Musical acts that are popular around the world but not in the U.S.

[Space Cadet]

I thought this would be a fun discussion. What musicians are popular around the world(meaning in places like Europe, Asia, etc) but were not popular in the U.S./North America? To start this off, I wanted to mention the British boy band Take That. They're huge and beloved in Great Britain as well as in other places in Europe(and certain areas in Asia) but in America, they never took off. Only one of their songs, 1995's "Back for Good" reached the top 10 in America(it peaked at number 7) but afterwards the band broke up(and then reunited many years later).

 

[Darklordavaitor]

^ That’s also true for Robbie Williams’ solo career. Apparently he’s so obscure here that he has two houses in LA that he commutes to in hopes of enjoying some amount of anonymity. At this point, I think he’s better known for being part of a plot point in an episode of Ted Lasso in the US than he was for his brief attempt at stateside stardom in the late 90s-early 00s.

Kylie Minogue is another notable example, but she has some stature in the states. “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” especially gave her a massive hit 20 years ago and she’s had recent success on TikTok with “Padam Padam” and an already sold out Vegas residency planned. Worldwide though, she’s on Madonna’s level, which she isn’t close to here.

 

[Nobodyman]

The friggin' Smiths

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

American singer Anastacia is very popular in Europe but is largely not well known in her native States as her debut single "I'm Outta Love" only peaked at number 92 there.

 

[Darklordavaitor]

Louder recently made a list of British bands who never broke it big in the states.

There's some good answers here, like Status Quo, whose British working man sound contrasted too much to the American working man style like Springsteen, Seger or Petty, or The Damned, who seemed more interested in staying homebound than contemporaries like The Clash or Sex Pistols. T. Rex and The Kinks do definitely have their hits in the states, but the reasoning for their inclusion does make sense.

They made a similar list of British metal bands who didn't crack the states, and I agree with this a little less. A couple of acts fit, like Paradise Lost, who had poor experiences touring the US in the 90's and left us behind to double down on making a name for themselves in Europe, or Biffy Clyro, who despite being included in a Transformers soundtrack have no presence here, which I'd blame at least partly on their name (looks like someone made a typo when talking about Buffy). But Napalm Death, Carcass and Godflesh seem to do alright for themselves over here for extreme metal bands, and Enter Shikari seem like they're gaining traction here, at least among my hard-to-please friends. Then there's Diamond Head, who from what I gather aren't that big in the UK either, and thrive entirely due to their Metallica connections.

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

Unlike a lot of British bands in the Nineties, Supergrass weren't huge in the States as they only scored one charting album with their 2002 album Life on Other Planets, which peaked at number 195 and one charting single with their 1997 single "Cheapskate", which peaked at number 35 in the American alternative rock charts as in the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, now the Alternative Airplay chart.

 

[Fone Bone]

"Germans love David Hasselhoff!"

-Norm MacDonald.

 

[stephane dumas]

And before the Beatlemania, there was a band named the Shadows where member Cliff Richard who also got a solo career, who was very popular in the UK.

 

[Space Cadet]

Adding to this thread, I wanted to add another group that's beloved in the UK is Girls Aloud. They had multiple hits in the UK for most of the 00's but they never crossed over internationally.

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

Adding to this thread, I wanted to add another group that's beloved in the UK is Girls Aloud. They had multiple hits in the UK for most of the 00's but they never crossed over internationally.

They did in fact try to make a breakthrough overseas as there was a reality TV show on Channel 4 in 2006 called Off the Record, which saw them perform in China and Oceania. Not only that but "Long Hot Summer" was actually recorded for the Herbie: Fully Loaded soundtrack, which could've been their American debut single though those plans ultimately fell through and that being said, they did have five singles chart outside of Europe as they had three hit singles in Australia plus two that charted outside the Top 50 and one hit single in New Zealand.

 

[Vuxovich]

How about Puffy AmiYumi?

 

[Space Cadet]

How about Puffy AmiYumi?

They don't count because they're popular in their native Japan but they're a cult following outside of it.

 

[Low Spark of Lyman]

Would an act who had hits decades ago before disappearing from the American public consciousness count?

In particular, The Ventures, an instrumental rock group that's been around since 1958. They had some hits in the 1960s, particularly their versions of "Walk Don't Run" and the "Hawaii Five-O" theme song, then became forgotten in America the following decade. Meanwhile, they are an excellent example of Big in Japan, going back to their early years (they've also done well elsewhere in the world). More information on that here.

Sorry if that doesn't count, but it's all I've got.

 

[Space Cadet]

Would an act who had hits decades ago before disappearing from the American public consciousness count?

In particular, The Ventures, an instrumental rock group that's been around since 1958. They had some hits in the 1960s, particularly their versions of "Walk Don't Run" and the "Hawaii Five-O" theme song, then became forgotten in America the following decade. Meanwhile, they are an excellent example of Big in Japan, going back to their early years (they've also done well elsewhere in the world). More information on that here.

Sorry if that doesn't count, but it's all I've got.

That works for the topic.

 

[stephane dumas]

In "Close but no Cigar" category, I don't know if they could count too but Cheap Trick was first very popular in Japan but not in North America yet until they released as a single the live version of "I want you to want me" live at Budokan who became a big hit here in 1979.