In Taiwan, lots of people are talking about these two celebrities and remembering what they were doing when the two became household names.

Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett have long been out of the spotlight, and at first glance these two people seem to have very little in common.

But while they earned fame in completely different realms of entertainment and come from disparately different cultural backgrounds, they both broke through cultural barriers to become household names around the world, including here in Taiwan.

Even today, four decades since they first stepped onto the global stage, the names “Michael” and “Farrah” are instantly recognizable by anyone over the age of 35 living in Taiwan.

It is also true that both Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett were unable to repeat their stunning successes in later years.

Many younger people in Taiwan have expressed amazement at the wall-to-wall coverage of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett by our domestic television news networks and newspapers.

Over the weekend, television networks dedicated hours to broadcasting old music videos of Michael Jackson's and discussing the impact of Jackson and Fawcett on Taiwan's popular culture.

Many young people surely do not realize that Michael and Farrah were just as famous here in Taiwan as they were in the United States, Europe or Australia.

Michael Jackson's fame in Taiwan dates back to the days when the radio station now known as ICRT was operated by the United States armed forces.

In the early 1970s, the Jackson 5 were frequently played on the radio, and bootleg records of the Jackson brothers were immensely popular here.

Michael Jackson's solo career was also very successful in Taiwan and eventually Jackson was persuaded by music magazine publisher and music promoter Yu Kuang to make a stop in Taiwan during his “Dangerous” tour in 1993.

Numerous performers in Taiwan have cited Michael Jackson as their inspiration, as have international stars such as South Korea's Rain.

When Jackson performed his “Dangerous” concert in Taipei, the event was an outstanding success, with all of the seats sold out, and some fans waiting for days just for the chance to buy a ticket. Jackson repeated his successful sell-out in 1996, when he made Taipei a stop on his “HIStory” tour.

According to Yu, Jackson's agent spoke to him several times about Jackson's desire to perform in mainland China. Unfortunately, conditions on the other side of the Taiwan Strait were not quite yet right for a tour by Jackson, and he never got the chance to make his dream come true.

Still, Jackson stayed close friends with fans in Taiwan and was known to occasionally exchange letters and phone calls with them.

While American music has always had its fans here in Taiwan, Jackson was one of a handful of American performers who was able to magically connect with his audiences here.

Remarkably, Jackson also happened to be in Taiwan when news broke about him being accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy at his Neverland Ranch estate in California.

When the news hit the wires, Jackson locked himself in his hotel room at a fancy Taipei hotel and family members came to Taiwan to defend his reputation, making worldwide headlines.

Even more young people in Taiwan do not realize that Farrah Fawcett was also a household name here in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The TV series that made Farrah famous in the United States and around the world, “Charlie's Angels,” was one of a handful of American television series broadcast in prime time on domestic television here.

At a time when television content was strictly controlled under martial law, the series “Charlie's Angels” was broadcast by CTS from 1977 to 1981 and widely watched by local people.

At that time, there was no cable television service, video cassette recorders were far too expensive for ordinary people to buy or use, and people would schedule their lives around their favorite evening TV shows.

Farrah's layered hairstyle was also a hit with Taiwanese women and the so-called “fala tou,” meaning “Farrah head,” remained popular for years after Farrah herself quit appearing on the series.

It is impossible to describe in today's world, where video content is available on demand through the Internet and cable and celebrities tend to come and go in a matter of months, just how famous Farrah Fawcett was in Taiwan back in that era.