Blackburn and the Swinging Bells” They were never heard of again.
More amusingly, Tommy Banner, the longest serving member of The Wurzels (a Scrumpy and Western band from Somerset, England) is still very identifiable as Scottish.
But that’s not The Hollies. It’s CCR. 
Now he sings with a completely different voice and accent. Whenever I hear their latest stuff I forget it’s Green Day.
That’s interesting but my experience is more like the other poster. I worked at a place in the late '90s that mostly employed international students (so around that age as well), many of whom stayed in the US permanently. The most popular were Ireland and Eastern Europe. I knew, befriended and dated co-workers from those areas plus England, Latvia, and Lithuanian. I had a long relationship with a Belarussian lady and stayed in touch with a few Irish and several Lithuanians. Of the handful I know who stayed around they all have accents and the Irish actually have the most noticeable accents still, though they are probably look the “most American,” as the Eastern Europeans all have striking features unlike any Americans I’ve ever known.
I guess these 4 people worked very hard to not have an accent. They are women so maybe it’s easier for women to learn a new language.
:eek:
Was surprised to learn Sheena Easton is Scottish. I don’t think I have heard her speak , just heard her singing.
People think Mel Gibson is Aussie but he was born in NY and moved down under at age 12. He is a citizen of US and Ireland. He has permanent resident status in Australia. noticed his father is alive at 101 .
As an American, but one who is somewhat familiar with British pop culture, geography, and history, I’ve actually never listened to ANY vocalist/songwriter whose lyrics were MORE British than EC. He RELENTLESSLY name-drops British locations, British slang terms, British linguistic idioms and even arcane British history. Yet I can also completely understand how if an American had no context for any of this, it would all totally go over their heads.
heard a guy on the radio this week who sounds almost exactly like Elvis Costello. He’s American. When I remember his name I will post it.
Eric Bogle writes and sings mainly about Australia, but was born in Scotland and moved Down Under when he was 25.
I thought Steeler’s Wheel was an Aussie band, but nope. Scottish.
I came in here to post this one but see you’ve beaten me to it.
I guess musical theater counts… but John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness from Dr. Who / Torchwood) is actually British.
And in a weird, non-musical juxtaposition, Burn Gorman (Owen on Torchwood) is actually American. Both were born in the opposite country from where they were raised, and moved there at about 7 or 8 years old.
The question is “what counts as a foreign artist”? Lots of non-American acts live a good chunk of their lives in the U.S. A lot of that is inevitable: you’re going to have a do a lot of promotion/touring/business deals in the U.S. anyway, why not live there? Plus there’s the unrivaled creative communities of NYC and LA, and there is often significant lifestyle and tax advantages if you’re earning a lot of money.
I was surprised Dead Can Dance are from Australia. I guess I thought they were British or European.
No. This is not a thread about foreign US musicians.
It’s slightly more global than that.
For the longest time I thought Enya was Welsh. I was somewhat surprised when I found out she’s actually Irish.
I felt the same way about Nick Cave at first.
since most Canadians have American accents when you hear them talk you can’t tell they are Canadian except for a few words such as “about” . Also it seems every person I’ve heard of named Gord is Canadian. 
I was surprised Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy was Irish. (born in England, grew up in Ireland)
This is off-track, but Gordon isn’t hugely more common in Canada than in the U.S. The most obviously Canadian name is Lorne. Graham (or Graeme) is also more clearly Canadian. This website gives some more examples: