Toni Braxton
BTS
Tim Buckley
Johnny Burnette & the Rock and Roll Trio
Burning Spear
Bush
Busta Rhymes
Jerry Butler
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
Buzzcocks
This is what I came up with
1. BTS
2. Buzzcocks
3. Busta Rhymes
4. Jerry Butler
5. Johnny Burnette
6. Burning Spear
7. Toni Braxton
8. Tim Buckley
9. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
10. Bush
1. Busta Rhymes
2. Jerry Butler
3. Buzzcocks
4. Burning Spear
5. BTS
6. Toni Braxton
7. Tim Buckley
8. Johnny Burnette & the Rock and Roll Trio
9. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
10. Bush
I feel like BTS' cultural impact and popularity are too strong for them not to be at the top of what's a fairly weak group, considering they are in big part responsible for the growing prominence of Korean popular culture as a whole. Plus, if this is correct, BTS, have probably sold more worldwide than every other artist in this group combined.
How about this?
1. BTS
2. Busta Rhymes
3. Buzzcocks
4. Jerry Butler
5. Burning Spear
6. Toni Braxton
7. Tim Buckley
8. Johnny Burnette & the Rock and Roll Trio
9. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
10. Bush
Maybe for a sidebar list of artists on the very fringes of rock but who made significant contributions to the genre nonetheless?
Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five
Joe Liggins & His Honeydrippers
Roy Milton & His Solid Senders/Camille Howard
Bobby "Blue" Bland
Johnny Cash (& the Tennessee Two)
Miles Davis
Herbie Hancock
Fela Kuti (& Africa '70)
Muddy Waters
Brenda Lee
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Howlin' Wolf
Gordon Lightfoot
Nina Simone
John Prine
Phil Ochs
Wanda Jackson
Carpenters
Johnny Moore's Three Blazers/Charles Brown
Lionel Hampton/Illinois Jacquet
Cecil Gant
Lucky Millinder
Johnnie Ray
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
Robert Cray
Roy Hamilton
Jimmy Smith
Fred Neil
Tangerine Dream
Jean-Michel Jarre
Serge Gainsbourg
...?
Important should be that the artists' main body of work falls outside the rock genre but they recorded at least some music of note that could reasonably be considered rock.
Some others which may fall under the criteria above:
Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
Laurie Anderson
Paul Anka
Marc Anthony
Chet Atkins
Joan Baez
Harry Belafonte
Jorge Ben Jor
George Benson
Bread
Chico Buarque
Glen Campbell
The Captain and Tennille
Roberto Carlos
Adriano Celentano
Petula Clark
Stanley Clarke
Judy Collins
Nat King Cole
Natalie Cole
Bill Conti
Chick Corea/Return to Forever
Larry Coryell
Celia Cruz
Bobby Darin
John Denver
Al Di Meola
Celine Dion
Willie Dixon
Lonnie Donegan
Champion Jack Dupree
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
Hank Garland
Gilberto Gil
Guitar Slim
Buddy Guy
Jan Hammer
Françoise Hardy
Emmylou Harris
Allan Holdsworth
Rupert Holmes
John Lee Hooker
The Ink Spots
Elmore James
Waylon Jennings
Norah Jones
Quincy Jones
Tom Jones
Albert King
BB King
Freddie King
Alexis Korner
Kris Kristofferson
The Last Poets
Julia Lee & Her Boyfriends
J.B. Lenoir
Paco de Lucía
Little Milton
Little Walter
Magic Sam
Barry Manilow
Johnny Mathis
Stick McGhee
John McLaughlin/Mahavishnu Orchestra
Pat Metheny Group
The Mills Brothers
Bill Monroe
Willie Nelson
Tony Orlando & Dawn
Jaco Pastorius
Peter, Paul and Mary
Jean-Luc Ponty
Alla Pugacheva
Robert Randolph and the Family Band
Helen Reddy
Kenny Rogers & the First Edition
Otis Rush
Arthur Russell
Sabicas
Selena
L. Shankar
Ravi Shankar
Wayne Shorter
Otis Spann
The Soul Stirrers
Barbra Streisand
B.J. Thomas
Conway Twitty
Caetano Veloso
Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson
Bobby Vinton
Vladimir Vysotsky
Dionne Warwick
Dinah Washington
Grover Washington Jr.
