Greatest Rock Artists Of All Time (Revision Version)

[Fido]

I don't know, the Four Seasons have influenced some of the greatest artists of all time, like the Beach Boys or the Bee Gees. From https://primarywave.com/writer/the-four-seasons/: Frankie and the Seasons have influenced many other great recording artists. That was acknowledged in dozens of recent tributes collected for Jersey Beat, the newly released Four Seasons boxed set. For example, from Barry Gibb: “Frankie Valli to me has become one of the hallmark voices of our generation. From the deepest emotions of his real voice to the power of his falsetto, he created a style that we all still strive to emulate.” From Billy Joel: “I wrote ‘Uptown Girl’ as the flip side to the story of ‘Rag Doll.’ I always loved that record.” And from Brian Wilson: “In the early ’60s the Four Seasons were my favorite group. I thought they were fantastic. The voice blend was fantastic. The competition helped me to get cracking. It inspired me, because they made good music. I went to the piano thinking I could top their music.”

There's also their pervasive cultural presence, with stuff like Jersey Boys being very succesful almost half a century after.

[Tim]

Nice find, Fido. Tbh unlikely that Joy Division could have influenced Beach Boys, Bee Gees or Billy Joel.

[Fido]

Or any artist as important, who in turn have influenced thousands more.

Anyway, my take on the rest:

125. Big Joe Turner
126. Santana
127. Johnny Otis
128. The Band
129. The Orioles
130. The Four Tops
131. Justin Timberlake
132. Blondie
133. Billy Joel
134. Iron Maiden
135. Chic
136. Talking Heads
137. The Smiths
138. The Cure
139. Iggy Pop & the Stooges
140. Sex Pistols
141. Oasis
142. Daft Punk
143. TLC
144. Kate Bush
145. Roxy Music
146. Genesis
147. Lana del Rey
148. Eddie Cochran
149. Bad Bunny
150. Ariana Grande

I'll give up on Billy Joel. Chic shouldn't be so high, their short career kinda hurts them, with just 4 top 10 hits and two top 10 albums at the peak of disco. Maiden at this point have surpassed them imo, especially taking into account that they work in an uncommercial style on music. Still a good addition to this group as they do well across the criteria. Iggy and the Stooges beat the Pistols in influence and if we are counting Iggy's solo career they win comfortably. The next bunch I could see ordered a different way but that's what I came up with. Cochran kills in influence but not much on the rest, due to his short career too, only #28 on the 50s list.

Now, I thought more about Bad Bunny and ok to him being on the list, but, like Ariana, he shouldn't be so high. While he should get some credit for the popularization of Latin music in the US, he came too late to be considered a game changer in that regard. Reggaeton and Latin rap were already 30 years old when he started, the market already existed (a HUGE market) and even in the US he came years after the road paved by Ricky Martin, Santana, Shakira, Daddy Yankee, Don Omar, and especially the boom that was Despacito, which is THE turning point (and which featured Daddy Yankee too!). He has ridden the wave, but he didn't set it in motion. And since he is so recent, you can hardly say a lot of artists are influenced by him, while most Latin rap and reggaeton artists are influenced by the artists previously mentioned, including Bad Bunny. His acclaim is also way below others in this league, and he's also over artists with decades of influence, acclaim and popularity on their backs. This is why it's better to be cautious with artists this recent.

[Tim]

Or any artist as important, who in turn have influenced thousands more.

Joy Division did influence U2 and The Cure albeit no artists of Brian Wilson's stature that's true.

[Tim]

I think Bad Bunny's importance goes a little further than just a really popular Latin Pop star with the way he became so massive while sticking to rapping in Spanish while most of your other examples were either not as big as him or released music in English as well. The first ever #1 Billboard all Spanish-language album does seem like a big deal to me as well as his Super Bowl halftime show.

I respect Sampson's lists a lot in terms of research but I don't think we should straight up copy them in terms of placements as criteria are slightly different and he largely does not take lasting acclaim & popularity in account which would hurt Eddie Cochran with Summertime Blues and C'mon Everybody becoming stone cold rock and roll classics over the years.

[ManPerson]

Winning the Grammy for album of the year is a big deal as well, I'd argue.

[Tim]

Here's how I'd roughly order the group in question taking Fido's list into account.

