Greatest Rock Artists Of All Time (Revision Version)

[Tim]

Either way, I'd say moving OMD below say, The Stone Roses
or Big Star would be fairly unjustified.

[ManPerson]

I think both bands are a lot more acclaimed, while Big Star is quite influential in their own right and The Stone Roses are also a bit more lastingly popular, as well as having really strong initial popularity in the UK.

[ManPerson]

I guess I could see OMD next to those two as a compromise, though.

[ManPerson]

P. Diddy/Puff Daddy
Paramore
Sean Paul
Suzi Quatro
Raspberries/Eric Carmen
Rosalía
Roxette
The Runaways
Leo Sayer
Shaggy

1. Rosalia
2. Sean Paul
3. P. Diddy/Puff Daddy
4. Paramore
5. Raspberries/Eric Carmen
6. Roxette
7. Shaggy
8. Suzi Quatro
9. The Runaways
10. Leo Sayer

[Tim]

350. Tears for Fears
351. Korn
352. PJ Harvey
353. Robyn
354. SZA
355. Kylie Minogue
356. The Stone Roses
357. Big Star
358. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
359. P!nk
360. Tyler, the Creator
361. Suede
362. Jane's Addiction
363. Roberta Flack
364. INXS
365. The Doobie Brothers
366. Moby
367. The Verve
368. My Chemical Romance
369. The Chemical Brothers
370. Jan & Dean
371. Boogie Down Productions
372. The B-52's
373. En Vogue
374. Cypress Hill
375. Joe Cocker
376. Ozzy Osbourne
377. Cat Stevens
378. Randy Newman
379. Ritchie Valens
380. Dick Dale & the Del-Tones
381. No Doubt
382. blink-182
383. Scorpions
384. The Black Eyed Peas
385. BTS
386. Meat Loaf
387. Gloria Estefan/Miami Sound Machine
388. Anita Baker
389. Mary Wells
390. Charli XCX
391. Portishead
392. Fiona Apple
393. My Bloody Valentine
394. Jeff Buckley
395. Tame Impala
396. The Shangri-Las
397. Tori Amos
398. Blue Öyster Cult
399. Wire
400. Cardi B
401. Go-Go's
402. Tracy Chapman
403. The Jam
404. Ice-T/Body Count
405. Shirley & Lee
406. The Dave Clark Five
407. Muse
408. The Hollies
409. The Stylistics
410. Janelle Monáe
411. Big Daddy Kane
412. Giorgio Moroder
413. Can
414. Fugazi
415. Linkin Park
416. Donovan
417. The Crystals
418. Steppenwolf
419. Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew/Slick Rick
420. The Specials
421. Pavement
422. The Jesus and Mary Chain
423. (Small) Faces
424. Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
425. One Direction
426. Sting
427. Queen Latifah
428. Screamin' Jay Hawkins
429. Suicide
430. Dead Kennedys
431. Professor Longhair
432. The Meters
433. Lee "Scratch" Perry/The Upsetters
434. Siouxsie and the Banshees
435. Rosalía
436. The Killers
437. Suzanne Vega
438. Belle and Sebastian
439. Black Flag
440. Gang of Four
441. Geto Boys/Scarface
442. Gwen Stefani
443. Franz Ferdinand
444. Katy Perry
445. Gloria Gaynor
446. Love
447. Donny Hathaway
448. Laura Nyro
449. X
450. Foreigner
451. System of a Down
452. Megadeth
453. Tool
454. Peter Frampton
455. Travis Scott
456. Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana
457. Dua Lipa
458. New Edition
459. Carly Simon
460. The Roots
461. Bad Brains
462. Gary U.S. Bonds
463. Busta Rhymes
464. Avril Lavigne
465. Brandy
466. Chappell Roan
467. Simple Minds
468. Boy George/Culture Club
469. LCD Soundsystem
470. Bon Iver
471. Vampire Weekend
472. MGMT
473. Supertramp
474. Gnarls Barkley
475. Johnny "Guitar" Watson
476. EPMD
477. The Sonics
478. Ace of Base
479. Nelly Furtado
480. The Pointer Sisters
481. *NSYNC
482. DMX
483. Free/Bad Company
484. The Black Keys
485. Jack Scott
486. Tommy James & the Shondells
487. Ben E. King
488. Pulp
489. Frankie Goes to Hollywood
490. Wilco
491. Larry Williams
492. The Chi-Lites
493. The Delfonics
494. Huey "Piano" Smith & His Clowns
495. Traffic
496. Sparks
497. Kurtis Blow
498. The Del-Vikings
499. Primal Scream
500. The Cadillacs

[Tim]

Reckon we can combine Wilco with Uncle Tupelo for sake of this list?

