What "famous people" are you surprised other people haven't heard of?

Cafe Society
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I tend to have a body of knowledge that is miles wide and inches deep. Although I have narrower areas of deeper interest, I tend to have at least a superficial knowledge of at least some significant personalities in areas that are not my special interest, including time periods before or after when I was interested in something.

I had assumed John Prine was pretty well known, and that his name would at least sound familiar to most people. Especially people who are interested in music (even if not Prine’s form of folk/country), AND from the Chicago area (Prine is from west suburban Maywood and had his first fame in the Chicago folk scene.) Most recently, at one point I thought his name was spread when he was (at least at the time) one of the most famous people to have died from covid.

I understand how one’s views as to “what everyone ought to know” is skewed by one’s personal experience and preferences. My wife and I have long been fans of his, we own several of his albums, and we are both musicians reasonably familiar with traditional/folk/country music.

The other day we were playing in a classical ensemble we host at our home. For whatever reason, we mentioned JP, and neither our 2d fiddle nor our violist had ever heard of him. That struck me as odd, as both are lifelong Chicago area residents, and both have long been involved in music (tho more classical and opera.) But even tho I do not favor opera - or rap, for that matter - I would imagine the names of some of the most prominent practitioners of those styles would at least ring a bell for me.

Subsequently, I asked a young couple in their mid-30s, and a guy of about my age whom I know is into music (gospel and R&B), and neither of them had heard of him either. Always interesting to have it made clear how different peoples’ bodies of knowledge are.

So, do you have any instances - in the arts/politics/whatever, where you realized not everyone recognized what you thought to be a common, household name? Feel free to comment on other peoples’ suggestions as well. Have YOU heard of John Prine? Not like his music or be able to hum a tune. Just if someone said his name, you say, “Oh yeah - he’s a musician, right? Maybe plays guitar?”

I bet there are a great many examples of people who are hugely popular on-line, or in currently popular movies or music whom I might not recognize. Maybe give some examples of someone you think is really well known, and see if everyone else has even heard of them…

2

I watch a lot of YouTube videos where people watch movies. Yes, I watch people watch movies (it’s not as crazy as that makes it sound, it’s actually a whole thing on YT).

Anyways, most of these people are under 30 and not only the movies they’ve never seen, but the people they don’t recognize can be astounding sometimes. Watching “Blazing Saddles” and don’t know who Mel Brooks is. I watched one yesterday (Mallrats) and the mid-20s girl couldn’t identify Ben Affleck. Granted, he looks much less Ben Affleck than usual in that film, but still.

3

I hadn’t actually - only learned about him on this board after he was lost to COVID. I think I have a pretty broad and eclectic musical tastes and know a lot of musical artists, however country in particular and folk to some extent are genres I have delved into a little more superficially. I know your Richard Thompson, your Townes Van Zandt, Nick Drake, even slightly more obscure folks like Sandy Bull etc., etc. But John Prine was a lacuna.

Not that surprising though - it is pretty easy to have large holes in artistic areas.

4

I’ve heard of Ben Affleck, but I couldn’t identify him if I saw him in a movie.

I know John Prine well, and I’m a fan. I would not be suprised that someone else didn’t know of him. He was fairly popular, but years ago. Really, he was always on the fringe of famous.

My father interacted professionally (some charity or foundation thing) with Robert Redford’s wife at the height of Redford’s popularity (late 70s probably). He didn’t know who he was, and people were amused by that.

Someone would have to be pretty damn famous for me to be surprised that other people hadn’t heard of them. Someone like Elton John or Paul MacCartney perhaps. Other than that, people have holes in their knowledge. I refrain from typing “who?” quite a lot here at the SDMB, and just try to figure it out from context or google.

5

Most young people don’t know the name of anyone who isn’t on tv or in current popular films. Maybe they know who Abraham Lincoln is. When people cease to read, or study even the most recent past, their knowledge of the world is infinitesimal.

On the other hand, since I have never owned a television, watch very few films and those often old, and haven’t listened to popular music since about 1978, my knowledge and theirs have almost no overlap.

I love John Prine.

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I only know John Prine because my radio station in the 70s used to play him (they plyed a lot of not mainstream stuff).

No other stations I listened to ever played him. And I don’t particularly care for his music, so if it wasn’t for WAPL Appleton, WI, I’d be one of those that don’t know who he is.

