Top Ten Signs of Fake Fans of a Music Artist

Fake fans are people who claim they are the fans of a specific singer or band, but they know 1-2 songs by them, and don't even know the names of the members etc. They are often characterised by wearing a T-shirt with the music artists's name on it.
The Top Ten
They say things like "Nirvana is my favorite Smells Like Teen Spirit song"

If I'm being completely honest, I don't really like the idea of calling out someone for not being a true fan of an artist, but this item still cracks me up.

It took me a few seconds to read this correctly, but I disagree with anyone who says this. King Crimson by Starless is my favorite.

Black Sabbath's debut single is titled Black Sabbath from their debut album Black Sabbath.

They compare that artist to the worst they know about

Are you really a Metallica fan if you say things like "Fade to Black is still better than Friday"? Why don't you compare your favorite music artists to the ones widely considered the best? Or there's a YouTube comment below Maiden's "Fear of the Dark" that says "better than any modern trap music" with 305 likes. Come on, are you listening to it because there's worse?

Gentle Giant is so much better than 6ix9ine.
It sounds dumb because it's so obvious I'd say that.

Their favorite song from that artist is the most famous one

Some examples:
Journey - Don't Stop Believin',
Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven,
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody,
The Beatles - Hey Jude,
Rolling Stones - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction,
Eagles - Hotel California,
Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf,
Metallica - Nothing Else Matters, and so many more.

It depends on what artist it is. Sometimes their best songs are their most popular songs, and sometimes their worst songs are their most popular ones.

I don't see a problem with this, but fans rarely name the famous hits as their favorite.

They spell the name of the artist wrong

Same goes for the names of band members. If I had a dollar for every time I saw his name spelled "Herman Lee" or "Herman Ri" instead of Herman Li, or "Mark Hudson" instead of Marc, I'd be rich.

The general public can't spell anything correctly.

Seeing "Lynyrd Skynyrd" misspelled as "Lynard Skynard" irritates me every time.

They disrespect people who only know one song of that artist

They may be oblivious to some other items, but for a real fan, knowing one song is still better than someone who has never heard of that singer, band, or composer.

They claim that artist has no bad songs

Well, if you've listened through an artist's discography and thoroughly enjoyed each of their songs, I see nothing wrong with saying that. I don't expect everyone to be a music critic.

True fans mostly realize that even their favorite band or singer has some bad moments. You often see the usual unoriginal YouTube comments with the folder and warning icons in these cases.

Every single music artist has made at least one mediocre or bad song. Even critically acclaimed bands like Queen, The Beatles, and Iron Maiden have a few bad songs in their catalog.

You ask them why they like that artist and they reply "because it's great!"

Another "reason" that proves they do not know why the artist is good: "They rock!" "He's a legend!"

It's no problem if fans are saying these things, but it's an issue if they are using them as actual reasons.

Also, when we ask some people why they hate a band, they respond with: "Because they suck!"

They fail to sing along any song of that artist

I think you don't have to know the lyrics to ten songs if you are a fan, but at least don't show that you don't know any.

I think this is only true for pop, country, and more poppy rock bands, since these songs were specifically made to be mindlessly sung to.

That is the only artist they know in its genre

Now that's not true. I personally don't research the genre of music. One of the artists I like is said to be a 'pop' singer, but in my opinion, pop songs are mostly bad. (No offense to people who like them, I just don't like them much.)

But I still absolutely love the artist and adore their music. Maybe it's because they don't really fit in the genre, but still.

This is also perfectly fine, as long as you don't claim to be an expert in the genre. I may listen to prog very frequently, but I don't consider myself an expert on the genre.

Fans of metal bands who only like the non-metal songs by those metal bands

For example, Metallica fans who only like "Nothing Else Matters" (it's a power ballad, not a true metal song).

Also, I had this conversation in real life:
"We are Metallica fans, too!"
Me: "Great! What are your favorite songs?"
"Their cover of Bob Seger's 'Turn the Page.'"
(Turn the Page is a cover of Bob Seger and it isn't a metal song.)

This could work with other genres as well. Example:
"I'm the biggest Genesis fan ever! They're the definition of prog!"
"What's your favorite song?"
"Invisible Touch."

The Newcomers

? They call other people fake fans
? They are fans just for the artist's attention
The Contenders
They like them only for their looks
They mention the most basic information about the band/artist as an attempt to seem informed

Gentle Giant broke up in 1980.
You've been blessed with the most important of knowledge.

They spell it Freddy Mercury instead of Freddie Mercury
They wear the T shirts of the bands but they don't really know the songs at all if you try to ask them

I'd love to sport my Metallica tees in public, but I'm so afraid that I'm going to be called out by some elitist who thinks I'm a fake fan or poser, and then asked to name three songs.

Oh, but I love my Tame Impala shirt so much, and I've always been such a huge fan! Their song Stupid Hoe is so inspirational!

They spell that artist's name with a small letter

What does the way you type even have to do with how much you like an artist? If you write everything without caps and don't capitalize names either, that doesn't reflect how much you like them.

They start a comment with "I'm a fan" but everything after that is so mean that even a kid would understand it was written by a hater and not a fan

I am a fan, but I hope this artist stops making music because he's a talentless hack.

Unless it's constructive criticism on how certain flops could've worked.

I'm a fan of Anathema, but I'd still love to rip apart their first few releases.

They don't know the names of any of the band members

Welp, I'm guilty of this, but I don't think that not knowing every band member's name makes someone a fake fan.

They like the musician just to look cool.
They can't tell the difference between November Rain and Purple Rain
They only know, acknowledge, and appreciate the vocalists, or well-known members

The most obvious example is with Freddie in Queen.

When they don't know the name of the artist and any songs.
When you ask them their favorite song they say "Oh, I like all of them"
They only like the music and not the artist themselves
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