I've been informed that people outside UK generally don't know or care (not caring is the correct response BTW.).
Still seems bizarre to me.
Ricky Martin x Patton Oswald?
this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2026
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This is Lemmy, which crowd are you expecting to know him, the Marxists, the distro-snobs or the furries?
Wait. I'm not a Marxist or distro-snob... Fuck.
Not yet :3 Let's talk linux once you're done with your fursuit :P
Leftist Linux user here. I know who he is. He's the guy who had the awesome video of tearing his muscles off while roller skating and throwing the raw meat at supermodels (Rock DJ).
Also Milllenium really captures the vibe of the 90s.
Edit: I am USian. But I guess his popularity peaked here in the 90s and so a lot don't know him.
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As an American I didn't recognize his face. Then I read that he is Robbie Williams and I also didn't recognize his name.
Seconded
Not that good with faces or pop singers, but pretty sure it's Robbie Williams.
Since lemmy-verse user base skews heavily towards the western world, I think the real gap is not going to be UK vs Not UK, but US vs Rest of the World. And since there was a popular movie and a Netflix documentary about him, even Americans are probably more aware of who he is.
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AND THROUGH IT ALL, SHE OFFERS ME PROTECTION..
Angels is played a lot as a warm up or "please leave now" song at least in my area in southern Germany
Brit here, I never really thought about it but you're absolutely right, Angels is such a "please leave now" song lol
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I live in the United States and Iβm in my 40s; no idea who this is.
Im from Germany and Im quite shocked right now that there are people who dont know him. I was under the impression he was famous all around the world, kind of like Michael Jackson or Elvis. I think if you ask 100 random people in Germany at least 90 will know him.
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robin williams rip
US here, no clue dont recognize it at all
He is quite known here in Germany, take that !
He is pretty well known, or at least used to be more well known (European)
Well yeah, who doesn't know Robbie Williams? Isn't he more or less one of the best known solo artists internationally?
Though he now isn't as young as in that picture anymore.
For reference: I'm Swiss, and in my early 30s
Never heard of him. Is that who is in the picture?
I'm in the US, in my late 40s
I don't.
USA here, and no. However he does look like a mash-up of several celebrities that I would recognize.
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German here. He's super famous in Germany. I used to think he was an international superstar and only learned a couple of years ago that nobody knows him in the US. Still don't quite understand how that happened. How is "Feel" and "Angels" not stuck in everyone's head every once in a while?
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Germany here, this is:
Robbie! One of the better musicians to rise from the age of boy bands.
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TIL I haven't seen a photo of Robbie Williams in 20 years.
Dutch, Robbie Williams, ezpz
Heβs the Carson Daly we have at home.
I grew up in the US but have been living in Japan for 11 years and spent maybe one total month in the west between 2017 and 2023. I've seen a picture of this person before, I think, but couldn't tell you who he is. Looking at the other comments, I do know the name but only from watching UK panel shows on YouTube.
French guy in his late 30s here.
I recognize Robbie Williams. He had at least one song in the charts (Angels reached nΒ°7 in France in 1997-1999).
Probably saw him on MTV at the time. Also heard him on the radio more than a few times.
Used to mix up his name with Robin Williams' ^^
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Couldnβt remember the name immediately but the song Rock DJ came to mind. Remember the music video of him ripping his skin off.
Isn't this Robbie Williams? I've never been in UK.
Robbie Williams? (from US, best friend used to have "Millennium" on repeat for a spell) I honestly thought at first that this was a Jonas brother or maybe post-reconstructive surgery Zac Ephron, but that didn't make sense with the UK part of the question.
Edit: I see I'm correct. But I honestly only dug into that part of my mind because I recalled both the aforementioned single and the general thing, stemming back to those days, that he was like huge in the UK but practically nowhere else. In other words, the question itself served as a clue to who he was (meaning he is apophatic--I only recognize him because I am aware of his absence)
Robbie something. A singer, right? (France)
No.
Middle-aged French woman who never really was in the loop about pop culture: No idea whatsoever.
I thought about this over-memed wrestler, then the TV chef who screams (and whom I only know through memes.)
Then I saw a comment about Robbie sth, so I thought about Margo Robbie, who might have played Barbie. And now I'm pretty sure this man is Robbie William, who was in a boys band when I was a kid? teen? and who might have gone on to have a solo career of not-quite-as-bad music.
I gave it my all.
That's Andy Burnham, our new Prime Minister.
"Outside the UK" may not be correct. "Outside Western Europe" maybe or "younger people outside the UK". Around the release of Swings Both Ways was the last time I noticed his presence in the media here in Germany, that would be 10-15 years ago.
From USA, no idea who this is.
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