“SUPER STARDOM’S close to post-mortem.” Prophetic words from poet Marshall “Eminem” Mathers, penned 20 years ago as part of his career-defining ‘Lose Yourself’. It seemed an unlikely prospect back then, when the cult of celebrity was at its peak and there was no hint that social media was set to disrupt the hierarchy of fame. Yet here we are edging 2023, amid the hyper-diversification of media platforms, and if the post-mortem on “super stardom” hasn’t quite been written, the concept is certainly on its last legs. Gone are the days when we had a handful of TV channels to choose from. With an ever-expanding range of streaming and social media platforms vying for our attention, each spawning its own micro-celebrities, it’s simply impossible to attain the omnipotent brand recognition previously achieved by the musicians, athletes and action heroes of the ’80s and ’90s.
There are, as usual, a
