In the 1970s, Memphis-based band Big Star achieved critical acclaim but not mainstream success. Despite a lack of popularity, the band's music influenced such diverse artists as R.E.M., Wilco, Jeff Buckley and Elliot Smith.

The irony of Big Star's name is that it was what the Memphis band never became: beset by personal and professional disaster, they spent 10 years as the smallest of cults, until their legend was spread, long after they had split up, by 80s admirers such as REM, the Replacements and This Mortal Coil.
Michael Hann
The Guardian