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Musicians by Last Name

Based on the last name, guess the first names of these famous musicians.
If more than one answer fits, choose the more famous one
Quiz by buck1017
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Last updated: March 7, 2018
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First submittedJuly 18, 2013
Times taken81,378
Average score57.1%
Rating3.91
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First
Last
Justin
Timberlake
Kurt
Cobain
Avril
Lavigne
Blake
Shelton
Freddie
Mercury
Pete
Wentz
Mick
Jagger
First
Last
Robert
Plant
Tim
McGraw
Dionne
Warwick
Colbie
Caillat
Brian
Littrell
Kelly
Clarkson
Rick
Astley
First
Last
Annie
Lennox
Harry
Styles
Nicole
Scherzinger
Eddie
Vedder
Alison
Krauss
Celine
Dion
Lena
Horne
First
Last
Tom
Morello
Luther
Vandross
Nicki
Minaj
Joe
Satriani
Christina
Aguilera
Ella
Fitzgerald
Carlos
Santana
+2
Level 16
Jul 25, 2013
I loved it!
+1
Level 82
Dec 7, 2017
I hated it. Obviously the quiz of someone not old enough to know some alternative names to the above: Kay Starr? Judy Collins?
+4
Level 77
Dec 7, 2017
You are absolutely right. I started looking up some of the suggestions that people made in the comments. Some I agree with others, no way. Judy Collins appears to be as prominent as Phil Collins, so that should be removed in the edit. But it's hard for me to agree that an American Jazz singer from the 40s is more famous than one of the Beatles, but I'll probably change that one too.
+1
Level 70
Feb 24, 2018
Lee Michaels too.
+1
Level 55
Feb 26, 2018
In terms of popularity, I think you've hit the nail on the head. I think Anne Shelton is more well known than Blake Shelton though? I've never heard of Blake. Maybe it's because I'm a Brit, Anne was a 40s sweetheart and Blake is a country singer which is a much more popular genre in the US!
+1
Level 73
Mar 5, 2018
@Nath567...Blake is more than a country star. He is one of the "Judges" on the mega show "The Voice"
+1
Level 61
Apr 27, 2018
never heard of Anne Shelton, so the US/UK difference continues!
+1
Level 89
Sep 15, 2019
There was a debate somebody who might've been known 75 years ago is as family as one of the Beatles? That's like saying you should accept Harold for a famous politician named Washington.
+1
Level 79
Mar 19, 2021
Could Anne Shelton be accepted? I kept trying that!
+2
Level 43
Nov 7, 2013
You should accept George for last name Michaels
+2
Level 55
Nov 7, 2013
Actually, it's George Micheal not Michaels. It should also accept Bootsy Collins.
+4
Level 59
Nov 7, 2013
The rules state, and I quote, "If more than one answer fits, choose the more famous one". Trust me, Bootsy's nowhere near as famous.
+2
Level 78
Nov 7, 2013
Depends on what kind of music you listen to.
+1
Level 69
May 3, 2016
Judy Collins should *definitely* be accepted. She is iconic.
+3
Level 73
Mar 5, 2018
@BobSaget no, it doesn't depend on what kind of music you listen to. More famous refers to how many people can recognize the individual. If you surveyed 1000 people and asked them which one have the heard of, I would be willing to bet anything on this planet, that more people know and heard of Phil Collins than Bootsy Collins. I didn't even know there was someone in the world named Bootsy.
+2
Level 67
Sep 17, 2016
Or Albert Collins.
+1
Level 63
Nov 7, 2013
Great idea, would've been even better with their real last names - for some.
+1
Level 31
Nov 7, 2013
"More Famous" is a matter of opinion. For example, I consider Pierce The Veil to be more famous than, say Little Mix, because I know more people who know PTV than people who know Little Mix. However, if you did a survey on the street, Little Mix would likely be considered the most famous of the two.

Also, did anybody else try Jeffree Star for Ringo Starr? I figured it was a typo and then I remembered The Beatles xD

I also couldn't get Jeremy Clarkson out of my head for Kelly Clarkson, haha.

