I have to agree with /u/a7h13f that this is not necessarily an 'or' situation. There are a lot of people working just as hard or maybe even harder while not getting famous, so they lack the luck others have had (e.g. happening to have the right people in your network). Then are those who didn't do much yet get famous (e.g. ending up in a viral video, like Antoine Dodson, who was able to move his family to a better location because of it)
Malcolm Gladwell actually wrote an interesting book around this topic (rather talking about success, not just fame).
I have to agree with /u/a7h13f that this is not necessarily an 'or' situation. There are a lot of people working just as hard or maybe even harder while not getting famous, so they lack the luck others have had (e.g. happening to have the right people in your network). Then are those who didn't do much yet get famous (e.g. ending up in a viral video, like Antoine Dodson, who was able to move his family to a better location because of it)
Malcolm Gladwell actually wrote an interesting book around this topic (rather talking about success, not just fame).