Who's the most famous person from Knoxville? A (kind of) definitive list | Know Your Knox
Who is the most famous Knoxvillian?
That's undoubtedly a loaded question and really depends on your personal views. What makes you a Knoxvillian? Being born here? Having lived here for a while? And if the latter, for how long?
Are you from Knoxville if you're from Farragut or Oak Ridge? What boundaries make you a Knoxvillian?
For the sake of this article, here are my criteria to qualify as a Knoxvillian:
You have to have been born in Knox County. Or...
You have to have lived in Knox County for at least five years.
This disqualifies some unquestionably famous figures with ties to Knoxville, such as Peyton Manning, Candace Parker and Dolly Parton.
But even with these criteria, there are many, many people to account for, so I used different categories to widen the avenues for recognition. So on that note, here's my definitive and totally not subjective list of Knoxville's most famous people.
Most famous Knoxvillian in athletics: Pat Summitt
My five-year rule eliminates pretty much all University of Tennessee at Knoxville athletes, but longtime coaches are eligible.
Yes, Johnny Majors and Robert Neyland are well-known here, but take it from this West Coast native, Pat Summitt is better known there. The legendary basketball coach couldn't be left off this list.
WWE wrestler Bianca Belair was a close second here. She was born in Knoxville, graduated from Austin East High School and ran track for UT.
Belair has more ties to Knoxville, but Summitt is a household name everywhere, not just here.
Most famous Knoxville musician: Morgan Wallen
East Tennessee has a rich history of producing country music legends, so there are a lot to choose from.
This might be my age (or lack thereof) showing, but Wallen, the Gibbs High School alumnus and country music superstar gets the nod.
Yes, Kenny Chesney checks the same boxes, but I would argue that right now, more people are familiar with Wallen's music. If Chesney blows up on TikTok, then there's more of an argument.
Kelsea Ballerini is another contender and obviously very popular right now. But Wallen still wins with six million Instagram followers to Ballerini's four million, and has nearly three times the monthly listeners on Spotify.
Ballerini does have a larger Twitter following, with 1.1 million follower to Wallen's 725,500, but that's not enough to tip the scale.
Most famous Knoxvillian in film and television: Johnny Knoxville
This was a tough one.
Yes, Quentin Tarantino is one of the most famous, accomplished and recognizable directors of all time. But he's just not as synonymous with Knoxville as Johnny. I mean, his last name (albeit his stage name) is Knoxville, for crying out loud!
And by my criteria, Knoxville wins because he was born here and lived and grew up here. Tarantino was born here but lived here only three years before moving to Los Angeles.
I've seen tons of Johnny Knoxville art and memorabilia around Knoxville. I can't say the same for Tarantino.
Most famous Knoxville writer: Cormac McCarthy
This was a tight race between McCarthy, Nikki Giovanni and James Agee. All are incredibly accomplished and well-known authors.
That being said, McCarthy wins - barely - on the strength of his notable novels and the film adaptation of "No Country for Old Men" being a commercial and critical success. McCarthy, who died in June 2023, not only grew up in Knoxville, but introduced the city to the rest of the world in his books, notably the semi-autobiographical novel "Suttree."
If you compare the three on Google Trends, Giovanni was hugely popular in the mid-2000's, but McCarthy is the best known across the country.
Most famous miscellaneous Knoxvillian: George Roby Dempster
You might not know his name immediately, but I guarantee you know the invention he brought to the world: the humble dumpster.
That's right, Mr. Dempster is the inventor of the Dempster-Dumpster, more commonly known as just a dumpster. He created a product that's so dominant it's very name has become shorthand for giant trash receptacles, a status occupied by only the most famous of brands such as Kleenex and Xerox.
So Dempster's invention is probably more famous than he is, but hey, I'll give the man his due.
OK, how'd I do? Did I get this list right? Did I miss anyone? If you have any strong opinions on this list, I'd love to hear them. Shoot me an email, tweet at me, heck, mail me a letter to the Knox News office. I want all the smoke.
A previous version of this story misspelled Peyton Manning’s name.
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Silas Sloan is the growth and development reporter. Email [email protected]. Twitter @silasloan. Instagram @knox.growth.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Who's the most famous person from Knoxville?