+4
Level 65
Nov 7, 2013
I would consider more famous to mean number of albums sold, not personal opinion.
+5
Level 83
Jun 18, 2014
I can say with fair confidence that neither PTV nor Little Mix qualify as famous.
+2
Level 67
Feb 26, 2018
More people I know, know me than anyone one this list. I don't think that makes me more famous.
+1
Level 66
Dec 13, 2018
Exactly (I think that was what you were trying to say?) Everybody I know knows me! I must be very very famous!! (Even some I dont know knows me, I sometimes find out..go figure)
+2
Level 66
Dec 13, 2018
More famous is definitely NOT an opinion. It is how many people know them, not how many people you know that know them. (Still wouldnt be an opinion then, just less objective and more selective. Like getting 100% recognisability when only asking people that know them)

It would be like saying which person is taller is an opinion.

+1
Level 79
Nov 8, 2022
The difference between height and fame in your analogy is ease of measurement. You can find someone's height with a tape measure and a few seconds, and many famous people have their height listed online, assuming they're not lying. Meanwhile to measure fame you first need to pick a sample of people - if you were to only ask British people then, say, kids TV nightmare Mr Blobby would be as famous as Bruce Springsteen, while if you ask the whole world the entire list above are quite obscure because more than half the population live in East Asia - and then conduct an expensive survey on that population for each person whose fame you want tested. In the absence of this, everyone here is making claims about what the results of such a survey would be based off of their own gut instinct, and given the huge bias we all have towards people in our own countries around our own age with similar interests to ourselves, no one will ever be even vaguely close to correct.
+8
Level 58
Nov 7, 2013
Good quiz, but please remove Nicki Minaj. The quiz title clearly says "musicians."
+1
Level 74
Aug 5, 2014
At least half these artists are vocalists rather than musicians; ie. I don't think they could play an instrument or create music without electronic assistance
+7
Level 69
Dec 9, 2017
The human singing voice is most certainly considered a musical instrument.
+3
Level 78
Feb 24, 2018
A lot of her solo music sucks, but she definitely has some talent. Listen to her verse on "Monster" by Kanye West.
+3
Level 62
May 10, 2021
Um, chile, anyways, so...
+3
Level 72
Nov 7, 2013
Ha-hah! One of the elite 13% that knows Brian Littrell
+1
Level 40
Jun 3, 2014
me too haha
+1
Level 51
Aug 24, 2016
same
+4
Level 84
Apr 3, 2017
I carpet-bombed common first names. Still have no idea who he is.
+1
Level 66
Mar 15, 2019
He is in a group called The Backstreet Boys.
+1
Level 37
Apr 18, 2014
Thank you QM! It finally worked - typing "bob" at the last second actually gave me credit for an answer... though I still have no idea who Bo Bice is.
+1
Level 70
May 15, 2014
Please accept Michael for Starr, for the ridiculous people like me who draw a blank on Ringo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Saenz - Michael or Mike Starr was also the bassist for Alice in Chains. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Starr_(musician)
+3
Level 22
Jun 2, 2016
Pretty certain Ringo was far more famous.
+1
Level 75
Jul 2, 2014
All I could think of for Anthony was Li'l. I couldn't think of Ringo Starr or Celine Dion. I'm giving myself a timeout for stupidity.
+2
Level 28
Jun 14, 2015
Tried F. Scott Fitzgerland way too many time before i remembered he's an author xD
+1
Level 77
Jul 11, 2016
Jeremy Clarkson and Tom Collins? Too bad neither name has anything to do with music..
+2
Level 66
Sep 27, 2016
Please do composers!!!!!!!!!!!!
+1
Level 80
Oct 29, 2016
I have no idea who half these people are...
+1
Level 72
Mar 28, 2020
My problem as well: 15 of these people are definitely famous, 12 I had never heard their name, even when you told me what you were looking for.
+1
Level 35
Feb 1, 2017
I got just about all the old ones and a few of the new ones I knew just from being in high school. "Little Anthony" and "Dion and the Belmonts...." Oops
+1
Level 45
Mar 14, 2017
I guessed Phil and Bo cos I wanted to guess Phillip and Bob
+1
Level 77
Dec 8, 2017
Damn. It should accept Billy Horne. Because he is cool, because he plays (and makes) hurdygurdies and because he has a webpage: http://www.billyhorne.com/
+3
Level 77
Dec 8, 2017
You also should consider Marilyn Horne, one of the world great operatic mezzo-soprano's.
+1
Level 77
Dec 8, 2017
I considered her...but come on...
+3
Level 81
Feb 24, 2018
I wholeheartedly agree courthousedoc. The trouble, or perhaps the challenge, with quizzes like this is that they are terribly subjective. "More famous" according to whose criteria? I'm a big fan of both Lena and Marilyn Horne because I grew up in a household with parents who appreciated both. But choosing one over the other as more famous depends on whether you like and listen to opera or jazz. I grant you that Lena Horne had greater appeal and reached a bigger audience than Marilyn Horne, but both singers achieved great things in their very distinguished and yet very different careers. So, maybe allow a little leeway, at least with this one answer?
+1
Level 61
Apr 28, 2018
when does "greater appeal" and "bigger audience" not equal "most famous" as stated in the instructions?
+2
Level 51
Jan 3, 2018
Julia Michaels should be accepted
+1
Level 69
Feb 27, 2018
Absolutely. I don't know what the criteria is for "most famous" but she's the first one who appears on google if you write 'singer Michaels'
+1
Level 77
Mar 5, 2018
Never heard of her, but using that criteria, I went ahead and changed the question.
+1
Level 75
Jan 4, 2018
You're really stretching the definition of musician with some of these
+1
Level 57
Feb 24, 2018
Couldn't get past TUG McGraw of baseball fame - they are father and son, actually,
+2
Level 73
Feb 24, 2018
I thought of Marilyn Horne. She was quite a famous opera diva back in the days.... perhaps the best known alto of all time!
+2
Level 59
Feb 24, 2018
Julia Michaels is a grammy nominated modern singer and should be accepted.
+2
Level 61
Feb 24, 2018
Loving the Satch on this quiz!
+1
Level 23
Feb 25, 2018
Rick Astley. No. Just no.
+1
Level 89
Sep 15, 2019
Never meant to hurt you.
+2
Level 42
Feb 26, 2018
Fredo Santana?

