Every generation has their own pop culture icons, scandals, iconic relationships, etc. We often try to match our current crop of stars to the ones that have come before them. They always say history repeats itself. Let's take a look at how some of the new(ish) celebrities compare to their pop culture counterparts of the past.
MUSICAL POWER COUPLE
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| Beyonce & Jay Z |
Whitney & Bobby |
When 2 well established musical artists at the top of their game get together, people pay attention. Whitney was at the HEIGHT of her singing career and had even made the dive into acting with her 1992 film The Bodyguard. Bobby was also enjoying a successful solo career after parting ways with New Edition. Now, I'm saying that these 2 marriages are identical, but the general similarities are there. Yes, both couples collaborated with their spouse in musical projects, but they are better known for their lives outside of music. Whitney and Bobby had a tumultuous relationship that was littered with infidelity, drugs, arrests, and domestic violence. Their private lives were the fodder for comedians and gossip magazines. Beyonce and Jayz's marriage isn't quite as messy, but their relationship has been plagued with rumors of him cheating. It all came to blows that fateful night after the MET Gala when Solange decided to beat Jay down in the elevator for messing with Beyonce's feelings one too many times. Lemonade pretty much confirmed what everyone already knew.
THE ORIGINAL: Sonny & Cher
SUSPECT AGE DIFFERENCE
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| Demi & Wilmer |
Hilary & Joel |
This is a tale as old as time, young actress starts relationship with much older man. Demi was only 17 when she hooked up with 29 year old Wilmer Valderamma. He had a reputation of courting teenage starlets, so this came as a shock to absolutely no one. But does anyone remember the reaction when Hilary Duff (16) was linked with Joel Madden of Good Charlotte (25)? It was more of a "this is a weird pairing" NOT "I can't believe the age difference" type deal. Everything written about their relationship at the time was very romanticized. Yes there were stories that pointed to the fact that Hilary was of high school age when they started dating, but I felt like that got lost in the conversation about him being a "bad boy", she was a Disney good girl, and OH BOY how do they make it work? More recent gross age differences include Bella Thorne, Kylie Jenner, Liam Payne (she originally met him when he was 14 ya'll), and Harry Styles.
THE ORIGINAL: Elvis & Priscilla
GOOD GIRL GONE "BAD"
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| Miley Cyrus |
Christina Aguilera |
Many young female singers want to shed their good girl image once they are of a certain age. Miley Cyrus went from doing pilates and singing kids bop songs to having her labia hanging out for photoshoots with Uncle Terry. But before her, there was X-Tina. She tested the waters a bit by wearing more and more revealing clothing and putting black streaks in her hair. When the music video for "Dirrrty" came out, everyone was shocked at her transformation. There was this teen pop sweetheart basically naked, wrtithing around all sweaty on a filthy boxing ring floor. She didn't stop there though. She got numerous piercings all over her body and posed nude in several photoshoots. After a year or 2 she finally toned down her image and even made it somewhat back to the original. Perhaps Miley will do the same?
THE ORIGINAL: Janet Jackson
*Janet never took it to the extremes above, but she did ditch her bubblegum pop for a more adult look and sound*
COUNTRY GOLDEN GIRL CROSSOVER
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| Taylor Swift |
LeAnn Rimes |
For the longest time, country had been reserved for grandpas and bored southern housewives. It was very rare to see a teenager break onto the scene in the way that LeAnn Rimes did. She had a huge hit with "Blue" & "How do I live?" in the mid 90s, but seamlessly transitioned over to pop music when several of her songs were featured in the Coyote Ugly soundtrack. She even made had a cameo as herself at the end of the movie. LeAnn's legacy in country music no doubt paved the way for other teenage artists in the genre...and none did it better than Taylor Swift. She came out of nowhere with her hit "Teardrops on my guitar" and instantly made a name for herself in the business. I always considered Taylor to be Country-Lite, which made it easier for her to crossover into pop radio where she now dominates the charts and kills the competition.
THE ORIGINAL: Patsy Cline
TEEN POP ROYALTY
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| Justin & Selena |
Justin & Britney |
What is there to say? Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez were the second coming of JT and Britney. The amount of press that both couples received was enormous. Each star's fan bases took shots at one another...very few fans were on board with these couplings. AND THE BREAK UPS WERE EVEN JUICIER. JT's solo career took off when he released "Cry Me a River" which detailed the reason for him and Brit's demise. Britney shot back with "Everytime", which was basically her way of saying sorry. Justin and Selena's relationship has been a bit more on & off and the embarrassment seems to be one sided. Bieber seems to prefer social media manipulation and passive aggressive digs at his EX, while Selena mostly plays it cool...but somehow keeps coming back for more.