I think this is too much combining now. Some I think were decided to be too far apart to combine them (Lennox/Eurythmics, Cher/S&C), some seem unnecessary additions (mentioning Yoko Ono on Lennon's entry), others make it seem like we're excluding large parts of an artist's career (mentions of The Famous Flames and The Revolution, what about New Power Generation?), still others now include relatively insignificant solo careers with an infinitely more significant band (Fogerty, Byrne). Not a fan of any of these changes.

Not even adding Grinderman to Nick Cave's entry? Still think it was an ok addition.

[ManPerson]

I was thinking Rosalia is very comparable with Charli XCX and Tame Impala.

[Tim]

Sia
Harry Styles
Slipknot
Soul ll Soul
Allen Toussaint
T-Pain
Viktor Tsoi/Kino
Rufus Wainwright
Edgar Winter
Young Thug

[Tim]

1. T-Pain
2. Young Thug
3. Harry Styles
4. Sia
5. Soul ll Soul
6. Slipknot
7. Edgar Winter
8. Viktor Tsoi/Kino
9. Rufus Wainwright
10. Allen Toussaint

[pauldrach]

Reckon we can combine Wilco with Uncle Tupelo for sake of this list?

I think this is too much combining now. Some I think were decided to be too far apart to combine them (Lennox/Eurythmics, Cher/S&C), some seem unnecessary additions (mentioning Yoko Ono on Lennon's entry), others make it seem like we're excluding large parts of an artist's career (mentions of The Famous Flames and The Revolution, what about New Power Generation?), still others now include relatively insignificant solo careers with an infinitely more significant band (Fogerty, Byrne). Not a fan of any of these changes.

Not even adding Grinderman to Nick Cave's entry? Still think it was an ok addition.

OK, I added Grinderman. Didn't even see that addition. I'd still say The Bad Seeds are infinitely more relevant and while that's one I'd consider borderline, it doesn't look completeöy ridiculous.

[Fido]

I was thinking Rosalia is very comparable with Charli XCX and Tame Impala.

Rosalía is another can of worms because her first album is flamenco, the second one is a fusion that I wouldn't consider rock either, and that leaves us with two albums (the last one also arguable) and some singles and collabs. At least half of her output falls outside the rock umbrella. Still great though!

[Tim]

I'd say even her second was already clearly rock/pop influenced and as for her 2020s albums, both were included on Ryan's top 10 lists for 2022 & 2025 respectively so there is a precedent for considering Rosalía rock in ddd world. (You could argue Ryan's lists are more inclusive in principle but he likely would not have ranked these so high if he considered them primarily non-rock). I'd rather keep her.

[ManPerson]

Sia
Harry Styles
Slipknot
Soul ll Soul
Allen Toussaint
T-Pain
Viktor Tsoi/Kino
Rufus Wainwright
Edgar Winter
Young Thug

1. Harry Styles
2. Young Thug
3. Sia
4. T-Pain
5. Slipknot
6. Soul II Soul
7. Rufus Wainwright
8. Edgar Winter
9. Allen Toussaint
10. Viktor Tsoi/KIno

[Tim]

Re-cap:

