Greatest Rock Artists Of All Time (Revision Version)

[Bruno]

Big drop for Elton. Less influential than most in that range, but he beats them all in popularity, most of them in cultural impact, and holds his own or even wins acclaim. I think he beats the Doors, Everlys, Temptations, probably Holly too, could go either way against the rest.

Agreed.

[ManPerson]

I'll post my draft soon, though I'll say that Jay and Eminem look low.

[ManPerson]

I think Neil Young and R.E.M. both clearly take acclaim and influence over Elton John.

[Tim]

I will wait for Man's draft of course but an obvious solution would be to take Neil, REM and Elton and move them atop of this group (but not over Eminem). Don't wanna lowball Everlys, Temptations and Holly too much though some of the greatest rock artists of the singles era.

[Dubrow555]

Black Sabbath seems a few slots too low - it beats the two ahead of it pretty easily in popularity and influence.

[Tim]

Seems like a stretch to suggest Sabbath wins popularity, popularity should not be just about who is more famous in 2026; Everlys had lots of charting success from the late '50s to early '60s (3 #1 singles in US, 15 top 10 appearances), and Temptations are even more popular (4 #1 singles, 16 top 10 appearances).

[ManPerson]

Attempted to sort of compromise on Elton John's placement. I think Temptations and Holly both take acclaim and influence over him as well.

New additions in bold

1. The Beatles
2. Elvis Presley
3. James Brown
4. Bob Dylan
5. Michael Jackson
6. Madonna
7. Chuck Berry
8. The Rolling Stones
9. Stevie Wonder
10. Aretha Franklin
11. Ray Charles
12. The Beach Boys
13. Led Zeppelin
14. Jimi Hendrix
15. Fats Domino
16. Prince
17. Marvin Gaye
18. Little Richard
19. The Who
20. Sam Cooke
21. Pink Floyd
22. David Bowie
23. Eminem
24. Jay-Z
25. U2
26. Run-D.M.C.
27. Nirvana
28. 2pac
29. The Supremes
30. Bruce Springsteen
31. Queen
32. Bob Marley & The Wailers
33. Buddy Holly & the Crickets
34. The Temptations
35. Neil Young
36. R.E.M.
37. Elton John
38. The Everly Brothers
39. Black Sabbath
40. Public Enemy
41. The Byrds
42. Otis Redding
43. Metallica
44. Sly & the Family Stone
45. Bill Haley & the Comets
46. Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
47. The Kinks
48. Roy Orbison
49. Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions
50. The Beastie Boys
51. The Doors
52. Bo Diddley
53. The Clash
54. Simon & Garfunkel
55. Parliament/Funkadelic/George-Clinton
56. Eagles
57. The Drifters
58. The Grateful Dead
59. Van Halen
60. Jerry Lee Lewis

[Dubrow555]

Seems like a stretch to suggest Sabbath wins popularity, popularity should not be just about who is more famous in 2026; Everlys had lots of charting success from the late '50s to early '60s (3 #1 singles in US, 15 top 10 appearances), and Temptations are even more popular (4 #1 singles, 16 top 10 appearances).

From a quick Google search, BS has sold more albums than either by a decent margin. What do you guys use to measure a band's overall popularity?

[ManPerson]

Seems like a stretch to suggest Sabbath wins popularity, popularity should not be just about who is more famous in 2026; Everlys had lots of charting success from the late '50s to early '60s (3 #1 singles in US, 15 top 10 appearances), and Temptations are even more popular (4 #1 singles, 16 top 10 appearances).

From a quick Google search, BS has sold more albums than either by a decent margin. What do you guys use to measure a band's overall popularity?

Chart success is a big factor, and BS doesn't have very much.

[Tim]

Think I am pretty content with Man's #1-40. How about this for #41-60?

41. The Byrds
42. Otis Redding
43. Metallica
44. Sly & The Family Stone
45. Bill Haley & His Comets
46. The Beastie Boys
47. Bo Diddley
48. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
49. The Kinks
50. Roy Orbison
51. The Clash
52. The Doors
53. The Impressions
54. Simon & Garfunkel
55. Parliament/Funkadelic/George Clinton
56. Eagles
57. Van Halen
58. The Drifters
59. The Grateful Dead
60. Jerry Lee Lewis

[Tim]

Seems like a stretch to suggest Sabbath wins popularity, popularity should not be just about who is more famous in 2026; Everlys had lots of charting success from the late '50s to early '60s (3 #1 singles in US, 15 top 10 appearances), and Temptations are even more popular (4 #1 singles, 16 top 10 appearances).