THE ORIGINAL: Ricky Nelson and Lorrie Collins
POTATO KING
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| Channing Tatum |
Keanu Reeves |
Everyday I hear people say, "How does Channing keep getting roles?". He is Hollywood's newest potato prince, that's why. Every 5-10 years, Hollywood picks its new golden boy to try and make into a star. Sometimes they are successful (Tom Cruise), other times they are not (Sam Worthington). But behind every golden boy is the potato prince. This is a 2nd tier star with negligible acting talent, a decent but forgettable face, & most importantly...a great attitude. These dudes are usually known for being some of the nicest most humble people on set, and producers and directors are happy to work with them. You find yourself rooting for these guys because they don't typically have that Hollywood chip on their shoulder. Keanu had a few blockbusters back in the 90s and now he kind of flies under the radar, but is still getting steady work. Channing has only begun to hit his peak in Hollywood and only time will tell if he has the staying power to remain in the business like Keanu has. These guys are not to be confused with blistered, rotten spuds like Miles Teller. He may be talented, but he's a douche so he is disqualified from this category.
THE ORIGINAL: John Travolta
IT GIRLS
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| Kendall & Gigi |
Paris & Nicole |
It must be nice to be famous for doing absolutely nothing. Sure, they may have "careers" such as twisting knobs on a turn-table whilst using headphones that aren't plugged in or lumbering down a runway like they realized they have to poop and aren't sure if they can hold it in before they get home...but let's not be fooled. These girls are only in the spotlight because of NEPOTISM. Paris & Nicole are famous for being rich and partying all over the world wearing no panties. Gigi & Kendall are famous for being famous. I'm lowkey disappointed in the new crop of it girls because at least Nicole and Paris were entertaining to follow. Gigi and Kendall just date famous dudes, "model" and post photos and vids on Snapchat and Instagram. They bore me to death.
THE ORIGINAL: Edie Sedgewick
PUNKASS POP STARS
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| Justin Bieber |
Marky Mark |
White Boy? CHECK! Exploits black culture for financial gain? CHECK! is homophobic or racist? CHECK! Has violent tendencies? CHECK! Justin Bieber really is a carbon copy of Marky Mark in the early 90s...even down to the Calvin Klein ads. While Bieber didn't start off this way...he slowly morphed into a ridiculous caricature of himself and what he considers to be "down". Marky Mark may have not enjoyed the success that Justin has with his musical career, he sure did make up for it with his extracurricular activities. He started abusing drugs and alcohol at the age of 13, threw rocks at a group of black children while screaming racial epithets, and beat a Vietnamese man for no reason. Justin's indiscretions seem tame compared this, but still abhorrent (using the N-word, peeing into mop buckets, and racing his Lambo while high on drugs). Mark Wahlberg has since outgrown his reign of terror, but will Justin?
THE ORIGINAL: Leif Garrett
OVEREXPOSED PAP COUPLE
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Hiddleswift Lord & Taylor |
Bennifer 1.0 |
There are couples that you root for (Tom and Rita, Ciara and Russell) and then there are the couples who make you want to throw up. Every time you look in a magazine or turn on the computer, your eyes are assaulted by the thousands of photos of their every move. Every magazine cover talks about their true love, the impending engagement, the possibility of a pregnancy, and eventually what went wrong in the relationship. Everything seems to be moving at a lightening fast speed and the entire journey is cringeworthy. I think that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez getting together was one of the 1st times I heard anyone coin a relationship nickname in "Bennifer". Keep in mind that this was around the time that paparazzi and internet gossip was really taking off and they over saturated the media. I think the general public was actually very curious with their relationship at first, but soon were sick of the constant stories about them. Taylor Swift on the other hand, is extremely public with her relationships & has her publicist constantly give stories to the media.I feel like I'm suffocating. Her and Tom's recent and embarrassing displays of public affection have led some to question the validity of their relationship. Would anyone be so desperate for PR that they would orchestrate this sad relationship and force feed it to the masses?
THE ORIGINAL: Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton
SPORTS ICON
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| Lebron James |
Michael Jordan |
Athletes are treated like rock stars. They make millions of dollars, have adoring fans, and seem larger than life. They secure lucrative endorsement deals for shoes, clothing, energy drinks, you name it. Michael Jordan is considered to be the best NBA player of all time. He parlayed his fame into a successful shoe line that still has people wrapped around the corner of stores and camping out on their release day. He was the face of Gatorade in the early 90s and his name was synonymous with winning. He also had enough star power to SWITCH sports towards the end of his career and signed with several minor league baseball teams before returning to the Bulls and leading them to 3 more NBA championships. Lebron has done quite well filling the shoes that Jordan left behind. He has won 3 national championships, 4 MVP awards, 2 Olympic gold medals, and was selected as the #1 overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. Time will only tell if his legacy will surpass that of Michael Jordan.
THE ORIGINAL: Babe Ruth
PUSHING THE ENVELOPE
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| Lady Gaga |
Madonna |
Madonna shocked the world when she debuted on the MTV awards humping the stage in a wedding dress singing "Like a Virgin"...and her antics didn't stop there. She was very outspoken about sex and used controversial images in her music videos. Even today, she continues to try to test the boundaries of the general public's comfort level. So when Lady Gaga burst onto the scene in 2008, everyone felt like they had seen this all before. The outrageous stage outfits, the quirky interviews, the publicity stunts...all of this seemed to overshadow Gaga's true talent. Just when you thought she may have toned it down, she came back with something even more bizarre. Madonna & Lady Gaga have both made the jump from music to film/TV with positive results. They have even taken jabs at each over their similar careers and personas.