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. Jay-Z
21. The Who
22. Sam Cooke
23. Pink Floyd
24. David Bowie
25. U2
26. Bruce Springsteen (& the E Street Band)
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 (& Crazy Horse)
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. 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/Them
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. Amos Milburn
129. The Band
130. The Orioles
131. Ike & Tina Turner
132. 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 (& the Attractions)
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. Wu-Tang Clan (incl. solo projects)
169. Tom Petty (& the Heartbreakers)
170. Dire Straits
171. Jefferson Airplane/Starship
172. Dion (& the Belmonts)
173. Booker T. & the M.G.'s
174. Carole King
175. Paul Simon
176. The Coasters/The Robins
177. Lynyrd Skynyrd
178. King Crimson
179. The O’Jays
180. Brian Eno
181. Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
182. The Ronettes
183. Eddie Cochran
184. Carl Perkins
185. Patti Smith
186. LaVern Baker
187. A Tribe Called Quest
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. The Strokes
233. T. Rex
234. Lionel Richie/Commodores
235. The Ventures
236. The Animals
237. Amy Winehouse
238. Ivory Joe Hunter
239. Tom Waits
240. Pretenders
241. Leonard Cohen
242. Frank Ocean
243. Beck
244. Massive Attack
245. Lou Reed
246. MC5
247. Hüsker Dü
248. Jackson Browne
249. Pet Shop Boys
250. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
251. Phil Collins
252. Spice Girls
253. Sade
254. Ariana Grande
255. Nicki Minaj
256. Hall & Oates
257. Boyz II Men
258. Alanis Morissette
259. Olivia Rodrigo
260. Luther Vandross
261. Future
262. Billie Eilish
263. Lorde
264. War
265. Chaka Khan/Rufus
266. Eurythmics
267. Salt-N-Pepa
268. Peter Gabriel
269. The Righteous Brothers
270. Jethro Tull
271. Soundgarden
272. George Harrison
273. D'Angelo
274. Aaliyah
275. Electric Light Orchestra
276. New York Dolls
277. Arcade Fire
278. The (Young) Rascals
279. T.I.
280. Gene Vincent & the Blue Caps
281. The Marvelettes
282. Joe Tex
283. The Prodigy
284. Johnny Ace
285. Lloyd Price
286. Cher
287. R. Kelly
288. The Lovin' Spoonful 
289. The Spinners
290. Rick James
291. Gram Parsons/The Flying Burrito Bros
292. Barry White
293. Weezer
294. Gil Scott-Heron
295. Linda Ronstadt
296. Foo Fighters
297. The Shadows
298. Emerson, Lake & Palmer
299. Erykah Badu
300. Gary Numan/Tubeway Army
301. Toots & the Maytals
302. Television
303. Todd Rundgren (& related bands)
304. Slayer
305. Shakira
306. Jeff Beck
307. Jimmy Cliff
308. 50 Cent
309. Link Wray (& the Wraymen)
310. The Replacements
311. Boston
312. Cheap Trick
313. Harry Nilsson
314. Jesse Belvin/Jesse & Marvin
315. Buffalo Springfield
316. Devo
317. Ed Sheeran
318. Bruno Mars
319. Justin Bieber
320. Journey
321. John Mellencamp
322. ZZ Top
323. Bill Withers
324. Big Jay McNeely
325. The Moonglows
326. Duane Eddy
327. Alice in Chains
328. Gorillaz
329. The Offspring
330. Backstreet Boys
331. Heart
332. Cyndi Lauper
333. M.I.A.
334. Desmond Dekker & the Aces
335. Bryan Adams
336. Tina Turner
337. Patti LaBelle/Labelle
338. Nelly
339. Kelly Clarkson
340. Christina Aguilera
341. Steve Miller Band
342. The Dells
343. The Spaniels
344. Faye Adams
345. Thin Lizzy
346. Judas Priest
347. Cliff Richard
348. Mötley Crüe
349. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds/Grinderman
350. Tears for Fears
351. Korn
352. PJ Harvey
353. Robyn
354. SZA
355. Kylie Minogue
356. The Stone Roses
357. Big Star
358. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
359. P!nk
360. Tyler, the Creator
361. Suede
362. Jane's Addiction
363. Roberta Flack
364. INXS
365. The Doobie Brothers
366. Moby
367. The Verve
368. My Chemical Romance
369. The Chemical Brothers
370. Jan & Dean
371. Boogie Down Productions
372. The B-52's
373. En Vogue
374. Cypress Hill
375. Joe Cocker
376. Ozzy Osbourne
377. Cat Stevens
378. Randy Newman
379. Ritchie Valens
380. Dick Dale & the Del-Tones
381. No Doubt
382. blink-182
383. Scorpions
384. The Black Eyed Peas
385. BTS
386. Meat Loaf
387. Gloria Estefan/Miami Sound Machine
388. Anita Baker
389. Mary Wells
390. Charli XCX
391. Portishead
392. Fiona Apple
393. My Bloody Valentine
394. Jeff Buckley
395. Rosalía
396. Tame Impala
397. The Shangri-Las
398. Tori Amos
399. Blue Öyster Cult
400. Wire
401. Cardi B
402. Go-Go's
403. Tracy Chapman
404. The Jam
405. Ice-T/Body Count
406. Shirley & Lee
407. The Dave Clark Five
408. Muse
409. The Hollies
410. The Stylistics
411. Janelle Monáe
412. Big Daddy Kane
413. Giorgio Moroder
414. Can
415. Fugazi
416. Linkin Park
417. Donovan
418. The Crystals
419. Steppenwolf
420. Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew/Slick Rick
421. The Specials
422. Pavement
423. The Jesus and Mary Chain
424. (Small) Faces
425. Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
426. One Direction
427. Sting
428. Queen Latifah
429. Screamin' Jay Hawkins
430. Suicide
431. Dead Kennedys
432. Professor Longhair
433. The Meters
434. Lee "Scratch" Perry/The Upsetters
435. Siouxsie and the Banshees
436. The Killers
437. Suzanne Vega
438. Belle and Sebastian
439. Black Flag
440. Gang of Four
441. Geto Boys/Scarface
442. Gwen Stefani
443. Franz Ferdinand
444. Katy Perry
445. Gloria Gaynor
446. Love
447. Donny Hathaway
448. Laura Nyro
449. X
450. Foreigner
451. System of a Down
452. Megadeth
453. Tool
454. Peter Frampton
455. Travis Scott
456. Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana
457. Dua Lipa
458. New Edition
459. Carly Simon
460. The Roots
461. Bad Brains
462. Gary U.S. Bonds
463. Busta Rhymes
464. Avril Lavigne
465. Brandy
466. Chappell Roan
467. Simple Minds
468. Boy George/Culture Club
469. LCD Soundsystem
470. Bon Iver
471. Vampire Weekend
472. MGMT
473. Supertramp
474. Gnarls Barkley
475. Johnny "Guitar" Watson
476. EPMD
477. The Sonics
478. Ace of Base
479. Nelly Furtado
480. The Pointer Sisters
481. *NSYNC
482. DMX
483. Free/Bad Company
484. The Black Keys
485. Jack Scott
486. Tommy James & the Shondells
487. Ben E. King
488. Pulp
489. Frankie Goes to Hollywood
490. Wilco
491. Larry Williams
492. The Chi-Lites
493. The Delfonics
494. Huey "Piano" Smith & His Clowns
495. Traffic
496. Sparks
497. Kurtis Blow
498. The Del-Vikings
499. Primal Scream
500. The Cadillacs

