To roughly frame it: if we made another golden record, I wouldn’t be surprised if it had 4 Queen songs and 1 RHCP song.
But yeah, Californication is pretty much my only rhcp reference.
Also: what do you mean "older people"? I ain't that old yet! Shakes fist at cloud
Queen is from one country in Europe, there are many countries in Europe. Anyway following your argument - who do you think is more recognized in Mexico: Queen or RHCP?
It's a lot less clear cut here than in Europe (I'm from Sweden originally), but I do think Queen wins out. I stand by my statement that it's cheating on Europe, but Queen is bigger and better than rhcp no matter how you look at it.
How are they in the states? In the US rhcp has the home field advantage(or cheating as I called it the previous comment), but I kinda think Queen is bigger even so. That said I've never even visited the US so that's just 100% speculation on my part.
As I have not been in the U.S for a lot of years and don't currently plan on returning I go from what I remember and it was Queen by quite a bit.
Going by one hint as to popularity, Queen is more frequently sampled, I bet most people can think of three or four tracks from Queen that get parts reused all over hip hop, RHCP has basically Give It Away.
I'm 40. I have a kid. RHCP are literal Dad Rock now, accept and live it!
Okay I still don't call that the "90s" :) The album's lifetime was very much the early 2000s!
Not a lot of artists can truly transcend their era like that. Most remain stuck in nostalgia.
Californication is a radio tune. There's more to RHCP than that. I won't pretend it's sophisticated like John Coltrane, Nils Petter Molvær or some cult band like The Doors or The Velvet Underground, but it's still something to dive into and listen to carefully if you have the time and inclination. It's also less niche than INXS for instance.
People (outside of Korea too) listen to Black Pink and BTS. Which is totally fine, but the last ones are more proficient on the dance and show side of things. Also, having mentioned Korean girl and boy bands, I find Psy's Gangnam Style song quite satyrical and also very catchy.