Greatest Rock Artists Of All Time (Revision Version)

[Tim]

I'd say Moodys are a bit more influential than KISS and it's close between them and Rush with Rush making the top 100 most influential list albeit near the bottom. One possible move is to move up Rush and KISS both closer to where Moodys end up.

[ManPerson]

I think someone like Alicia Keys would also take acclaim and popularity over the Moody Blues, both rather definitively.

[Tim]

Thoughts

160. Roxy Music
161. Genesis
162. Nas
163. Tom Petty (& the Heartbreakers)
164. Dire Straits
165. Dion (& the Belmonts)
166. Booker T. & the M.G.’s
167. Carole King
168. Paul Simon
169. The Coasters
170. Lynyrd Skynyrd
171. King Crimson
172. The O’Jays
173. Jefferson Airplane
174. Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
175. Eddie Cochran
176. Carl Perkins
177. Patti Smith
178. LaVern Baker
179. A Tribe Called Quest
180. Pixies
181. Lana Del Rey
182. Alice Cooper
183. James Taylor
184. Bob Seger (& the Silver Bullet Band)
185. The Mamas & the Papas
186. Solomon Burke
187. The Flamingos
188. The White Stripes
189. Neil Diamond
190. Alicia Keys
191. Rush
192. The Moody Blues
193. Chicago
194. KISS
195. Chuck Willis
196. Little Willie John
197. Del Shannon
198. Sonic Youth
199. Usher
200. Def Leppard
201. Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force
202. Bon Jovi
203. The Cars
204. Frank Ocean
205. Bad Bunny
206. Kool & the Gang
207. The Ventures
208. The Animals
209. Pretenders
210. Jackson Browne
211. Phil Collins
212. Ariana Grande
213. Hall & Oates
214. War
215. Salt-N-Pepa
216. Johnny Ace
217. The Righteous Brothers
218. Cher
219. R. Kelly
220. Jethro Tull
221. Justin Bieber
222. John Mellencamp
223. Jan & Dean
224. Shirley & Lee
225. Judas Priest
226. Journey
227. Screamin' Jay Hawkins

[Fido]

I guess I can live with that, maybe Willis over Kiss.

I wonder how you guys feel about leaving the list unnumbered after the 200th spot when the list is done. I can see those names ordered like 10 different ways and none seem right.

[Tim]

I reckon a lot of these names won't make the final list as we still have many artists to consider (on page 8 for example). Personally I'd say 250 is about the right number though it's true the rankings become increasingly arbitrary near the bottom.

[Tim]

The last (yet) batch inserted:

