Most influential musicians/bands of all time, Poll Added

[snufkin]

if influential is the same as popular then this thread is useless and you might as well go look up the best selling artists of all time.

Many bands or artists are influenced by acts that drew heavily from music that some of the later artists haven´t even heard.. they don´t even know where the shit they play came from, but they sure as hell wouldn´t sound the way they do without those originals.

[jnd94]

if influential is the same as popular then this thread is useless and you might as well go look up the best selling artists of all time.

Many bands or artists are influenced by acts that drew heavily from music that some of the later artists haven´t even heard.. they don´t even know where the shit they play came from, but they sure as hell wouldn´t sound the way they do without those originals.

I tried to point out that popular is different than staying power. Any half-wit with a good beat can be popular for a time period.

[PLAYER57832]

if influential is the same as popular then this thread is useless and you might as well go look up the best selling artists of all time.

Many bands or artists are influenced by acts that drew heavily from music that some of the later artists haven´t even heard.. they don´t even know where the shit they play came from, but they sure as hell wouldn´t sound the way they do without those originals.

I tried to point out that popular is different than staying power. Any half-wit with a good beat can be popular for a time period.

...and each of those is different again from influence. Some of the most influential artists of all time are people most have never really heard of. I am trying to think of some, but there are people that the "greats" always point to, who are not all that popular. Popularity has to do with being in the "right place at the right time". Even staying power is partly about that. Infuence often means changing things, being so far above the normal curve that you are specifically NOT popular, but other artists see and hear things that make them change what they are doing.

[xelabale]

Jimi Hendrix - he basically invented electric guitar music
Kraftwerk - they basically invented electronic music

The rest is just details...

There's such a big variety out there that if you didn't invent something totally new you don't deserve consideration. U2??? Please, moving from angry pop to smushy pop and being good at it does NOT make you influential. Do a quick test... no Hendrix = no electric guitar bands - at all. No U2 = no, no, no, errr, ???

[strike wolf]

Since I know rock, this is my rock List

u]
60s and 70's hard Rock[/u]
Led Zeppelin
Deep Purple
Black Sabbath
AC/DC
Aerosmith
Thin Lizzy
Ted Nugent
The Guess Who
Queen
The Rolling Stones
The Who
ZZ Top
David Bowie


Obviously Im missing others, and people will ask for bands I don't agree with, and that is why there will be an answer for ths question.

wow seriously? jimi hendrix is a lot more important to hard rock than most of those bands.
in fact a lot of them have admitted in interviews that he was the one who made them switch to a more aggressive musical style.

you are also forgetting Cream they played harder and louder than anyone else in the late sixties. Three guys all playing solo at once while still selling 35 million records.

thin lizzy? they didn´t bring anything new to the table at all..

bowie? the only real hard rock album he made sounds very much like sabbath and cream did the year before.. i love bowie but his genious and influence on others is mainly that he made it ok to jump on any and all bandwagons and make it your own.

bowie had a bigger impact on glam rock didn't he? I mean glam and soft rock aren't my areas of expertise but I'm pretty sure that's where he had a big influence.


Thin Lizzy, no not hugely influential, their dual lead guitar was more influenced by The Yardbirds (maybe a band that should be on the list?) than it influenced other bands. Translating Whiskey in the Jar from an Irish folk song to a hard rock song did influence other bands like The Greatful Dead and Metallica to make their own versions of it but no Thin Lizzy is a very talented band but no huge impact on rock.

I can agree with Cream and Hendrix. I don't think there's a doubt about Hendrix and there shouldn't be many doubts about Cream.

[Falkomagno]

the list sucks completly.

if you talk about bands:

The Beatles.
The Rolling stones
Nirvana
Led Zepellin
Black Sabbath
Guns 'n Roses
Queen
The Cure
Metallica
Kiss
Iron Mayden
U2

if you talk about musicians:

Bob Marley
Elvis
Frank sinatra
Pavaroti
Carlos Gardel
Madonna
Michael Jackson
Jimmy Hendrix
Janis Joplin

So. Your list has only two of all them.

Eminem...are you mad??

[SEAsportsfan]

bowie had a bigger impact on glam rock didn't he? I mean glam and soft rock aren't my areas of expertise but I'm pretty sure that's where he had a big influence.

Yeah, he did. I say he goes on the list. He's extremely important to rock history, and many musicians today claim him as an influence, including guys like Scott Weiland from Stone Temple Pilots.

