I agree that listening to famous people on any topic that is not their area of expertise is a bad thing. That's caused by hero worship and lazy journalism, not highlighting the names of scientist who make breakthroughs.

I do think it's important for us as a society to recognize and highlight the names of people who make important contributions to science because it sets a good example for the kinds of contributions that others (i.e. kids) can aspire to make in the future.