Greatest Rock Artists Of All Time (Revision Version)

[Tim]

I think Tina solo should get a separate listing personally, a la Cher and Sonny & Cher as Ike was arguably more important artistically (producing, writing occasionally) with Tina the bigger star. Plus the whole publicized break-up between them makes me think it's more apt to list them separately.

[Tim]

Next:

Peter Gabriel
Heart
The Monkees
Nine Inch Nails
ZZ Top
Rage Against the Machine
Aphex Twin
Björk
Pet Shop Boys
Giorgio Moroder

1. The Monkees
2. Björk
3. Nine Inch Nails
4. Rage Against the Machine
5. Pet Shop Boys
6. Peter Gabriel
7. ZZ Top
8. Heart
9. Giorgio Moroder
10. Aphex Twin

Björk widely acclaimed electronic/alt pop diva, highly popular for a unique artist like her. Trent Reznor greatest industrial rock artist, huge influence & respect in both rock & electronic worlds, (electronic) film score pioneer. RATM rap-rock pioneers, influence on direction of guitar rock during the 2000s, acclaimed for their politically conscious lyrics. Pet Shop Boys prolly the greatest electronic duo before Daft Punk came along, one of synth-pop lead artists, noted for their adversarial attitude to music industry and rock music, gay culture's icons. Monkees weaponized their TV show fame to become a blockbuster music success, psych pop, country rock, music video pioneers, cited as influence on both boys bands and some alt/punk. Gabriel another music video pioneer, string of highly acclaimed albums, with So a major commercial win, increased viability of "world music" in English-speaking world.

Moroder household name in disco/electronic music/film scores but, like Eno, large part of his influence as a producer rather than recording artist. ZZ Top topping greatest facial hairs in rock list on old forum, leading blues/hard rock artists for decades, adeptly adapted to MTV era with memorable videos. Heart pioneers in female-lead hard rock, went on to be lead artists in arena rock and masters of rock ballads. Aphex Twin highly acclaimed ambient pioneer who went on to become a sensation on yt; I do see him as a bit peripheral to rock.

[ManPerson]

. Nicki right above Salt-N-Pepa is very wrong. The Spinners were one of the defining acts of Philly soul and were very popular, I'd bump them above Barry White.

Nicki is more acclaimed and popular than Salt-n-Pepa, especially considering her musical impact as a rapper. I'd even have her higher. I'd say she's fairly comparable to Hall & Oates in popularity and acclaim, while I'd argue that she's more influential as pretty much every major female rapper since (Cardi B, Meg, Doja Cat, Doechii, etc.), draw pretty clear influence from Nicki.

[ManPerson]

Usher looks a bit low now, I'd give him acclaim and popularity over Chuck Willis, Del Shannon, Little Willie John and Staple Singers. I guess it's hard to argue he beats Sonic Youth, so maybe they could be a bit higher as well.

[Tim]

I don't really see Usher being particularly more acclaimed than any of these artists even if he outranks most of these on acclaimedmusic (and even on AM it's close between him and Shannon) with Shannon being a major name for British Invasion artists, Little Willie John for soul and beyond, Chuck Willis one of the most respected rock and roll songwriters of the 1950s.

[ManPerson]

Considering Usher also has a fair bit of musical impact as a vocalist I'd still give him the edge in acclaim.

[Fido]

Considering Usher also has a fair bit of musical impact as a vocalist I'd still give him the edge in acclaim.

Little Willie John and Mavis Staples are two of the greatest vocalists of all time

[Tim]

And Pops Staples a great guitarist.

[Tim]

Attempting to balance Fido's and Man's suggestions plus inserting 10 new entries in bold.

