Absolute facts lol. The whole media market now and the forms of different consumption are way too heavily fragmented now compared to the past which makes it 100x harder for celebrities now to be THAT famous compared to the celebrities of the past. Entertainment back then was way more centralized and it was almost guaranteed that everybody would be listening to the same music, watching the same shows, same movies all at the same time etc. Big events were like collective shared memories, shit like that is just straight up non-existent nowadays with the landscape.
People like MJ (Jackson) who I consider to be the most famous celebrity/person ever besides maybe religious figures like Jesus. Muhammad are once in a lifetime celebrities in terms of shared factors timing, musical + pop culture dominance, media landscape and popularity lol. Mike, along with Elvis and The Beatles had reign's that were insane but Michael's was 100x bigger.
Yup.
I'll ask a general question ... how many mega famous actors, singers, athletes can you name today ...
That are under 28?
Being able to name people who are part of the pre-social media network of fame is one thing, but how many "superstars" are there today that aren't like 30+ (sorry but even Taylor Swift is like 34).
Because in the 80s/90s/2000s you could easily name lots of people that weren't in their 30s.
No one in the 80s didn't know a 20 something Michael Jackson or Madonna or Tom Cruise or Eddie Murphy, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan quickly became mega popular. Mike Tyson. Etc. etc. etc.
In the 90s how about Jim Carey breaking out into superstardom in a year, Leonardo DiCaprio, Julia Roberts, Tiger Woods, Will Smith, Jennifer Aniston, Cameron Diaz, Britney Spears, Shaq, the Williams sisters, Kobe Bryant, Jaleel White (lol), the 90210 cast, Shania Twain, Deion Sanders, Troy Aikman and the Cowboys dynasty, Nirvana, Tupac, Derek Jeter, Sosa/McGuire captivating the US, etc. etc.
Look at the media landscape now. Who's the most famous 20 something on the planet? Kendall Jenner? Maybe? Timothy Chamelet?
The entire media landscape has changed.