From a quick Google search, BS has sold more albums than either by a decent margin. What do you guys use to measure a band's overall popularity?

Chart success is a big factor, and BS doesn't have very much.

Unfortunate abbreviation.

[Fido]

Not only I believe Jay-Z should be above Eminem as per criteria, I also think it would be pretty bad to have another white guy as the greatest musical artist of another predominantly black style of music.

Does somebody want to search the archive for Sampson's posts saying Jay should be top 10? Those were fun times.

[Tim]

I am pretty sure Kanye will ends up over Eminem.

[ManPerson]

Think I am pretty content with Man's #1-40. How about this for #41-60?

41. The Byrds
42. Otis Redding
43. Metallica
44. Sly & The Family Stone
45. Bill Haley & His Comets
46. The Beastie Boys
47. Bo Diddley
48. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
49. The Kinks
50. Roy Orbison
51. The Clash
52. The Doors
53. The Impressions
54. Simon & Garfunkel
55. Parliament/Funkadelic/George Clinton
56. Eagles
57. Van Halen
58. The Drifters
59. The Grateful Dead
60. Jerry Lee Lewis

I don't really see Beastie Boys > The Kinks as influence and acclaim seem close while Kinks take popularity. But I'm fine with them at the top of the group of new artists. I don't really see Diddley > The Kinks either since I think the Kinks win in popularity is probably the biggest here while they also probably take acclaim. Other than that, I kind of like this compromise.

So... this is what I'd suggest for the compromise.

41. The Byrds
42. Otis Redding
43. Metallica
44. Sly & The Family Stone
45. Bill Haley & His Comets
46. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
47. The Kinks
48. The Beastie Boys
49. Bo Diddley
50. Roy Orbison
51. The Clash
52. The Doors
53. The Impressions
54. Simon & Garfunkel
55. Parliament/Funkadelic/George Clinton
56. Eagles
57. Van Halen
58. The Drifters
59. The Grateful Dead
60. Jerry Lee Lewis

[ManPerson]

Not only I believe Jay-Z should be above Eminem as per criteria, I also think it would be pretty bad to have another white guy as the greatest musical artist of another predominantly black style of music.

Does somebody want to search the archive for Sampson's posts saying Jay should be top 10? Those were fun times.

Eminem has sold like twice as much as Jay-Z with slightly better chart success as well, and while Jay-Z wins in acclaim and musical influence, but not by quite as much, Em probably wins in cultural impact as well. I get that it feels wrong to give Eminem credit for a significant lead in popularity, since the fact that Eminem is the most popular rapper of all time, is, largely, because he's white. But I don't think his placement should go down for that any more than Elvis' should.

[ManPerson]

My draft for the current top 80

New additions in bold

1. The Beatles
2. Elvis Presley
3. James Brown
4. Bob Dylan
5. Michael Jackson
6. Madonna
7. Chuck Berry
8. The Rolling Stones
9. Stevie Wonder
10. Aretha Franklin
11. Ray Charles
12. The Beach Boys
13. Led Zeppelin
14. Jimi Hendrix
15. Fats Domino
16. Prince
17. Marvin Gaye
18. Little Richard
19. The Who
20. Sam Cooke
21. Pink Floyd
22. David Bowie
23. Eminem
24. Jay-Z
25. U2
26. Run-D.M.C.
27. Nirvana
28. 2pac
29. The Supremes
30. Bruce Springsteen
31. Queen
32. Bob Marley & The Wailers
33. Buddy Holly & the Crickets
34. The Temptations
35. Neil Young
36. R.E.M.
37. Elton John
38. The Everly Brothers
39. Janet Jackson
40. Black Sabbath
41. Public Enemy
42. The Byrds
43. Otis Redding
44. Metallica
45. Sly & the Family Stone
46. Bill Haley & the Comets
47. Donna Summer
48. Bee Gees
49. Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
50. The Kinks
51. The Beastie Boys
52. Bo Diddley
53. Roy Orbison
54. The Clash
55. AC/DC
56. Fleetwood Mac
57. The Doors
58. Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions
59. Joni Mitchell
60. Simon & Garfunkel
61. Creedence Clearwater Revival
62. Parliament/Funkadelic/George-Clinton
63. Aerosmith
64. The Police
65. Al Green
66. Eagles
67. Van Halen
68. The Drifters
69. Pearl Jam
70. Radiohead
71. The Grateful Dead
72. Van Morrison
73. Cream
74. The Isley Brothers
75. Deep Purple
76. The Platters
77. Jerry Lee Lewis
78. Jackie Wilson
79. Ruth Brown
80. The Clovers