Retrobution

Ok, something I’ve been pondering, and it’s deep. So, I’m asking both the musically talented and the “I can only play a radio” segments of our fan base.
At what point can a musician officially be “bigger than the Beatles”? It’s such an industry taboo to even say. I honestly believe any artist or band should probably not publicly say it, at least. But what if that artist actually DESERVES it? You can do the math and figure number 1 hits, top 5, 10, and 20’s. Album sales, tickets sales and merchandising. Let’s take Phil Collins or Micheal Jackson for example. Were their careers not equal? Or dare I say….better? The music varieties in which we all prefer are too subjective to debate, but surely those previous elements I mentioned before can be taken into account? So I do say it’s POSSIBLE.
But then as a musician and a purist myself, I pondered a little longer and found roadblocks to my own argument. What about things like auto tune, lip syncing? Hiring 15 different professional songwriters to write your songs? As your own personal input goes down, despite your success, should you still count? It’s like putting the first cat into space. The cat CANNOT say (and yes, I understand cats can’t talk) that it’s the same as Neil Armstrong. As a cat owner, I can testify that cats have no motivation to get to space whatsoever. Especially if a human tries to get them to do it.
So there we are, now all wondering the same thing. I was discussing this with Kim the other night, and then Kevin at our last show. But I’d like to hear what you all have to contribute.