115. Ruth Brown
116. Joy Division/New Order
117. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
118. Red Hot Chili Peppers
119. Fugees/Lauryn Hill
120. The Weeknd
121. George Michael/Wham!
122. Eric Clapton
123. John Lennon
124. Deep Purple
125. Big Joe Turner
126. Santana
127. Johnny Otis
128. The Band
129. The Orioles
130. The Four Tops
131. Justin Timberlake
132. Blondie
133. Billy Joel
134. Iron Maiden
135. Chic
136. Talking Heads
137. The Smiths
138. The Cure
139. Iggy Pop & the Stooges
140. Sex Pistols
141. Bad Bunny
142. Oasis
143. Daft Punk
144. TLC
145. Kate Bush
146. Eddie Cochran
147. Roxy Music
148. Genesis
149. Lana Del Rey
150. Ariana Grande

[Fido]

I think Bad Bunny's importance goes a little further than just a really popular Latin Pop star with the way he became so massive while sticking to rapping in Spanish while most of your other examples were either not as big as him or released music in English as well. The first ever #1 Billboard all Spanish-language album does seem like a big deal to me as well as his Super Bowl halftime show.

You are overrating that a whole lot and I really don't understand why. How big a deal is it to have a #1 album in Spanish in 2020 compared to a #5 Spanish album in 2009 (Aventura's The Last)? How important is his half-time show when 6 years before Shakira and Jennifer Lopez had already headlined one, with other Latin artists as guests, including Bad Bunny? Previous artists had help by making music in English? So did Bad Bunny! His first hits were collabs with Cardi B and Drake! Saying Bad Bunny is more important for Latin music getting popular in the US than Ricky Martin is absolutely ridiculous, and he would tell you himself. You are treating the man as if he was Elvis Presley, but Elvis debuted when rock wasn't even 7 years old, Bad Bunny is 30 years late. And the Grammys are probably the least prestigious award of their kind, treating and Album of the Year win as an incredible feat that justifies a top 150 placement is crazy. How do you justify him over Daft Punk, who also won that award, while being way more influential and acclaimed? You placed him one spot over Oasis, who have been popular for 3 decades and influential on 3 decades of British rock and alternative music in general, while kicking his ass in acclaim too, vs Bad Bunny's 6 years. TLC? Without them there's no Destiny's Child, no Beyoncé, no contemporary R&B as we know it today. Hell, compare him with T.I., the originator of trap music more than a decade before Bad Bunny debuted. How are we discussing Bad Bunny's importance and placement before Afrika Bambaataa? Why are we again doing this with artists who only excel in the same aspect of the criteria, who haven't innovated anything and their influence is being one of many?

[Tim]

So do you still insist Bad Bunny being at the bottom of this group (along with Ariana)? Even if we say he has no influence (though saying that him getting #1 album does not matter cause there was a top 5 bachata album in 2009 does seem dubious plus he is pretty distinct musically from both Shakira & JLo, rapper v pop divas) there are still 0.65 of criteria (popularity, acclaim, cultural impact) in which he clearly registers in to say the least, huge popularity and him having one of the most acclaimed albums of the year in 2022 & 2025, culturally impactful as well.

[Tim]

Let's try good old breakdowns to sort this out:

Bad Bunny v Oasis
Influence (incl. Cultural): Oasis
Popularity: Bad Bunny
Acclaim: Oasis

v Daft Punk
Influence (incl. Cultural): Daft Punk
Popularity: Bad Bunny
Acclaim: Daft Punk

v TLC
Influence (incl. Cultural): TLC
Popularity: Bad Bunny
Acclaim: TLC

v Kate Bush
Influence (incl. Cultural): Bush
Popularity: Bad Bunny
Acclaim: Bush

v Eddie Cochran
Influence (incl. Cultural): Cochran easy
Popularity: Bad Bunny easy
Acclaim: close

v Roxy Music
Influence (incl. Cultural): Roxy Music
Popularity: Bad Bunny easy
Acclaim: Roxy Music

v Genesis
Influence (incl. Cultural): Genesis
Popularity: Bad Bunny
Acclaim: close

v Lana Del Rey
Influence (incl. Cultural): Lana not by very much
Popularity: Bad Bunny
Acclaim: Lana not by very much

Feel free to correct me on anything. There's a couple of matchups where I feel Bad Bunny's popularity lead may be enough to overturn it in his favor but I can see something like this:

141. Oasis
142. Daft Punk
143. TLC
144. Kate Bush
145. Eddie Cochran
146. Roxy Music
147. Genesis
148. Bad Bunny
149. Lana Del Rey
150. Ariana Grande

[Zach]

Seems reasonable to me.

[ManPerson]

I'm fine with that as well.

[Tim]

While I still think Zappa used to be ranked too high on ddd's greatest rock artists lists in the past I reckon we overcorrected with our latest iteration and got Zappman a bit low. He beats the likes of Billy Joel and Justin Timberlake in both acclaim and influence clearly as much as popularity is a blowout. Feel similarly towards Etta James as well, also beats Billy Joel in acclaim and influence.