[Tim]

Here are some random suggestions, if anybody needs more ideas (most probably won't make the cut, though, and forgive me if some have been brought up already):

AOR/melodic rock:
-April Wine
-Asia
-Europe
-Loverboy
-Richard Marx
-Eddie Money
-Night Ranger
-Rick Springfield
-Billy Squier
-Survivor
-38 Special
-Triumph

Blues-rock:
-George Thorogood & the Destroyers
-Steve Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble

Comedy rock:
-Spinal Tap
-"Weird Al" Yankovic

Glam metal:
-Cinderella
-Dokken
-Ratt
-Skid Row
-Twisted Sister
-Whitesnake
-Y&T

Glam rock:
-Mott the Hoople
-Sweet

Hard rock:
-The Cult
-Foghat
-James Gang
-Mountain
-Nazareth
-Thin Lizzy

Heavy metal:
-Accept
-Dio
-Saxon

Hip-hop:
-Ludacris
-Tech N9ne

Soft rock/pop-rock:
-Michael Bolton
-Three Dog Night

Just kinda spitballing ideas.

[Tim]

So I suggest ranking Area Man's suggestions by genre to see if there any top 500 worthy entries. Next we left the list up for some time to give forum members/contributors time for coming up with new candidates and/or dispute the placements and then we might consider sending the top 500 to lew.

[Tim]

AOR/melodic rock
1. Eddie Money
2. Loverboy
3. Billy Squier
4. .38 Special
5. Survivor
6. Richard Marx
7. Rick Springfield
8. Europe
9. Asia
10. Night Ranger
11. Triumph
12. April Wine

Comedy rock
1. "Weird Al" Yankovic
2. Spinal Tap

Glam metal
1. Cinderella
2. Dokken
3. Ratt
4. Skid Row
5. Twisted Sister
6. Y&T

Glam rock
1. Sweet

Hard rock
1. The Cult
2. Foghat
3. Nazareth
4. Mountain
5. James Gang

Heavy metal
1. Dio
2. Accept
3. Saxon

Hip-hop
1. Tech N9ne

Soft rock/pop-rock
1. Michael Bolton

[ManPerson]

The Cult strike me as the most worthy artist here.