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Interesting stats. The fact that Iron Maiden are one of the most successful bands of all time as illustrated by above sales figures and that 88% of British people know of them agree with one another.
The point I was making is that media played next to no part in that success mostly ignoring Iron Maiden throughout their career, and that is something unusual for such a hugely successful band. Quite possibly, they are the biggest band ever with very little media exposure.
By the way, on top of copies sales they have made good money by touring and merchandise sales.
I'd say Led Zeppelin are the most successful group, that was not in the mainstream, which was obviously in part, to them actively eschewing it.
IMO opinion, they are the most faceless and unknown act, to the mainstream/general public, in the Top 10.
I find it difficult to believe that a band known by 88% of people (as much as U2, for example) was "ignored by the media"... What exactly are you basing this on ?
U2 is definitely the less known act in the top 10 if you believe these Yougov polls.
And the most "faceless" act would be Pink Floyd, assuming you're talking about individual members.
From experience, there is no way that Led Zeppelin are more famous than U2, in the UK. They just aren't. Looking at historical YouGov fame rankings,U2 have been as high as 93% but as low as 87%, while Led Zep flit between 90% to 92%, so depending on the sample, either could be above the other.
I'd say Zep are more faceless than Floyd and definitely more obscure. IMO they are the least visually represented, of all the major sellers, with just 2 visual products, from their peak and 1 from their 2007 reunion. Floyd on the other hand have numerous, including music videos, films, live concerts and documentaries, the majority of which have the actual members in them.
Fame comes and go, right now Zeppelin is at 91% and U2 88%, and even if you make an average of these historical rankings Zeppelin is still above. In the US their fame is at 92% while U2's is at 86%... So again, if you believe these polls, U2 is the less known act.
When you said "faceless" I was almost certain you meant that Zeppelin's members are less famous than Pink Floyd's members, but you meant that they sold less DVDs or something ? Actually they sold about the same (around 7m), while Elton John sold 5m and the Beatles 3m...
Fame does come and go but not in such a short space of time. U2 were at 93% in Q1 21, yet only 87% in Q4 21. For me, it's more to do with the demographic/sample size etc, than fame. Saying all that, I still do not accept that Led Zeppelin are more famous than U2, in the UK.
No, I meant that Zeppelin are the most faceless band, as in their faces were less seen or used, than Floyds. Floyd made numerous promo videos, with the members in them, Zeppelin made none. The faces of Floyd members, were used far more often and more prominently on their studio albums, than Zeppelins. Floyd have released far more live videos, which obviously feature the members faces. There are numerous Floyd docs out there, that feature the members, there are none for Zeppelin. Floyd made numerous TV appearances, certainly in their earlier days, Zep on the other hand made around 5 or so, with nearly all in 1969. On top of that, Floyd have been seen in the flesh, by many, many millions more people, through their far greater touring numbers.
Sorry for the late reply. Difficult to believe for sure but I am basing this on Bruce Dickinson's own words to begin with, he has said it more than once so this only one example: https://blabbermouth.net/news/bruce-dickinson-says-iron-maiden-doesnt-rely-on-established-media-for-support and the fact that they have been indeed absent from media, celebrity talk shows, news, etc. There is a cult of celebrity cultivated, amplified and reinforced by media exposure that normally accompanies such hugely successful musical acts, which is totally absent in the case of Iron Maiden.
But like I said above, maybe Iron Maiden are very lucky for not having that media glory because they can live a normal life, well, as normal as someone's life who is worth more than a 100 million dollars can be..
