I happen to agree with you,
thelambertluvva. In my little RL world Adam does not exist at all (aside from my immediate family&close friends who cater to my obsession)... I never met a person who would know anything about him, heard his music or knows anything about QAL. If I mention Adam's name I usually get a "who?", followed by "you must be insane" head shake...
...with all that - Adam is happy, Adam is busy, Adam is adored by MANY. I am happy for him!
May I just put forward a couple thoughts....to you and
thelambertluvva SSB - Even the biggest SSB performances are forgotten as soon as the game starts. Do you know who sang the SuperBowl SSB last year? The last three years? Who was the last man to sing it?
(Answers -- I had to use Wiki -- Lady Gaga, Idina Menzel, Renée Fleming. The last man - Billy Joel 2007.)
The World Series SSBs are usually sung by artists from the home towns -- so if the San Diego Padres ever make the World Series, I expect Adam to be there singing the SSB.
>> I am certain that if Adam wanted to sing the SSB at a major sporting event, he could. Certain.
I would not use "even" Aloe Blacc -- he is an excellent singer, who was the vocalist on a song that was #1 in 22 countries. He also is from California and a Golden State Warriors fan. So that makes sense.
Personally, I much prefer what the Cleveland Caveliers did for the NBA Final Game 6 -- the fans sang the SSB.
www.nba.com/cavaliers/video/teams/cavaliers/2016/06/17/1466129102887-160616-Anthem.mov-598604www.nba.com/cavaliers/video/teams/cavaliers/2016/06/17/1466129102887-160616-Anthem.mov-598604From a commercial standpoint, Adam's theme song for the NHL Playoffs (WTTS) probably had more impact that singing the SSB at a sports event.
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On the co-workers, friends and family part of this discussion -- it all depends on who is in your circle.
I generally keep my Adam fanning to myself -- only my immediate family has any idea.
My gay friends in LA and Ohio and Mississippi all know Adam. My Queen fan friends who I have known since the 1970's all know Adam. My mom, sister, and nieces all know Adam from Idol. My nieces all know "Ghost Town." My older co-workers are clueless about current music and don't follow classic rock -- so they have no idea who Adam is. But my students (mostly in their 20's) "all" know Adam. He happened to be mentioned in one of our textbooks. (I picked the book but did not notice he was in it -- so that is not why I selected it.)
I just went to Pittsburgh Pride. At one point a DJ played "Ghost Town" -- everyone knew it, and I overheard a couple people saying how much they loved Adam. They were not "usual suspect" Adam fans -- two young gay men.
Adam is probably not "A List," in your face everywhere, Taylor Swift and Beyonce famous. But he is quite well known and is generally respected as an artist and a person. But I have no interest in either Taylor Swift or Beyonce and have no idea what they are doing. They are probably still generally "A List" but not on my "A List."
>> Do you know what Taylor Swift and Beyonce are doing?
Mass popularity like the Beatles achieved may be a thing of the past because we no long live in a mass media culture. With streaming, on-demand media, we have the ability to filter what we are exposed to. We have access to almost unlimited music, movies, book, TV programs, videos, YouTube stars, celebrity interviews, and so on, we all need to and can select what we are interested in. The age of mass media stars is over.
I don't expect Adam to become a mass media star -- almost impossible in 2016 -- but that does not diminish his talent or success.