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We all know that the biggest "world celebrities" are all from the English speaking countries.
We know that the most famous music artists and bands are the American and British (and Jamaican) artists / bands.
In non-English speaking countries, those "world celebrities" are very famous too, and enjoy a lot of success.
But... The non-English speaking countries also have their own local music celebrities.
What if the users from non-English speaking countries use this thread to share the names and the work of the local music celebrities of their countries?
We may tell who are the most famous music artists / bands from our countries, that sing in the local language (not in English). We can even use YouTube videos, if possible, to show some of their work.
Roberto Carlos is a romantic singer who is know in Brazil by the nickname "O Rei" (The King).
The nickname shows how important this guy is in Brazil. He is the most successful singer in Brazil's history. Roberto Carlos has sold over 120 million albums around the world.
His career started in the 60's, more than 40 years ago, and he is still active, recording new albums.
Roberto Carlos is so important that every single year, by the end of December, Globo TV, the biggest TV network of Brazil, makes a "special concert" of him, called "Roberto Carlos - Especial". It happened every year for the past 20 years.
In Japan and South Korea, local talents sell more album than American and British musicians except for a few ones like Mariah Carey in Japan. JPOP and KPOP are huge genres of music in Asia and scattering now in US, Mexico, Europe, Canada and South America.
Some famous JPOP artists:
1. YUI
2. Ayu
3. Gackt
4. Arashi
5. AKB48
KPOP artists:
1. SNSD
2. Super Junior
3. KARA
4. 2NE1
5. Big Bang
I have both Korean TV stations and NHK so I see a lot of both of the modern forms of music. I am a little bit too old for some of it but you can't but be impressed with these artists. The most amazing thing I heard recently was on the Korean Christian Channel. A group of young kids singing music from the American black church that was a soul stirring as anything i have heard on the South Side of Chicago. The kids also had great moves.
I am a big fan of Japanese enka singer Suizenji Kyoko. She has a great voice and a super delivery. Check out Youtube.
I am sure everyone knows the Brazilian bossa artists like Jobim and Gilberto but how about the Portuguese Fado. I think it is a great musical experience. There my favorite is Agentina Santos.
Another popular singer in Papua New Guinea (and Hawa'i as well) is O-Shen (aka Jason Hershey). Although both of his parents are American, he was born and raised in Papua New Guinea. He sings Tok Pisin and a couple of other languages.
Although Japanese music is quite diverse (eg. enka, J-Pop, J-Rock, J-Hop, J-Reggae, etc), Jero (aka Jerome Charles White, Jr) is a surprisingly popular enka singer.
For J-Pop, Crystal Kay (aka "CK" and Crystal Kay Williams) is relatively popular. She began her singing career at the age of 13 and has been at it for the last decade or so.
Here's a song that she did at a live concert back in 2007...
I once saw Gretchen in the Porto Alegre airport. She is a brazilian C list celebrity.
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