THE ORIGINAL: Ozzy Osbourne
TROUBLED CHILD STARS
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| Lindsay Lohan |
Drew Barrymore |
Child stars typically have a hard time transitioning into adult actors/actresses. The industry is a touch place for anyone, let alone a child. Many get caught up in drugs at a young age. To make matters worse, their parents do not always have their child's best interest at heart which further pushes them into their downward spirals. Lindsay Lohan is no exception. After the success of Mean Girls, she began slowly falling into the Hollywood party lifestyle. She has tried numerous times to get her career back on track with little to no success. She continues to party, but has seemed to have calmed down since moving to London and becoming engaged to a millionaire. Before Lindsay was driving drunk, acting a fool on set, and generally disobeying the law and court systems...there was Drew Barrymore. She grew up in a acting family and had her big break in 1982 with the film E.T.. Drew soon became a regular at Studio 54 (she's was under the age of 10 BTW) and began drinking and dabbling in drugs before she was teenager. Thankfully Drew successfully completed rehab and began to get steady work again in the mid 90s.
THE ORIGINAL: Judy Garland
R&B/HIP HOP SWEETHEARTS
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| Rihanna |
Aaliyah |
While R&B and Hip Hop has always had popular female artists, none were quite as big as Aaliyah in the mid to late 90s. She had hit after hit and worked with many famous and well established artists such as R. Kelly and Timbaland. She was talented, beautiful, and gracious. Every girl wanted to be her and every guy wanted to be with her. Unfortunately, her life was cut short after a plane crash in the Bahamas. Following her tragic death in 2001, the R&B world was left with a void. Aaliyah truly was an exceptional singer, actress, and person and was still topping the charts posthumously. It was like a breath of fresh air when Rihanna hit the scene in 2005. After signing to Jay Z's label, she was catapulted into stardom. She receives heavy radio rotation and has even branched out into acting just as Aaliyah did before her.
THE ORIGINAL: Diana Ross
THE ACTION HERO
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| Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson |
Arnold Schwarzenegger |
Hasta La Vista baby! Action movies really became the hot ticket in the 80s & 90s. If you needed an actor for your bang-bang shoot em up/explosion riddled films, you knew who to call...Arnold Schwarzenegger. Not only did he look the part, but he had an on-screen charisma and persona that fit perfectly with these films. He had great comedic timing when it mattered as well. Now that Arnie is getting to old for these types of physically demanding roles, Hollywood has been trying to find the next action star. They have had a few hiccups along the way (Ryan Reynolds, Taylor Lautner (why tho?), and more recently Jai Courtney *sorry Bae*), but I think they finally have found his equivalent in Dwayne Johnson. His career path is somewhat similar to Arnold's in that he has done children's films, comedy, huge film franchises, and fantasy. I look forward to The Rock continuing his domination as the next Action Hero.
THE ORIGINAL: John Wayne
PRINCE OF BOPS
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| Chris Brown |
Usher |
Every 10 years or so, the music industry is floored by that one newcomer. They release hit after hit, they can dance, they can sing, and they have legions of fans. When Usher first came out in the mid 90s he really dominated the music scene. His songs were hits on both R&B and Pop music stations. He was everywhere from radio, TV, Film, and fashion campaigns. Usher has worked with some of the most prominent artists in the industry. He was still making hits when Chris Brown made a bold splash onto the scene in 2006. Like Usher, he was young, talented, and had huge crossover success. Even though Chris Brown has truly proven himself to be a miserable human being, he still makes well received songs and has artists lining up to work with him. Dancing while performing has become such a thing of the past, I'm starting to doubt if we will ever see another artist like these 2 (sorry Austin Mahone).
THE ORIGINAL: Michael Jackson
CHILD'S PLAY
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| Pokemon Go! |
Beanie Babies |
Something very strange has started happening in the last 40 years. Adults are becoming obsessed with toys and games. I imagine there were always people who were super into things that were considered immature or strictly for children, but now it is more commonplace to find that adults are just as into playing/collecting things as children are. With all the recent stories about Pokemon Go! and seeing first hand the magnitude of it's popularity (especially among 20-30 year olds), I had to include this category. I always considered Pokemon to be for Little Kids. With the release of Pokemon Go!, anyone can play and it looks like you are just sending a text on your phone. But just like any fad, it is starting to take a ridiculous turn. Adults are causing accidents, causing disruptions at memorials, museums, and funerals, and even hurting themselves while trying to catch pokemon. Beanie Babies reached a similar level of popularity in the mid 90s. These collectable stuffed animals sent people into a frenzy. People were brawling each other and I'm sure you've seen the photo of the couple dividing up their Beanie Baby collection in divorce court. It's amazing how adults can take something that is supposed to be cute and fun for kids...and completely embarrass themselves and ruin the fun.
THE ORIGINAL: Barbie
PIC SOURCE: 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.12.13.14.15.16.17.18.19.20.21.22.23.24.25.26.27.28.29.30.31.32.33.34.35.36.37.38.39.40.41.42.43.44.45.46.47.48.49.
Are you excited for the next crop of pop culture icons?