The Watts Prophets
Junior Wells
Hank Williams (& His Drifting Cowboys)
Hank Williams Jr. (& the Bama Band)
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
Jimmy Yancey
Joe Zawinul/Weather Report
Last edited by Tim on Fri Aug 21, 2026 11:31 am, edited 20 times in total.
150. The Allman Brothers Band 151. Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship/Starship
152. The Ravens
153. Rick Nelson
154. Hank Ballard & the Midnighters
155. Sex Pistols
156. Sam & Dave
157. Oasis
158. The "5" Royales
159. Daft Punk
160. The Yardbirds
161. De La Soul
162. TLC
163. Gladys Knight & the Pips
164. Kate Bush
165. Roxy Music
166. Genesis
167. Lil Wayne
168. Nas
169. Tom Petty (& the Heartbreakers)
170. Dire Straits
171. Dion (& the Belmonts)
172. Booker T. & the M.G.'s
173. Carole King
174. Paul Simon
175. The Coasters
176. Lynyrd Skynyrd
177. King Crimson
178. The O’Jays
179. Brian Eno
180. Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
181. The Ronettes
182. Eddie Cochran
183. Carl Perkins
184. Patti Smith
185. LaVern Baker
186. A Tribe Called Quest
187. Wu-Tang Clan (incl. solo projects)
188. Pixies
189. Snoop Dogg
190. Lana Del Rey
191. Alice Cooper
192. Isaac Hayes
193. James Taylor
194. Steely Dan
195. Bob Seger (& the Silver Bullet Band)
196. The Mamas & the Papas
197. Solomon Burke
198. The Flamingos
199. The White Stripes
200. Smashing Pumpkins
201. Duran Duran
202. The Human League
203. Neil Diamond
204. The Monkees
205. Dusty Springfield
206. Alicia Keys
207. Rush
208. Destiny's Child
209. The Moody Blues
210. Sonic Youth
211. Chicago
212. Ice Cube
213. KISS
214. The Staple Singers
215. Blur
216. Usher
217. Björk
218. Arctic Monkeys
219. Chuck Willis
220. Little Willie John
221. Del Shannon
222. Nine Inch Nails
223. Rage Against the Machine
224. Motörhead
225. Def Leppard
226. Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force
227. Bon Jovi
228. The Cars
229. Bad Bunny
230. Kool & the Gang
231. Chubby Checker
232. T. Rex
233. Lionel Richie/Commodores
234. The Ventures
235. The Animals
236. Ivory Joe Hunter
237. Tom Waits
238. Pretenders
239. Leonard Cohen
240. Frank Ocean
241. Beck
242. Massive Attack
243. Lou Reed
244. MC5
245. Hüsker Dü
246. Jackson Browne
247. Pet Shop Boys
248. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
249. Phil Collins
250. Sade
251. Ariana Grande
252. Nicki Minaj
253. Hall & Oates
254. Boyz II Men
255. Alanis Morissette
256. Luther Vandross
257. Future
258. War
259. Chaka Khan/Rufus
260. Eurythmics
261. Salt-N-Pepa
262. Peter Gabriel
263. The Righteous Brothers
264. Jethro Tull
265. Soundgarden
266. Crystals
267. George Harrison
268. Aaliyah
269. Electric Light Orchestra
270. New York Dolls
271. Arcade Fire
272. The (Young) Rascals
273. T.I.
274. Gene Vincent & the Blue Caps
275. The Marvelettes
276. Joe Tex
277. The Prodigy
278. Johnny Ace
279. Lloyd Price
280. Cher
281. R. Kelly
282. The Lovin' Spoonful
283. The Spinners
284. Rick James
285. Barry White
286. Weezer
287. Linda Ronstadt
288. The Shadows
289. Emerson, Lake & Palmer
290. Erykah Badu
291. Gary Numan/Tubeway Army
292. Toots & the Maytals
293. Television