1. The Beatles
2. Elvis Presley
3. James Brown
4. Bob Dylan
5. Michael Jackson
6. Chuck Berry
7. Madonna
8. The Rolling Stones
9. Stevie Wonder
10. Ray Charles
11. Aretha Franklin
12. The Beach Boys
13. Led Zeppelin
14. Jimi Hendrix
15. Fats Domino
16. Prince
17. Little Richard
18. Marvin Gaye
19. Kanye West
20. The Who
21. Jay-Z
22. Sam Cooke
23. Pink Floyd
24. David Bowie
25. U2
26. Bruce Springsteen
27. Run-D.M.C.
28. Nirvana
29. Diana Ross & The Supremes
30. Eminem
31. 2pac
32. Beyoncé
33. Queen
34. Bob Marley & the Wailers
35. Buddy Holly & The Crickets
36. The Temptations
37. Neil Young
38. Kendrick Lamar
39. R.E.M.
40. Taylor Swift
41. Elton John
42. Mariah Carey
43. Whitney Houston
44. The Everly Brothers
45. Black Sabbath
46. Public Enemy
47. Drake
48. Otis Redding
49. Sly & the Family Stone
50. The Byrds
51. Metallica
52. Janet Jackson
53. Bill Haley & His Comets
54. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
55. Bee Gees
56. The Kinks
57. Donna Summer
58. ABBA
59. Bo Diddley
60. The Beastie Boys
61. Roy Orbison
62. The Clash
63. The Doors
64. Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions
65. AC/DC
66. George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic
67. Fleetwood Mac
68. The Velvet Underground
69. Joni Mitchell
70. Eagles
71. Outkast
72. Simon & Garfunkel
73. Rihanna
74. Britney Spears
75. The Notorious B.I.G.
76. Kraftwerk
77. Creedence Clearwater Revival
78. Radiohead
79. The Grateful Dead
80. N.W.A
81. Dr. Dre
82. Ramones
83. Eric B. & Rakim
84. LL Cool J
85. Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five
86. Aerosmith
87. The Police
88. Guns N' Roses
89. Van Halen
90. The Drifters
91. Al Green
92. Pearl Jam
93. Jerry Lee Lewis
94. Rod Stewart
95. Paul McCartney/Wings
96. Lady Gaga
97. Coldplay
98. Green Day
99. Adele
100. Depeche Mode
101. The Jackson 5/The Jacksons
102. The Platters
103. Jackie Wilson
104. Missy Elliott
105. Earth, Wind & Fire
106. Mary J. Blige
107. Wynonie Harris
108. Roy Brown
109. Van Morrison
110. Cream
111. The Isley Brothers
112. The Shirelles
113. The Dominoes
114. The Clovers
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 & The Mothers of Invention
132. Etta James
133. Wilson Pickett
134. Janis Joplin/Big Brother and the Holding Company
135. Justin Timberlake
136. Blondie
137. Billy Joel
138. Martha & the Vandellas
139. Iron Maiden
140. Chic
141. Talking Heads
142. The Smiths
143. The Cure
144. Crosby, Stills & Nash (& Young)
145. Elvis Costello
146. Yes
147. Iggy Pop & the Stooges
148. The Allman Brothers Band
149. Rick Nelson
150. Hank Ballard & the Midnighters
151. Sex Pistols
152. Sam & Dave
153. Oasis
154. The "5" Royales
155. Daft Punk
156. The Yardbirds
157. Gladys Knight & the Pips
158. TLC
159. Kate Bush
160. Roxy Music
161. Genesis
162. Nas
163. Tom Petty (& the Heartbreakers)
164. Dire Straits
165. Dion (& the Belmonts)
166. Booker T. & the M.G.’s
167. Carole King
168. Paul Simon
169. The Coasters
170. Lynyrd Skynyrd
171. King Crimson
172. The O’Jays
173. Jefferson Airplane
174. Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
175. Eddie Cochran
176. Carl Perkins
177. Patti Smith
178. LaVern Baker
179. A Tribe Called Quest
180. Pixies
181. Lana Del Rey
182. Alice Cooper
183. James Taylor
184. Bob Seger (& the Silver Bullet Band)
185. The Mamas & the Papas
186. Solomon Burke
187. The Flamingos
188. The White Stripes
189. Neil Diamond
190. Alicia Keys
191. Rush
192. The Moody Blues
193. Chicago
194. KISS
195. Chuck Willis
196. Little Willie John
197. Del Shannon
198. Sonic Youth
199. Usher
200. Def Leppard
201. Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force
202. Bon Jovi
203. The Cars
204. Frank Ocean
205. Bad Bunny
206. Kool & the Gang
207. The Ventures
208. The Animals
209. Ivory Joe Hunter
210. Pretenders
211. Jackson Browne
212. Phil Collins
213. Ariana Grande
214. Hall & Oates
215. War
216. Salt-N-Pepa
217. Johnny Ace
218. The Righteous Brothers
219. Cher
220. R. Kelly
221. Emerson, Lake & Palmer
222. Jethro Tull
223. Justin Bieber
224. John Mellencamp
225. Jan & Dean
226. Bonnie Raitt
227. Boogie Down Productions
228. Shirley & Lee
229. Judas Priest
230. Journey
231. The Dells
232. Screamin' Jay Hawkins

[Tim]

The next 10, I suggest we rank these first to have a better idea on where we might insert them.