[Falkomagno]

I think if we were ever to make a definitive list (which imo will never be done just because no 2 opinions are the same), we should go genre by genre. I don't think that T-Bone Walker and 2Pac belong on the same list. While both artist may be influential, they are totally different.

Since I know rock, this is my rock List

Pioneers
Muddy Waters
Robert Johnson
Chuck Berry
Albert King
BB King
T-Bone Walker

u]
60s and 70's hard Rock[/u]
Led Zeppelin
Deep Purple
Black Sabbath
AC/DC
Aerosmith
Thin Lizzy
Ted Nugent
The Guess Who
Queen
The Rolling Stones
The Who
ZZ Top
David Bowie

80s Hard Rock
Van Halen
Guns n Roses
Rush

80s were glam rock, and I think that Glam Rock was a horrible type of music Same with Thrash Metal. Sorry Metallica.

90s Rock
REM
Nirvana
Pearl Jam
RHCP


Obviously Im missing others, and people will ask for bands I don't agree with, and that is why there will be an answer for ths question.

....I don't Metallica here.

[PLAYER57832]

the list sucks completly.

if you talk about bands:

The Beatles.
The Rolling stones
Nirvana
Led Zepellin
Black Sabbath
Guns 'n Roses
Queen
The Cure
Metallica
Kiss
Iron Mayden
U2

if you talk about musicians:

Bob Marley
Elvis
Frank sinatra
Pavaroti
Carlos Gardel
Madonna
Michael Jackson
Jimmy Hendrix
Janis Joplin

So. Your list has only two of all them.

Eminem...are you mad??

this is a decent list, though I am not sure I would include KISS. I don't know much about Guns and roses or Nirvana, but you HAVE to include the Dead.

Also, some of the more "white bread" groups actually reformed music -- perhaps not in the way you would like, but reform it they did. Similar with rappers. I defer judgement, because I don't know them. However, they should be included.

[john9blue]

Lots of people have different musical tastes. It would be best to represent each genre of music. These people should definitely be in the top 12:

Hendrix (hard rock)
Jackson (pop)
Berry (blues)
Lennon or McCartney (pop rock)
Beethoven or Bach (classical)
Ellington or Armstrong or Davis (jazz)

then maybe:

Marley (reggae)
Brooks (country)
Presley (blues rock)
Jay-Z or 2Pac (hip-hop)
Gershwin or Copland (American music)
Clapton or Dylan (rock)

or some combination of the above. I'm sure I missed some...

[GallantPellham]

Hank Williams

[strike wolf]

I wouldn't include Kiss they are a shitty band that just made a lot of money by merchandising their image.

[SEAsportsfan]

I wouldn't include Kiss they are a shitty band that just made a lot of money by merchandising their image.

that merchandising is pretty influential, imo. Bands/artists (Hannah Montana, etc.) today continue to make money by merchandising. Granted, I wouldn't consider Hannah Montana an artist, but she is technically a "singer", so therefore an "artist".

[strike wolf]

I wouldn't include Kiss they are a shitty band that just made a lot of money by merchandising their image.

that merchandising is pretty influential, imo. Bands/artists (Hannah Montana, etc.) today continue to make money by merchandising. Granted, I wouldn't consider Hannah Montana an artist, but she is technically a "singer", so therefore an "artist".

actually that is true. I just like to stick my fingers in my ears and scream LA LA LA LA at this kind of stuff.

[SEAsportsfan]

I definitely agree, man. That kind of art-less $$-making music makes me wanna scream. I can handle KISS, but no Hannah Montana for me. Considering I listen to pretty much all music, that's saying something.

[jonesthecurl]

OK, I have skimmed this quickly, it's a subject that I thought was interesting, I have a lot of things to say probably. But my main comment would be, we have gone far far beyond "the most influential" and nobody (maybe I'm wrong, I skimmed) has yet mentioned Velvet Underground. "Everybody who heard them formed a Rock band"...

[Quirk]

Ultramagnetic MCs featured a young rapper called Kool Keith who later recorded as Dr. Octagon, Del The Funky Homosapien, Deltron 3030 and other aliases.

Kool Keith is Dr. Octagon but he isn't Del The Funky Homosapien or Deltron 3030. Del the Funky Homosapien is a rapper on the Deltron 3030 CD. Kool Keith isn't on Deltron 3030. Dan the Automator is the DJ on Deltron 3030 and Dr. Octagonecologyst. I recommend anything by Del, Dan or Keith.

