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Some American musicians find their biggest fans far from home. From glam rockers to soulful divas, these artists have captured hearts and charts abroad more than in their own backyard. Discover the unexpected global love stories behind some of the most fascinating careers in American music history!
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00:00How are you enjoying Australia so far?
00:01I'm awesome, I love it.
00:02I love y'all accents, I'm trying to get it down.
00:05Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the American musical act
00:09who found even more love and chart success abroad.
00:12I'm so excited, it's my third day on top of the download charts, number one in UK.
00:2010. Scissor Sisters
00:21Born at the turn of the century in the clubs and cabarets of New York City,
00:25Scissor Sisters first found fame with a disco cover of a Pink Floyd classic.
00:30Their audacity paid off.
00:32Their cover of Comfortably Numb earned plenty of play on the European dance charts.
00:41With their dance-focused, avant-garde and brash style,
00:45Scissor Sisters' sense of theatricality and glam rock throwback
00:49was much more aligned with a European audience's sense of camp and fun.
00:58They stormed the UK charts,
01:00and their debut album became one of the country's best-selling albums of the decade.
01:05Despite this, they remain a cult success in the United States.
01:149. Kings of Leon
01:16Though their music has been described as southern rock,
01:19the Folliwill family band first found major chart success in the UK and Ireland.
01:24Years before Use Somebody was storming the American charts,
01:28Kings of Leon found success abroad with their early albums.
01:31Did I kill you somebody?
01:38Someone like you?
01:39Their mixture of gospel-infused rocks and 90s grunge was celebrated on an international level.
01:46In America, their acclaimed albums seem to face criticism
01:49for purportedly selling out their original sound.
01:52She's got your, your pistol,
01:56Marley's angle's gonna change your mind.
01:59Kings of Leon haven't had a charting single in the US since 2010,
02:02but they routinely appear on charts in Europe, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada.
02:07You're in trouble.
02:10We're getting a whooping.
02:12You are going,
02:12but hey, she didn't need to hear it.
02:14It's a huge success.
02:15It's number one.
02:15That's right.
02:16Take that, Betty Ann Murphy.
02:17Number 8. Meatloaf
02:19When I die,
02:21I know
02:23that everything I've ever done
02:25has been
02:26full out.
02:28Known for his sincere,
02:29melodramatic,
02:30and even downright operatic style of rock music,
02:33Meatloaf was not radio-friendly in the least.
02:36Part of that might have to do with his
02:38Bad Out of Hell collaborator,
02:39composer Jim Steinman,
02:41who would write 10-minute rock opuses
02:43that defied the standard pop radio template.
02:46Bad out of hell,
02:47I'll be gone
02:48when I'm going home.
02:49Instead,
02:50it was his live performances
02:52that made Meatloaf a rock star.
02:53His exuberant,
02:55exaggerated,
02:55and highly theatrical style
02:57found much more adoration in Europe and Australia
03:00than the US.
03:06He toured extensively in the 1980s
03:09to save him and his family
03:10from financial ruin,
03:11building up a loyal international audience.
03:33The world-famous saxophonist's smooth sound
03:37didn't please everyone.
03:39Fellow jazz musicians,
03:40for example,
03:41are very skeptical of Kenny G's highly polished music
03:45and bid for mass appeal.
03:46I don't think there's an artist
03:47that wouldn't want more sales.
03:49It's just that you have to know
03:51that you're not compromising
03:52the integrity of your art
03:53to get the sales,
03:54which I don't do.
03:55I play my music.
03:56While his American audience
03:58has faded since his debut in the 1980s,
04:01his skills have won him adulation
04:03from crowds in Asia and Europe.
04:05Perhaps that speaks to a larger respect
04:07and demand for solo instrumentalists abroad.
04:17In China specifically,
04:19Kenny G's music has made a lasting impact
04:21on the culture.
04:22Many businesses in the country
04:24play his original composition
04:25going home
04:26to signal the end of business hours.
04:37Crafting her persona
04:38and honing her talents
04:40among the house music culture
04:41of New York in the 1980s and 90s,
04:44Anastasia's distinctive husky voice
04:46made her an anomaly.
04:47Her first single,
04:48I'm Outta Love,
04:49was a massive success
04:51seemingly everywhere
04:52but the United States.
05:01But it perhaps
05:02wasn't just a simple matter of taste.
05:05Anastasia surmises
05:06that industry politics
05:07got her blacklisted from the radio.
05:10It doesn't sound that far-fetched
05:11when you consider
05:12how massive her success was abroad.
05:21Her U.S. sales were so low
05:23that she didn't even bother
05:24releasing her self-titled
05:25third album in America.
05:27Meanwhile,
05:28that same album hit number one
05:30on 13 international charts
05:31and broke the top 10
05:33in a few more.
05:34They're still playing my music.
05:35They actually like my music still.
05:37So I do feel like
05:39there is a part of me
05:40inside that goes,
05:42well done,
05:42yeah, yeah.
05:43Number 5.
05:44Nina Simone
05:45Singer, songwriter,
05:47and activist
05:47Nina Simone's sound
05:49and point of view
05:49are steeped in her experiences
05:51as a black woman
05:52growing up in the American South.
05:54Too slow.
05:55Why don't they feel it?
05:57Why don't they see it?
05:58I don't know.
06:00Simone fled America
06:01mainly to avoid charges
06:03for tax evasion
06:04as she had stopped paying taxes
06:06in protest of the Vietnam War.
