I’m guessing that I misconstrued the thread title to mean musicians. For Alaska, the name indelibly linked to the progress of Alaska and who did an enormous amount of good for the Native population would be the late Senator Ted Stevens. I’ll bet you thought I was going to say Sarah Palin, didn’t you? Unfortunately, that vacuous airhead is the name most people come up with.
Bob Hope, Trent Reznor.
I confess, and I deeply apologize! 
Excellent examples on the theme of “made/makes the state famous.”
I always associated those guys with West Virginia and/or Kentucky. Am I thinking of the wrong ones?
Ronald Reagan and Walt Disney, on the other hand, were both born here but were long gone by the time they achieved fame.
OK, so now that I have a better grasp of what this thread is all about, I’ll try again. I would say the one person who basically embodies and defines NY - even though personally I may find him a bit . . . questionable - is clear. New York: Woody Allen.
Warren Harding. No contest.
Neil Armstrong would be my Ohio pick. Or the Wright Brothers.
Well, she’s made it infamous and synonymous with backwards far right gibberish, for sure.
Also:
All the Motown artists
Bob Seger
Tim Allen
And me
Not the ones who feuded with the Hatfields, the ones who did “Hang On Sloopy” (O-H-I-O). (Remember that scene from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, when he sang “The stars at night / Are big and bright” and everyone responded w/ “Deep in the heart of Texas!”? I think if you sang the chorus from Hang On Sloopy anywhere in Columbus, you’d get everyone stopping to yell O-H-I-O.)
How did I forget Neil? I guess he was just so much quieter than John Glenn. Hard to beat him.
And Kid Rock!
And Ted Nugent!
Alaska:Balto!
Springsteen is more firmly intertwined with this state then anyone in any other state that I can think of. And there are tons of celebrities that were born here.
Maybe the Beach Boys and California but that was with a California that is long gone if it ever really existed.
Agree.
Thanks for fighting my ignorance of the McCoys!
Kentucky: Bill Monroe.
George Atla! 
Certainly New York City but not the state. I don’t know if anyone embodies the entire state. Billy Joel might be a better choice.