115. Ruth Brown
116. Joy Division/New Order
117. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
118. Red Hot Chili Peppers
119. Fugees/Lauryn Hill
120. The Weeknd
121. George Michael/Wham!
122. Eric Clapton
123. John Lennon
124. Deep Purple
125. Big Joe Turner
126. Santana
127. Johnny Otis
128. The Band
129. The Orioles
130. The Four Tops
131. Frank Zappa
132. Justin Timberlake
133. Blondie
134. Etta James
135. Billy Joel
136. Iron Maiden
137. Chic
138. Talking Heads
139. The Smiths
140. Martha & the Vandellas
141. The Cure
142. Iggy Pop & the Stooges
143. Sex Pistols
144. Chicago
145. Oasis
146. Daft Punk
147. TLC
148. Kate Bush
149. Eddie Cochran
150. Patti Smith
151. Roxy Music
152. Genesis
153. Daryl Hall & John Oates
154. Rush
155. A Tribe Called Quest
156. Bad Bunny
157. Lana Del Rey
158. Ariana Grande
159. Phil Collins
160. Usher

[Fido]

I respect Sampson's lists a lot in terms of research but I don't think we should straight up copy them in terms of placements as criteria are slightly different and he largely does not take lasting acclaim & popularity in account which would hurt Eddie Cochran with Summertime Blues and C'mon Everybody becoming stone cold rock and roll classics over the years.

Forgot to answer to this. Ok, but that's just two songs, plenty of other artists in this range also have that. Why should he be ahead of a Wilson Pickett, or Etta James? I'd say Roxy Music and Genesis lose influence clearly and win popularity and acclaim easily.

[Fido]

So do you still insist Bad Bunny being at the bottom of this group (along with Ariana)? Even if we say he has no influence (though saying that him getting #1 album does not matter cause there was a top 5 bachata album in 2009 does seem dubious plus he is pretty distinct musically from both Shakira & JLo, rapper v pop divas) there are still 0.65 of criteria (popularity, acclaim, cultural impact) in which he clearly registers in to say the least, huge popularity and him having one of the most acclaimed albums of the year in 2022 & 2025, culturally impactful as well.

Just to make things clear, I'm not saying he has no influence. I'm saying there's a lot of artists who are more influential, which shouldn't surprise anybody because again, he is way too recent. He has contributed to Latin trap and reggaeton getting more popular and normalized in the US, but he is the last in a long series of artists doing just that, who have influenced many other artists. I'm not saying the #1 album or the Grammy don't matter, but just HOW MUCH does that matter considering all the rest? Bachata, pop divas and rap are way different, but we are talking about normalizing Latin music, and all of them contributed to it. The big impact is in that, not in each specific style separately, because there's even more artists who have huge influence in small styles of music. He also isn't an innovator musically, which artists are influenced by him? All major ones are his contemporaries, making similar music out of the same influences. I'm sure we'll see people more clearly following his footsteps in the next decade but as of now every person making reggaeton and trap in Spanish is already aware of the people that predate him. I guess I'm so adamant in this because here in Spain, and I'm guessing in South America as well, reggaeton and other Latin styles were already very present when he came on the scene and he is seen as just a really good artist, but when talking about game changers or the GOATs there are others bigger than him, and it seems really wrong seeing him placed so high all of a sudden. I've said it before, but here you still hear Gasolina at parties and it's always one of the highlights, seeing it voted #50 on that RS list just proves my point, and shows how the scene is not accurately reflected when looking at our usual sources, due to the US perspective. But hey, I see I'm not totally unconvincing, though I thought all those breakdowns were clear from the start! I'd have Lana above him because her influence in the next generation of alt-pop leaning artists that came after is much clearer than any influence Bad Bunny has at this point.

I told you it was a can of worms

[Fido]

My take on that next group:

131. Etta James
132. Frank Zappa
133. Justin Timberlake
134. Blondie
135. Billy Joel
136. Chicago
137. Martha & the Vandellas
138. Iron Maiden
139. Chic
140. Talking Heads
141. The Smiths
142. The Cure
143. Iggy Pop & the Stooges
144. Sex Pistols
145. Oasis
146. Daft Punk
147. TLC
148. Kate Bush
149. Eddie Cochran
150. Patti Smith
151. Roxy Music
152. Genesis
153. Daryl Hall & John Oates
154. A Tribe Called Quest
155. Lana del Rey
156. Rush
157. Bad Bunny
158. Phil Collins
159. Ariana Grande
160. Usher

I of course welcome the Zappa raise, but I think Etta James' stature is a little bigger. Chicago kick ass in popularity, good musical impact and influential on jazz-rock. The Vandellas beat Maiden in popularity considering their crossover success during their peak and the cultural impact of Dancing in the Street gives them points in influence. I'd have Cochran lower but whatever, I guess he is more influential than Smith, way less acclaimed, and popularity is singles vs albums, hard one. You guys tell me if I'm overrating Lana but even if we give Rush influence they lose the rest, as critics never gave them a break even with their good musical impact. Collins kicks Bad Bunny's ass in popularity and at this point he is probably more influential but if everyone agrees I don't want to underrate him.