Pop icon

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For the British television series see: Pop Idol; for religious icons, see: icon.

Image:Warhol-Marilyns.jpg Pop icon is a celebrity whose popularity (hence, "pop") remains constant or increases as time goes by. Usually, the pop icon status of a celebrity is cemented by their longevity, in contary to pop idols whose fame tends to have a short life. Most pop icons have left a visible mark in the course of Western World entertainment.

[edit] History

Throughout the history of popular culture, many popular music stars have been held as Pop idols. The Pop idol, however, is a broader definition than this, and acceleration of media has made Pop idols out of celebrities of many types.

A number of pop icons have confirmed their status by dying at a young age. These include James Dean, Yuri Gagarin, Bruce Lee, Tupac Shakur and Marilyn Monroe. Apart from them, some celebrities who died at middle age have achieved an "eternal youth" status, as is the case with Elvis Presley and John F. Kennedy.

There are also a number of celebrities who have become pop icons by having a particularly strong impact on popular culture, without the "eternal youth" factor. These include the likes of Cher, Madonna, Deborah Harry and Andy Warhol. Furthermore, some pop icons, such as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man, are fictional.