At BetArizona.com, home to the best Arizona sports betting coverage, we wanted to take a hyper-localized approach to celebrity-watching, to see which celebrities raised in the state were the most well-known celebrities from Arizona.

DEEPER DIVE: 6 of the most influential Arizona-based influencers

As always with these surveys, there’s recency bias: Had we done this when “Cheers” was part of must-see TV, star Ted Danson, from Flagstaff, probably would have been No. 1 instead of No. 8. In the 1970s, Stevie Nicks might have been the whole chart.

A Stone-Cold Lock at No. 1

Topping the list in 2023 is Scottsdale’s Emma Stone, who beat Phoenix singer-songwriter-sorceress Stevie Nicks in a landslide. Stone, 35, has now been working half her life, and has starred in films such as “La La Land,” “Cruella,” “The Help,” “The Favourite,” as Billie Jean King in “Battle of the Sexes” and as Gwen Stacy in the Andrew Garfield “Spider-Man” movies.

Nicks, one of the essential vocalists and songwriters of Fleetwood Mac, before embarking on a successful solo career, is one of the most important women, and style icons, in the last half-century of rock and roll. “Rhiannon,” “Dreams,” “Edge of Seventeen,” and her duet with Tom Petty on “Stop Dragging My Heart Around,” are just some of Nicks’ hits.

At No. 3 is Joe Jonas, from Casa Grande. Sorry, Kevin and Nick, you didn’t make the list. Joe, the middle of the performing Jonas Brothers, is now married to actress Sophie Turner (“Game of Thrones”) and has two daughters. According to tabloids, he previously had a very active social life, having dated Taylor Swift, Gigi Hadid, AJ Michalka, Demi Lovato and others. If just his exes were talking about him that could get him to No. 3 on the list.

Tucson’s Hailey Bieber (nee Baldwin) hits the chart at No. 4. Bieber is a model and socialite, but what most likely has her at No. 4 is that she’s also Mrs. Justin Bieber.

Best known as the lead singer of Linkin Park, the late Chester Bennington (No. 5) also did a stint with Stone Temple Pilots and other bands. The Phoenix native committed suicide in 2017, on what would have been the birthday of his friend Chris Cornell, lead singer of Soundgarden, who had committed suicide two months earlier. Bennington left behind six children.

No. 6, actress Kate Walsh, was born in California but she grew up in Tucson and was an acting dropout at the University of Arizona. It worked out okay for her as Walsh has starred in numerous TV series, including her best-known role as Dr. Addison Montgomery in “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Scottsdale’s Phil Mickelson LIVs at No. 7. The lefty golfing great has been a popular topic over the past few years due to his leaving the PGA, his gambling (might Phil have a favorite among Arizona sports betting apps?), his rheumatoid arthritis commercials, his recent great play at the Masters and more. “Lefty” is likely the second-best golfer of the Tiger Woods era.

No. 8 Ted Danson is one of the top TV actors of the last 40 years. Yes, he’s had some hit movies, including “Three Men and a Baby,” but it’s hard to argue with his TV work: “Cheers,” “Becker,” “C.S.I.” “The Good Place” and “Mr. Mayor.” The number of actors who’ve had that many sitcom hits you could count on very few fingers, maybe none.

The list has shock rocker Alice Cooper at No. 9. Cooper, whose biggest hit was “School’s Out,” was born in Michigan, but grew up in Phoenix, where he was very active in the church. He later renounced his faith but then after that became born-again. Cooper, now in his mid-70s, is still performing and playing golf.

Rounding out the Top 10 is NFL quarterback Brock Purdy. He’s from Queen Creek, played at Perry High School, went to Iowa State and now suits up for the San Francisco 49ers, where he was one of the NFL’s feel-good stories. BetMGM Sportsbook Arizona currently lists the 49ers in a tie for third (+900) in Super Bowl odds.

Methodology

BetArizona.com, which features Arizona sportsbook promos to help bettors, utilized a weighted system between AhRefs.com Keywords Explorer and Google Trends to look at the most searched Arizona celebrities over the past 12 months.

Once finding both statistics, they were averaged to determine the Top 10. Arizona celebrity was defined as a person who resided in Arizona in their formative childhood and teenage years for more than a decade.

Celebrity was broken down to include only actors/actresses, singer/songwriters, TV personalities, comedians, dancers and social media influencers.