What are some non American and non British singers or bands who made international careers?
Please list only performers of broadly defined popular music. No
Chopin or Mozart here. Basically anything that is played on
commercial radio stations fits here.
Please don't list any US/UK born artists only because their
ancestors come from a different country. For the sake of this list,
Lady Gaga isn't Italian, J. Lo isn't Puerto Rican, Cher isn't
Armenian, Pitbull isn't Cuban, George Michael isn't Cypriot, etc.
You can, though, list any musicians who live and work in the US or
the UK but were born somewhere else. For the sake of this list,
Rihanna is Barbadian, Sade is Nigerian, Akon is Senegalese, Freddie
Mercury was an Indian from Zanzibar, etc.
Also, don't list any artists from your country. You're probably
biased by your local media who often exaggerate the international
success of their musicians. I myself come from a small country in
Europe which has never exported any of its stars but I hear all the
time that this and this singer "is making an international career".
If an artist from your country really is famous abroad, someone
else will list him.
Finally, don't list any regional stars. I can imagine that, for
instance, many Russian artists might also be famous in other
ex-USSR states. Same with Latin and Indian musicians who are
listened to throughout Latin America and Asia respectively. Here we
list only artists known globally or at least throughout Europe.
These are all the artists that I can think of right now. It
includes huge stars such as U2, Celine Dion, Kylie Minogue, etc, as
well as one hit wonders like Gazebo, Sarah Connor, Marquess, etc.
The order is random.
AUSTRALIA
Crowded House
AC/DC
Nick Cave
Kylie Minogue
Gotye
Keith Urban
Natalie Imbruglia
BARBADOS
Rihanna
BELGIUM
Vaya Con Dios
Stromae
Lara Fabian (also Italian)
Kate Ryan
Selah Sue
BRAZIL
Loalwa Braz (Kaoma member)
Ive Mendes
BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
Iyaz
COLOMBIA
Shakira
Juanes
CANADA
Alanis Morissette
Avril Lavigne
Bryan Adams
Céline Dion
Diana Krall
Justin Bieber
Michael Bublé
Neil Young
Nelly Furtado
Nickelback
Shania Twain
Paul Anka
Leonard Cohen
Garou
Melanie Fiona
Sarah McLachlan
Tamia
Rufus Wainwright
The Guess Who
CAPE VERDE
Cesaria Evora
CUBA
Celia Cruz
Gloria Estefan
Buena Vista Social Club
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Aventura (only one of 4 members born in DR)
FINLAND
Apocalyptica
HIM
Nightwish‎
Bombunk MC's
Tarja Turunen
FRANCE
Kaoma
Jean-Michel Jarre‎
Matt Pokora
Alizée
Édith Piaf
Patricia Kaas
Sébastien Izambard (Il Divo member)
David Guetta
GEORGIA
Katie Melua
GERMANY
Bad Boys Blue‎
Modern Talking‎
ATC
Gregorian
Marquess
Milli Vanilli
Tokio Hotel
Boney M.
La Bouche
Scooter
Snap!
Rammstein
Scorpions
Marlene Dietrich
Mr. President
Paul van Dyk
Sandra Cretu‎
Sarah Connor
Lou Bega
HAITI
Wyclef Jean
HUNGARY
Omega
ICELAND
Björk
IRELAND
Boyzone
Westlife
The Cranberries‎
U2‎
The Corrs
Chris de Burgh
Enya
Bob Geldof (& Boomtown Rats)
Ronan Keating
Sinéad O'Connor
ISRAEL
Dana International
ITALY
Tiziano Ferro
Eros Ramazzotti
Zucchero
In-Grid
Mina
Laura Pausini
Lara Fabian (also Belgian)
Andrea Bocelli
Luciano Pavarotti
Gazebo
Eiffel 65
JAMAICA
Shaggy
Sean Paul
Bob Marley & The Wailers
LATVIA
BrainStorm
MEXICO
Maná
Carlos Santana
MOLDOVA
O-Zone
NETHERLANDS
Caro Emerald
NEW ZEALAND
Kimbra
NIGERIA
Sade
Dr Alban (also Swedish)
Eddy Wata
NORWAY
a-ha
POLAND
Basia
PUERTO RICO
Ricky Martin
Tito Nieves
ROMANIA
Akcent
RUSSIA
t.A.T.u.
ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
Kevin Lyttle
SENEGAL
Akon
SWEDEN
Swedish House Mafia
Dr Alban (also Nigerian)
Måns Zelmerlöw
Roxette
The Cardigans
ABBA‎
Ace of Base‎
A*Teens
SPAIN
Las Ketchup
Carlos Marín (Il Divo member)
José Carreras
Plácido Domingo
Enrique Iglesias
Julio Iglesias
David Bisbal
SWITZERLAND
Urs Bühler (Il Divo member)
DJ BoBo
TURKEY
Tarkan
Sertab Erener
ZANZIBAR (today part of Tanzania)
Freddie Mercury (Indian parents)