Thanks, rockin’ apple!

7

I remember when Kamala Harris was chosen by Joe Biden to be his Vice President and I mentioned to someone that it was understandable people would mispronounce her name because the professional wrestler Kamala the Ugandan Headhunter was more famous than her.

And that person said I was crazy and they had no idea who the wrestler was. (For context I was in my mid 40s and the person I was talking to was in their late 20s.)

Edit: My family have been huge pro wrestling fans since the mid 1980s and I constantly misjudge how famous wrestlers are.

8

I confess that I, too, only heard of John Prine when he died. It was weird to hear people talking about someone I had never heard of as “the most famous person to die of Covid.”

Hulk Hogan and Rowdy Roddy Piper. That is the entire list of professional wrestlers I know by name.

9

You really should interact with people younger than 60. You’d be surprised that they’re not all the vapid idiots you claim them to be.

10

I’m always surprised that Pittsburghers my age do not know who Norman Nardini is. He’s one of Pittsburgh’s own musicians. Back in the 70s he was in the band Diamond Reo, then his own band The Tigers. He’s opened for many national acts (Aerosmith, KISS, Rush, Kansas, Canned Heat). He’s a lifelong friend of Jon Bon Jovi and has collaborated with him on several projects.

Some of my most enjoyable evenings were spent in his basement studio smoking dope while he noodled around on guitar or keyboard.

I was a fan of Bonnie Raitt early in her career, so of course I know John Prine!

ETA:

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I know who Prine is, if not his works. Most of my unknown pantheon probably includes jazz musicians and international musicians like Ali Farka Toure, Habib Koite and Amalia Rodrigues. James Jamerson was unknown for decades before “Standing in the Shadows of Motown” came out. He was well-known and even revered in England, but an obscure name in the US, even though he was the driving bass line for many of Motown’s hits (as were the rest of the Funk Brothers).

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I knew of John Prine, prior to his passing from COVID in 2020, but if I’d ever heard his music prior to his death, I don’t remember it.

I’m not sure that I have any exact examples of what the OP is asking about, though when I was at my last job, and working with a group of people in their 20s, I discovered that movies which are cultural touchstones for me are ones that most of them had never even seen (Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Princess Bride, etc.). To be fair, all of those are films which were came out 10 to 20 years before they were born.

13

My wife and I have watched a number of the “celebrity” games shows, Family Feud, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and have not heard of many of the so called celebrities. I have known of John Prine for many years, a friend from many years ago use to talk about him quite a bit. Never heard any of his music though.

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I teach high school.

Yes, they are.

15

I never heard of John Prine until his death was in the news.

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Never heard of the last 2 (assuming Nick Drake is someone different than Drake.) IMO, JP would be more well known than the first 2, if only for the fact that (as demonstrated in this thread) his covid death received some pub.

(I’m a little surprised at the people who are making the point that they did not know JP until he died. Because I’m specifically discussing people who did not even notice that.)

I could pull up names from Bobo Brazil, Dick the Bruiser, up through Hulk Hogan and beyond, but never heard of your Kamala.

Yeah, I assumed he’d be better known because so many more famous people cover his songs, sing his praises…

Yeah, jazz and world music are likely areas in which I am woefully ignorant. But James Jamerson? I’m a bassist. Nuff said.

Any examples where you encountered someone and thought, “How could I have NOT known about them?!”

One of my earliest memories of this sorta thing was maybe 30 years ago, I was watching some kind of youth quiz show on TV. They showed a big old picture of Nixon, and not one of the contestants had any idea who he was. I know (many) young people have little interest in personalities from their parents’ generation. But I often think it odd, as I personally feel I’m pretty aware of the major singers, actors, politicians from my parents (and possibly grandparents’) times.

17

Is John Palumbo and band still around?

18

Crack The Sky isn’t around, but I’ve run into Rick Witkowski.

I just looked on Facebook and apparently John is a friend (likely because we both share many friends).

19

In high school, I took an elective on government or civil society or something like that. The teacher was a temp who mostly joked around and we really didn’t do much all semester. But he was genuinely astonished that none of us had heard of Learned Hand, a famous jurist. So we had to write a paper on him. Most didn’t take the assignment seriously though I did.

20

…and Jesus Christ died for nothing, I suppose.

*link goes to a YouTube video of “Sam Stone”