[SEAsportsfan]

OK, I have skimmed this quickly, it's a subject that I thought was interesting, I have a lot of things to say probably. But my main comment would be, we have gone far far beyond "the most influential" and nobody (maybe I'm wrong, I skimmed) has yet mentioned Velvet Underground. "Everybody who heard them formed a Rock band"...

I forgot Velvet Underground!?! My bad Here i am talking about David Bowie's importance to glam rock, and all the while forgetting the band that greatly influenced him. Velvet Underground should definitely be on this list

[Quirk]

Bach
Beethoven
Elvis
Michael Jackson
Madonna
Louis Armstrong
John Lennon
Mozart
Nirvana
Pink Floyd
Jim Morrison
The Sex Pistols
Bob Marley
Led Zeppelin
The Rolling Stones
Eminem
Jimi Hendrix
Ella Fitzgerald
The Grateful Dead
Bob Dylan
Billie Holiday
Chuck Berry
U2
Freddie Mercury

I would add:
Robert Johnson, Miles Davis, R.E.M., Run-DMC, The Stooges, Joy Division, The Smiths
Dead Kennedys, James Brown, The Who, The Velvet Underground, and Jane's Addiction.

[strike wolf]

Bach
Beethoven
Elvis
Michael Jackson
Madonna
Louis Armstrong
John Lennon
Mozart
Nirvana
Pink Floyd
Jim Morrison
The Sex Pistols
Bob Marley
Led Zeppelin
The Rolling Stones
Eminem
Jimi Hendrix
Ella Fitzgerald
The Grateful Dead
Bob Dylan
Billie Holiday
Chuck Berry
U2
Freddie Mercury

I would add:
Robert Johnson, Miles Davis, R.E.M., Run-DMC, The Stooges, Joy Division, The Smiths
Dead Kennedys, James Brown, The Who, The Velvet Underground, and Jane's Addiction.

The Who weren't on there? I could have sworn I saw them...but definitely The WHo.

[SEAsportsfan]

most definitely the Who. Never heard a combo better than Daltrey/Townshend/Moon/Entwistle. I was watching a show on VH1 about them, and they interviewed one of the Oasis bros. (It was the guitar one, I forget his name, I've never liked Oasis) Anyway, Mr. Oasis Guitar Player said (I'm paraphrasing), "There has never been a band where every musician plays a "lead role". They were all stars at their respective instruments".

[strike wolf]

The Who is easily my second favorite band and one of the more influential ones out there. I like their transformation. THey really went from a kind of silly, funny band (I'm a Boy, The WHo Sell Out, boris The Spider) to songs with a greater depth of menaing within them (yeah I know poorly phrased)

[xelabale]

I just don't agree with these massive lists - to be influential surely means that others follow in your footsteps - you influence other artists. To be considered in the most influential of all time list you need to have created a whole genre or dominated one to such an extent that all who follow look to that artist/band. As such this is my list:

Hendrix - without him no electric guitar bands
Bob Marley - defines reggae
The Beatles - no psychodelia without them or...
The Grateful Dead - see above
Kraftwerk - without them there would be no electronic music
Madonna - inspired female solo artists (unfortunately! It could have turned out sooo differently)

I don't know who you guys would consider the equivalent in other genres, such as hip hop...?

[SEAsportsfan]

I think that with every topic within music/art, you are going to find many different tastes, but also many different levels of musical knowledge. so, while most will say that Led Zep or Black Sabbath is influential to rock, true rock fans will also point out bands like Velvet Underground, and bands lesser-known. That being said, I think that a good number for any real definitive list is 100. But, you also kind of have to set some parameters. There are a lot more than 100 influential musicians, because i find that there are more than 100 musicians that have influenced my taste in music, as well as the way i look at it. So, i think we should make a list that is "Most influential musicians to Rock Today", one that is "Most influential musicians to Hip Hop/Rap today" and one that is "Most influential musicians to Pop today". Of course, i think that many musicians will be crossovers, hopefully guys like Bach and Beethoven, as well as maybe guys like Beastie Boys (horrible example, but trying to portray a band that toes the line between rock and rap)

[F1fth]

Are you kidding? Any "true rock fan" knows that Black Sabbath, Deep Purple pretty much developed heavy metal. They were the first. If you use an distorted guitar and it's not the 1970's or earlier, it is in part thanks to those bands that you do it.

I may sound like a narrow-minded metalhead, but I'm not. You guys have been doing a pretty good job of considerations thus far, but these bands cannot be excluded from a list of influential bands any more than Miles Davis (for jazz) and Elvis (for rock and roll) can.

If you want to sort this list, sort it into who was influential for each genre of music.