who leaves a bigger mark,,, Elvis Presley, John Lennon or Michael Jackson?
who leaves a bigger mark,,, Elvis Presley, John Lennon or Michael Jackson?
- which of the above three will leave a bigger legacy and mark in peoples lives, and upon the world?
Update:ok.
to clarify:
elvis was a performer and wrote about 3 of his songs. (the rest were written for him)
john lennon wrote pretty much everything he ever sang.
michael jackson wrote maybe 30% of the songs he sang.
does this make any difference now?
consider:
Johns ability to write music and lyrics and promote certain view-points.
Michaels talent and voice and youthfullness.
Elvis's charisma and performing style.. etc,
More Questions From This User See All
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
It's an easy question to answer. Forget whom you may like better, that's irrelevant. The Answer is Elvis left a bigger mark for 2 reasons.
1) Elvis was first. Without Elvis' enormous impact on music, there would be no Beatles or Jackson Five Five, therefore no Michael Jackson.
2) Elvis outsold the Beatles and Micheal Jackson combined. Yes I know Wikipedia has it tied with Elvis and The Beatles at 1 billion in sales, but music sources such as Cashbox & Billboard have Elvis sales at well over 2 billion sales (the RIAA only lists US Sales, NOT world sales, from 1958 on, Elvis started in 1953, so RIAA is not a valid source)
Plus Elvis has:
54 Gold Records - 27 Platinum & 8 Multi Platinum
The Beatles have:
24 Gold Records - 16 Platinum & 4 Platinum
Micheal Jackson has:
16 Gold Records - 9 Platinum & 0 Multil Platinum
Moreover, prior to 1971, to earn a Gold you had to sell 1 million records not 500,000 like today, taking that into account, if you base all of Elvis' music on the current standard, he would have well over 100 Gold Records.
I know its nice for debate, and it's still fresh in everyone's mind about Micheal Jackson's death, but he never reaches the level of stardom of The Beatles, and the Beatles never reached Elvis.
So I again say, forget your personal favorite, Elvis, by virtue of facts not opinion left the Biggest mark by far. Elvis sold over 2 billion to Micheal Jackson's 600 million. Elvis has 89 Gold and Platinum records, Micheal Jackson has 25.
To but it another way, Elvis was a nuclear bomb, Micheal Jackson was an M-80
Elvis has more sales 1+Billion, Lennon with the beatles matches that and MJ a distant 3rd at 750 million.
Also to those saying MJ had a larger impact on the world
Both Elvis and John Lennon
More gold, platinum, multiplatinum records and singles world wide along with time on the Billboard top 40.
The media is making money off of MJ's death and teenagers are buying into it more than anyone. Hence why you probably have so many people answering Michael Jackson.
Michael jackson penned over 150 songs and is in the Song Writers hall of Fame, he clearly wrote more than 30% of what he sang.
As for impact, that depends on what you mean. If you mean INDIRECT impact (influencing other artists) than Elvis and the Beatles had more impact. If it is direct impact, then Michael Jackson because he simply reached more people around the world.
Ofcourse I think all Elvis did was fill a role that someone was destined to fill anyway (The mainstream White Rock and Roll star) .
The Beatles and Jackson are the real innovators here (Even if that innovation involved combining already existent elements from many different places as was the case in both instances).
Elvis Presley. All of the other artists have stated that Elvis influenced them and that they wouldn’t be around if Elvis wasn’t around. Elvis started rock’roll. If you watch MJ, he took Elvis’s leg thing and made it into his own. The Beatles have said that Elvis was an influence on them.
If you look at the fact that Elvis influenced some of the biggest entertainers of our time and billions of people around the world - he wins.
Also, if you take into account how many people still buy his music and idolize him (more than Lennon), then to me he wins.
Sorry, I tried to be logical about it ( my logic!). Others might have better reasons and better logic. Great question, by the way!
Elvis... post that question again in 32 years time and many people will no longer remember MJ, most will know the Beatles but not the names of the individual members. People 'll will still remember the King, even those who were born years or decades after his death.
As to songwriting, people remember the performers, not the writers... and none of those three would make it into the top ten of the greatest songwriters anyway.
Considering 95% of Elvis fans are all dead and Lennon fans are at the age of senility, this cannot be a fair question. You know everyone is going to say Micheal, but only because he's so new and fresh in everyone's minds. Also keep in account that no one really does their homework on the private lives of these other stars...
This is just not a fair question at all. Ask this question after the next icon dies and see what kind of answers you get.
Michael Jackson.
Jackson
Elvis was more talented than the other two.rock blues gospel country and opera Elvis far better and the best in the planet. Jackson can't hold a candle to the other two
Three big names...
Elvis started everything.
Lennon, not only only formed the best band ever, he created the most beutiful/inspiring songs, meaningful ones.
Michael had a lot of talent...
I would choose Elvis, because John Lennon will always have the shadow of Mccartney, and Jackson didn´t creat anything meaningful.But my favourite is Lennon, then MJ, then Elvis..