294. Todd Rundgren/Utopia
295. Slayer
296. Jeff Beck
297. 50 Cent
298. Boston
299. Cheap Trick
300. Jesse Belvin/Jesse & Marvin
301. Buffalo Springfield
302. Justin Bieber
303. Journey
304. John Mellencamp
305. ZZ Top
306. The Moonglows
307. Duane Eddy
308. Alice in Chains
309. Backstreet Boys
310. Heart
311. Bryan Adams
312. Tina Turner
313. Patti LaBelle/Labelle
314. Christina Aguilera
315. Steve Miller Band
316. The Dells
317. Faye Adams
318. Judas Priest
319. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
320. PJ Harvey
321. Big Star
322. Tyler, the Creator
323. INXS
324. The Doobie Brothers
325. Moby
326. The Chemical Brothers
327. Jan & Dean
328. Boogie Down Productions
329. The B-52's
330. Randy Newman
331. Ritchie Valens
332. Dick Dale & the Del-Tones
333. No Doubt
334. Blink-182
335. Scorpions
336. The Black Eyed Peas 337. BTS
338. Gloria Estefan/Miami Sound Machine
339. Anita Baker
340. Mary Wells
341. Fiona Apple
342. Jeff Buckley
343. Tori Amos
344. Blue Öyster Cult
345. Wire
346. Tracy Chapman
347. Ice-T/Body Count
348. Shirley & Lee
349. The Hollies
350. The Stylistics
351. Giorgio Moroder
352. Fugazi
353. Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew
354. Pavement
355. Queen Latifah
356. Screamin' Jay Hawkins
357. Dead Kennedys
358. Belle and Sebastian
359. Black Flag
360. Laura Nyro
361. X
362. Foreigner
363. System of a Down
364. Megadeth
365. Peter Frampton
366. Carly Simon
367. The Roots
368. Bad Brains
369. Gary U.S. Bonds
370. Brandy
371. Bon Iver
372. The Pointer Sisters
373. The Black Keys
374. Jack Scott
375. Larry Williams
376. Kurtis Blow
377. Blue Cheer
378. Blood, Sweat & Tears
379. The Fall
380. Beach House
381. Bauhaus 382. Busta Rhymes
383. Warren Zevon
384. Kansas
385. Robbie Williams
386. UB40
387. Aphex Twin
388. 10cc
389. Air 390. Buzzcocks
391. Grand Funk Railroad
392. Dave Matthews Band 393. Jerry Butler
394. Arrested Development
395. Ohio Players
396. Huey Lewis & the News
397. Pat Benatar
398. Bachman-Turner Overdrive 399. Burning Spear
400. The Chiffons
401. Earl Bostic
402. Big Mama Thornton 403. Toni Braxton
404. Tim Buckley
405. Tiny Bradshaw 406. Johnny Burnette & the Rock and Roll Trio
407. The Bangles 408. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
409. Bad Company
410. James Blake
411. The 5th Dimension
412. A$AP Rocky
413. Jimmy Buffett
414. Bonnie Raitt
415. Arthur Alexander
416. Adam Ant/Adam & the Ants
417. Animal Collective
418. Annie Lennox
419. Sarah McLachlan
420. The Black Crowes
421. Yellow Magic Orchestra
422. 2 Live Crew
423. Air Supply 424. Bush
425. Melissa Etheridge
426. Rickie Lee Jones
427. Joan Armatrading
428. Archibald
I'd have the Paul Butterfield Blues Band even lower, Bad Company or A$AP Rocky seem at least somewhat comparable in acclaim while popularity would go to them rather definitively. I'm not even sure they have anything over Bonnie Raitt.
I could also see Busta Rhymes higher, more acclaimed and influential than The Pointer Sisters while being more popular and influential than Bon Iver or The Black Keys. I'd have him right below that group of punk artists.