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. Amos Milburn
129. The Band
130. The Orioles
131. Ike & Tina Turner
132. The Four Tops
133. Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention
134. Etta James
135. Wilson Pickett
136. Janis Joplin/Big Brother and the Holding Company
137. Justin Timberlake
138. Blondie
139. Billy Joel
140. Martha & the Vandellas
141. Iron Maiden
142. Chic
143. Talking Heads
144. The Smiths
145. The Cure
146. Crosby, Stills & Nash (& Young)
147. Elvis Costello
148. Yes
149. Iggy Pop & the Stooges
150. The Allman Brothers Band
151. The Ravens
152. Rick Nelson
153. Hank Ballard & the Midnighters
154. Sex Pistols
155. Sam & Dave
156. Oasis
157. The "5" Royales
158. Daft Punk
159. The Yardbirds
160. De La Soul
161. TLC
162. Gladys Knight & the Pips
163. Kate Bush
164. Roxy Music
165. Genesis
166. Lil Wayne
167. Nas
168. Tom Petty (& the Heartbreakers)
169. Dire Straits
170. Dion (& the Belmonts)
171. Booker T. & the M.G.’s
172. Carole King
173. Paul Simon
174. The Coasters
175. Lynyrd Skynyrd
176. King Crimson
177. The O’Jays
178. Brian Eno
179. Jefferson Airplane
180. Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
181. Eddie Cochran
182. Carl Perkins
183. Patti Smith
184. LaVern Baker
185. A Tribe Called Quest
186. Wu-Tang Clan (incl. solo projects)
187. Pixies
188. Snoop Dogg
189. Lana Del Rey
190. Alice Cooper
191. James Taylor
192. Steely Dan
193. Bob Seger (& the Silver Bullet Band)
194. The Mamas & the Papas
195. Solomon Burke
196. The Flamingos
197. The White Stripes
198. Smashing Pumpkins
199. Duran Duran
200. The Monkees
201. Neil Diamond
202. Alicia Keys
203. Rush
204. The Moody Blues
205. Sonic Youth
206. Chicago
207. KISS
208. The Staple Singers
209. Usher
210. Björk
211. Arctic Monkeys
212. Chuck Willis
213. Little Willie John
214. Del Shannon
215. Nine Inch Nails
216. Rage Against the Machine
217. Def Leppard
218. Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force
219. Bon Jovi
220. The Cars
221. Leonard Cohen
222. Frank Ocean
223. Bad Bunny
224. Kool & the Gang
225. Lionel Richie/Commodores
226. The Ventures
227. The Animals
228. Ivory Joe Hunter
229. Pretenders
230. Jackson Browne
231. Phil Collins
232. Sade
233. Ariana Grande
234. Nicki Minaj
235. Hall & Oates
236. Boyz II Men
237. Pet Shop Boys
238. War
239. Peter Gabriel
240. Salt-N-Pepa
241. Johnny Ace
242. The Righteous Brothers
243. Cher
244. R. Kelly
245. The Spinners
246. Barry White
247. Jethro Tull
248. Emerson, Lake & Palmer
249. 50 Cent
250. Justin Bieber

251. Journey
252. John Mellencamp
253. ZZ Top
254. Heart
255. The Dells
256. Jan & Dean
257. Boogie Down Productions
258. Giorgio Moroder
259. Shirley & Lee
260. Judas Priest
261. Screamin' Jay Hawkins
262. Aphex Twin
263. Bonnie Raitt

[Tim]

Next:

Tangerine Dream
Yellow Magic Orchestra
Jean-Michel Jarre
The Human League
Gary Numan/Tubeway Army
The Prodigy
The Chemical Brothers
Massive Attack
Moby
Tyler, the Creator

[Fido]

Neil Diamond one spot below the Monkees looks so wrong, and I think Salt-N-Pepa are more influential and slightly more popular than Peter Gabriel. Other than that I'm good with it.

[Tim]

I'd give Monkees influence Diamond popularity and acclaim is not the strongest suit for either.

[Dubrow555]

Weezer and Alice in Chains in the next crop or so??

[Tim]

Added to the list of candidates on page 8.

[ManPerson]

I think Judas Priest would take acclaim and popularity over Giorgio Moroder while also being influential. While Moroder is acclaimed as a producer I feel like it's mostly outside of his solo stuff.

[pauldrach]

Weezer and Alice in Chains in the next crop or so??

Certainly not ahead of Soundgarden?