# Which rock acts can claim to have been the biggest in the world? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-rock-acts-can-claim-to-have-been-the-biggest-in-the-world/601402 "2011-10-31T18:00:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-rock-acts-can-claim-to-have-been-the-biggest-in-the-world/601402/81 "2011-11-02T14:05:42Z")
> [@](#): > > For a period of about a year that guy bloody massive. If you thought country, you thought of Garth Brooks. At that time he could rightly claim to be one of the biggest acts on the planet Pop quiz: name the only band to have four albums hit #1 in one year. And, sure, the Beatles were at #1 for 15 consecutive weeks in '67. And, sure, Michael Jackson was at #1 for 16 consecutive weeks in '83. Put those _ **together** _ and you’d have the all-time record these guys set: _ **31 consecutive weeks at #1.** _ Same year they won the Emmy, incidentally. ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-rock-acts-can-claim-to-have-been-the-biggest-in-the-world/601402/82 "2011-11-02T14:21:03Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > I don’t disagree. This isn’t about impact, or legacy. Simply, who had garnered the attention of the world, even momentarily. Yep, that’s exaclty what I’m looking for. So I’d say Garth Brooks and the Dixie Chicks probably fit. And I think INXS probably belongs in the discussion, though I personally wouldn’t consider them the biggest at any particular point. On an unrelated note (unrelated to INXS, anyway), I also gave some thought to the Macarena guys and the Baja Men (of “Who Let The Dogs Out” fame, or infamy, if you prefer), but rejected them. While those songs were undoubtedly massive, I suspect all of those guys could’ve walked down any street in America during the height of their popularity and not been recognized. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-rock-acts-can-claim-to-have-been-the-biggest-in-the-world/601402/83 "2011-11-02T14:38:47Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Pop quiz: name the only band to have four albums hit #1 in one year. > > And, sure, the Beatles were at #1 for 15 consecutive weeks in '67. And, sure, Michael Jackson was at #1 for 16 consecutive weeks in '83. Put those _ **together** _ and you’d have the all-time record these guys set: _ **31 consecutive weeks at #1.** _ > > Same year they won the Emmy, incidentally. Google says the Monkees? Before my time obviously, but there is no doubt that they have left themselves a legacy, and I think they do indeed merit discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-rock-acts-can-claim-to-have-been-the-biggest-in-the-world/601402/84 "2011-11-02T15:00:53Z")
Garth Brooks and the Dixie Chicks? :dubious: If they ever had an impact outside of the US then I must’ve missed it. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-rock-acts-can-claim-to-have-been-the-biggest-in-the-world/601402/85 "2011-11-02T15:40:03Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Using your criteria, I nominate Shania Twain, Boston, Hootie and the Blowfish, Journey, and the Dixie chicks. > [List of best-selling albums in the United States - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_albums_in_the_United_States) > > On a more serious note, using the criteria that his popularity was so big that even over here we were swamped by it, how about Garth Brooks. For a period of about a year that guy bloody massive. If you thought country, you thought of Garth Brooks. At that time he could rightly claim to be one of the biggest acts on the planet, no matter how far his star has fallen. Nah, I’d argue that none of those were worldwide phenomenons. They were primarily successful in their own country. None of 'em feature particularly on the top sellers of all time list linked above. As important a market as the US is, I can’t see anyone achieving that status based solely on that market. We’re talking people who have sold 300M albums here, and that would mean that every person in America had one of their albums. The US’ population is only 350M or so, not nearly large enough to sustain a world dominating act on its own. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-rock-acts-can-claim-to-have-been-the-biggest-in-the-world/601402/86 "2011-11-02T15:49:14Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > Look at **Dennis’** description: > > I think in all the given criteria INXS warrant a mention. Like **WordMan** said upthread, at some point (maybe a month, maybe even a week) with all the venues in the media, a lot of unlikely contenders bubbled to the top, bands you wouldn’t ordinarily think of. > > And what about singles? “Need You Tonight” was a US Billboard #1 single and listed as the second best selling single of that year. Doesn’t matter. Taking nothing from INXS (and that was a pretty good album)…in March of 1987 U2 released The Joshua Tree and effectively sucked all the oxygen out of the ‘biggest band in the world’ room for a couple of years. That album sold a ton, the tour sold a ton, radio play was freaking everywhere, TIME put them on the cover, they won a bunch of awards, and documented it all for the follow up, Rattle & Hum which gave them another hit album and movie to go along with it. In the late 80s there’s just no room for anyone else to claim the title that U2. That’s not to say anything bad about other artist who might be successful but they would be facing down a juggernaut that was so powerful it couldn’t be stopped. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-rock-acts-can-claim-to-have-been-the-biggest-in-the-world/601402/87 "2011-11-02T16:02:19Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Garth Brooks and the Dixie Chicks? :dubious: > > If they ever had an impact outside of the US then I must’ve missed it. I was obviously not being serious about the Dixie Chicks, but as somebody who is, you know, outside the US, I can tell you that at one stage in Ireland everybody and their sister were going on about Garth Brooks. In 1997 he played a series of sellout concerts in Croke park Dublin, and the buzz surrounding those dates even reached my fuzzy brain. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-rock-acts-can-claim-to-have-been-the-biggest-in-the-world/601402.md?page=4)