06:08Mistreatment by the music industry
06:10and still pervasive racism
06:11kept her from returning.
06:13This time,
06:14they were more than happy
06:15to see me.
06:16They hadn't seen me so long
06:18they thought I was dead.
06:19But you wouldn't go back
06:21and live there?
06:22No way.
06:23Her singular vision
06:24and independent spirit
06:25were completely at odds
06:27with the way
06:27the American music industry
06:29branded its artists.
06:30Instead,
06:31she sustained her legacy
06:33performing at jazz clubs,
06:34music halls,
06:35festivals and festivals
06:36outside the U.S.
06:434. Pink
06:45With American music
06:46having trended away
06:47from more rock-influenced sounds,
06:49Pink's success
06:50has grown in international markets.
06:52Now that I'm doing trapeze
06:54and the silks
06:56and bungees
06:57and everything else,
06:58I honestly don't know
07:00where we're going to go
07:01from here
07:01and stay alive.
07:04Pink's American career
07:05is an unqualified success
07:07in itself.
07:08Unlike many other artists
07:09on this list,
07:10she's had an incredible run
07:12of singles and albums
07:13in her home country.
07:14But her jam-packed arena tours,
07:16which see her employing
07:17her impressive acrobatic skills,
07:19are especially big in Australia.
07:21I'm having more fun
07:23and now that we are done,
07:25I'm going to show you tonight.
07:28Despite her American upbringing,
07:31her fans down under
07:32have latched onto her music
07:33and dynamic performance style
07:35in a way no other market has.
07:38This phenomenon is so pronounced
07:40it's actually being covered
07:41by Australian media.
07:42So it all started in Australia.
07:44It all started.
07:44I think it did, yeah,
07:45because that was where
07:46I spent the most time,
07:48so I had the most days off.
07:50And I just fell in love.
07:53Number 3, Kelly Rowland.
08:02Once Destiny's Child disbanded
08:04and embarked on their own careers,
08:06their solo efforts
08:07weren't always looked at
08:08in the same way.
08:10Kelly Rowland has had
08:11some moderate success in America.
08:13But in Europe, New Zealand,
08:14and Australia,
08:15Rowland's singles and albums
08:16have frequently landed her
08:18in the top 10.
08:19Several of these successful singles
08:20never even charted in the U.S.
08:23Rowland's blending of dance pop
08:25and R&B made her an icon
08:26in the dance scene.
08:34Her contributions to the music industry
08:37continued on TV.
08:38As a judge on The X Factor UK,
08:40she was responsible for assembling
08:42the young music group
08:43that would become Little Mix.
08:45She should be here.
08:46And she should be here.
08:48That is strong, vocally.
08:50Really?
08:50Abso-freaking-lutely.
08:51It's about being the next generation
08:53and discovering something new.
08:55Number 2, Nicole Scherzinger.
08:57The former Pussycat Doll's popularity
08:59in Europe is twofold.
09:01The Brits embraced
09:02Nicole Scherzinger's dance pop sound
09:04as a solo artist
09:05way more than Americans did.
09:12Her spot on the judges panel
09:14of The X Factor UK
09:15only further raised her profile there.
09:18Her current stardom
09:19as a Tony-winning leading lady
09:20of musical theatre
09:21didn't start on Broadway either.
09:23You've been performing live.
09:24Do you want me to hit you?
09:25Go on, yes, do.
09:26Oh, harder.
09:27Somebody has.
09:28No, I...
09:29My first performance...
09:30You did X Factor on Saturday.
09:31Thank you, Father.
09:32My first performance was X Factor.
09:34Exactly.
09:34In 2015, Scherzinger made her transition
09:37to major professional stage work
09:39in London's West End
09:40with the support and patronage
09:42of world-renowned composer
09:44Andrew Lloyd Webber.
09:45There, she made her debut
09:46in the award-winning role
09:48in Sunset Boulevard
09:49before crossing the pond to Broadway.
09:59Before we continue,
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10:14Number 1, Tina Turner
10:17After her contentious marriage
10:19and divorce from husband
10:20and collaborator Ike Turner,
10:22Tina Turner was forced
10:23to rebuild her entire career
10:25and star profile.
10:26And I promised him
10:27that I would never leave him.
10:28And I actually stayed
10:29because of that promise.
10:31But then it got to the point
10:32where it became really bad.
10:34Really bad.
10:35So, it's time to go.
10:38But even during that marriage,
10:40the couple's
10:40River Deep Mountain High
10:41was way more successful
10:43in Europe,
10:44reaching number 3
10:45in the UK.
10:51Tina credited her European fans
10:54for her miraculous comeback
10:55in the early 80s
10:56off the success
10:57of the album
10:58Private Dancer.
10:59She spoke candidly
11:00about how her fame
11:01on the continent
11:02was surprisingly larger
11:03than it ever was in America,
11:05rivaling that of Madonna's
11:06or the Rolling Stones.
11:08It's one of the reasons
11:09she lived in Switzerland
11:10for the last 30 years
11:11of her life
11:12with husband and record
11:13executive Erwin Bach.
11:15I had no idea
11:16that you were such
11:16a huge star in Europe.
11:19Yeah, no one in America
11:20knows that.
11:22I mean, people are always
11:23shocked when I explain.
11:24People say,
11:24when are you going to go to Vegas?
11:26I was there already.
11:28Which of these artists
11:29were you shocked
11:30to see on this list?
11:31Tell us in the comments.
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