50 Cent
Lil Wayne
The Smashing Pumpkins
Snoop Dogg
De La Soul
Wu-Tang Clan
Boyz II Men
Steely Dan
Arctic Monkeys
Barry White

[ManPerson]

I think ELP look high, Journey are far more popular than them and outside of prog circles not necessarily less acclaimed, similar case with Mellencamp.

Not sure Raitt belongs above Journey either, I think Journey takes popularity by a bit more than she takes acclaim while I don't see a clear winner in influence.

[Tim]

How about

220. R. Kelly
221. Jethro Tull
222. Justin Bieber
223. Journey
224. John Mellencamp
225. Emerson, Lake & Palmer
226. Jan & Dean
227. Bonnie Raitt
228. Boogie Down Productions
229. Shirley & Lee
230. Judas Priest
231. The Dells
232. Screamin' Jay Hawkins

[ManPerson]

The next 10, I suggest we rank these first to have a better idea on where we might insert them.

50 Cent
Lil Wayne
The Smashing Pumpkins
Snoop Dogg
De La Soul
Wu-Tang Clan
Boyz II Men
Steely Dan
Arctic Monkeys
Barry White

Here's how I see them, roughly, in tiers

1. De La Soul
2. Lil Wayne
3. Snoop Dogg

4. Steely Dan
5. The Smashing Pumpkins
6. Wu-Tang Clan
7. Arctic Monkeys
8. 50 Cent
9. Lionel Richie

10. Barry White

De La Soul revolutionized sampling and were alt hip-hop pioneers, 3 Feet High and Rising is one of the most acclaimed hip hop albums of all time. Lil Wayne has very strong popularity, highly influential on many prominent hip hop artists that came after (Kendrick, Drake, Nicki Minaj, etc) as well as being very well regarded as an MC, Tha Carter II + 3 and his mixtape run are very acclaimed. Snoop Dogg is an icon of gangster rap as well as one of the most popular hip hop artists of all time, with many highly acclaimed songs as well. Widely considered to have only one classic, or even particularly good, album, thuogh.

Steely Dan have solid popularity and even stronger acclaim, not too influential outside their jazz-rock/yacht rock niche, though. Smashing Pumpkins are kind of a similar case. Wu-Tang Clan are super highly regarded with their first album being cited as highly influential on East Coast Hip Hop and use of sampling. Their placement depends on whether we want to include Raekwon/Ghostface/GZA/ODB's solo projects as part of the Wu-Tang umbrella. Arctic Monkeys have sustained consistently strong popularity over the past 20 years with their first albums being very highly acclaimed as well, also an early example of a band breaking through on the internet. 50 Cent, very popular in the mid 2000s, pretty well regarded as a rapper, as well, though his work after Get Rich or Die Tryin' is generally considered to be pretty weak. Lionel Richie excels mainly in popularity, ditto for Barry White, though I may be missing something, especially in the latter case.

[ManPerson]

Also, this is kind of random, but I think Bryan Adams could be added to the list of contenders.

[ManPerson]

How about

220. R. Kelly
221. Jethro Tull
222. Justin Bieber
223. Journey
224. John Mellencamp
225. Emerson, Lake & Palmer
226. Jan & Dean
227. Bonnie Raitt
228. Boogie Down Productions
229. Shirley & Lee
230. Judas Priest
231. The Dells
232. Screamin' Jay Hawkins

I'm fine with this.

[Tim]

My take was

1. De La Soul
2. Lil Wayne
3. The Smashing Pumpkins
4. Arctic Monkeys
5. Steely Dan
6. Snoop Dogg
7. Wu-Tang Clan
8. Boyz II Men
9. Barry White
10. 50 Cent

[ManPerson]

I somehow forgot Boyz II Men. I'd have them between Arctic Monkeys and 50 Cent on my list.

[Tim]

I'd say Barry White has a decent amount of influence on contemporary R&B and quiet storm, not necessarily saying you misplaced him or anything.

[Tim]

Also since we have been pretty liberal about combining related artists, Lionel Richie & Commodors could be combined as well, which likely justifies them a bit higher.