Maybe add a joint santana or something

+2
Level 72
Feb 26, 2018
As a French Canadian, I'd love it if you could put the "é" back in "Céline Dion". Not sure if she officially goes by Celine nowadays, but Céline is her birth name.
+1
Level 48
Feb 26, 2018
I know I'm in the minority but when I see 'Morello' I think of Dave Brubeck's drummer, but then 'Joe' was already covered with Satriani. Yeah, I feel like I should have known about Rage but not this time.
+1
Level 39
Mar 1, 2018
I was OBSESSED with Brian Littrell in elementary and part of middle school.
+1
Level 42
May 1, 2018
I wouldn't call Nicki Minaj a musician. Really only screams into a mic....no instruments at all....
+4
Level 83
Oct 27, 2018
Much as I detest Nicki Minaj... the voice is often considered an instrument.
+1
Level 37
Feb 20, 2019
Pittsburgh is spelled with an h so stop adding useless comments to "Biggest U.S. Cities by Letter - P."
+1
Level 39
Apr 26, 2019
Huh. Never heard of Tim McGraw. Guessed "Gavin" for Gavin DeGraw.
+1
Level 63
Jul 5, 2019
I like Gavin DeGraw way more but Tim is definitely more famous. There's even a song called Tim McGraw.
+1
Level 39
Nov 9, 2019
Yeah looking back I have no clue how I had not heard of Tim McGraw he's definitely more famous. I was raised (well being raised) on Gavin DeGraw though
+1
Level 62
May 10, 2021
I only got him because of that one Taylor Swift song.
+1
Level 26
Aug 5, 2019
A unique mix of artists. Love it. Props for including Satriani!
+1
Level 39
Nov 9, 2019
For so long in my life I got Adam Levine and Avril Lavigne mixed up and was very confused.
+1
Level 46
Nov 22, 2019
Paul McCartney? Freddie Mercury?
+1
Level 89
Jan 29, 2020
Paul's probably not going to respond to you. Freddie can't.
+1
Level 76
Dec 30, 2021
Kudos on including Satriani.
+1
Level 73
Jan 24, 2023
I thought the clue was HOME. So, I didn't guess Lena! Well, I finished with 26/28.
+1
Level 68
Mar 3, 2023
Ari Lennox is an RnB singer who I thought of first, maybe you should accept her name as well.
+2
Level 77
Mar 3, 2023
One of the two has multiple double platinum albums and is in the rock and roll hall of fame. The other has 2 studio albums and a Wikipedia page. For the moment, I'm good keeping it the way it is. But who knows. That may change in 10 years.