Tim wrote: Mon Jun 29, 2026 8:46 am
Some others which may fall under the criteria above:
Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
Paul Anka
Harry Belafonte
Bread
The Captain and Tennille
Adriano Celentano
Petula Clark
Bill Conti
Nat King Cole
Natalie Cole
Perry Como
Celia Cruz
Bobby Darin
John Denver
Celine Dion
Steve Earle
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
Guitar Slim
Buddy Guy
Johnny Hallyday
Rupert Holmes
Elmore James
Norah Jones
Tom Jones
Little Walter
Barry Manilow
John McLaughlin/Mahavishnu Orchestra
Bill Monroe
Albert King
BB King
Freddie King
Alexis Korner
Tony Orlando & Dawn
Alla Pugacheva
Robert Randolph and the Family Band
Helen Reddy
L. Shankar
Ravi Shankar
The Soul Stirrers
Barbra Streisand
B.J. Thomas
Viktor Tsoi/Kino
Bobby Vinton
Vladimir Vysotsky
Dionne Warwick
Dinah Washington
Junior Wells
Hank Williams (& His Drifting Cowboys)
Hank Williams Jr.
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
Jimmy Yancey
Included some who are arguably primarily rock artists who performed rock music in their native language rather than in English as well.
Maybe Glen Campbell too, because he was a session musician on some rock records, and toured at least once with the Beach Boys. And maybe Conway Twitty, who was mostly a country artist, but "It's Only Make Believe" is generally considered rock.
ManPerson wrote: Mon Jun 29, 2026 10:20 am
I'd have the Paul Butterfield Blues Band even lower, Bad Company or A$AP Rocky seem at least somewhat comparable in acclaim while popularity would go to them rather definitively. I'm not even sure they have anything over Bonnie Raitt.
I'd say they are clearly more influential than Bonnie Raitt, though she does beat them in acclaim and popularity.
ManPerson wrote: Mon Jun 29, 2026 10:20 am
I'd have the Paul Butterfield Blues Band even lower, Bad Company or A$AP Rocky seem at least somewhat comparable in acclaim while popularity would go to them rather definitively. I'm not even sure they have anything over Bonnie Raitt.
I'd say they are clearly more influential than Bonnie Raitt, though she does beat them in acclaim and popularity.
Tim wrote: Mon Jun 29, 2026 8:46 am
Included some who are arguably primarily rock artists who performed rock music in their native language rather than in English as well.
That explains Viktor Tsoi/Kino. I wouldn't include those in the same group as these as they are a different thing entirely and we already include some non-English speaking artists on the list. It's actually a good topic for a list, "Non-English Speaking rock artists".
On another topic, why the huge boost for Jefferson Airplane just for including the Starships? Those incarnations aren't really influential and their acclaim is a footnote on Airplane's career. Comparing the new group with the Eno/Crimson/O'Jays group, the breakdown doesn't really change.
Tim wrote: Mon Jun 29, 2026 8:46 am
Included some who are arguably primarily rock artists who performed rock music in their native language rather than in English as well.
That explains Viktor Tsoi/Kino. I wouldn't include those in the same group as these as they are a different thing entirely and we already include some non-English speaking artists on the list. It's actually a good topic for a list, "Non-English Speaking rock artists".
On another topic, why the huge boost for Jefferson Airplane just for including the Starships? Those incarnations aren't really influential and their acclaim is a footnote on Airplane's career. Comparing the new group with the Eno/Crimson/O'Jays group, the breakdown doesn't really change.
It obviously does because Jefferson Airplane/Starship's win in popularity is now significantly larger (6 more top ten hits, 3 more number one hits and two lastingly large songs from the 80s). I'd say with Starship included they're more influential and popular than Paul Simon for instance. I'll give you that the new placement's high, but I think having them next to Dire Straits is definitely fair.
Cabaret Voltaire
J. J. Cale
Can
Cardi B
Sabrina Carpenter
Clarence Carter
Goree Carter & His Hepcats
The Chantels
Charli XCX
Childish Gambino
I say this about pretty much all of these groups but this was pretty hard to order.
1. Charli XCX
2. Can
3. Cardi B
4. Childish Gambino
5. J.J. Cale
6. Sabrina Carpenter
7. The Chantels
8. Goree Carter & His Hepcats
9. Cabaret Voltaire
10. Clarence Carter
