Greatest Rock Artists Of All Time (Revision Version)

[ManPerson]

If influence is the main criterion (not by a huge margin) seems a stretch to move Floyd/Bowie over Who/Cooke/Little Richard, though I guess I lowballed them compared with Supremes/U2/Bruce who are less influential. Let's try a middle ground of sorts if that's cool with you.

1. The Beatles
2. Elvis Presley
3. James Brown
4. Bob Dylan
5. Michael Jackson
6. Madonna
7. The Rolling Stones
8. Chuck Berry
9. Stevie Wonder
10. Aretha Franklin
11. Ray Charles
12. The Beach Boys
13. Led Zeppelin
14. Jimi Hendrix
15. Prince
16. Marvin Gaye
17. Fats Domino
18. The Who
19. Sam Cooke
20. Little Richard
21. Pink Floyd
22. David Bowie
23. U2
24. The Supremes
25. Bruce Springsteen
26. Run-D.M.C.
27. Queen
28. Nirvana
29. Bob Marley & the Wailers
30. Buddy Holly & The Crickets
31. The Temptations
32. The Everly Brothers
33. Neil Young
34. R.E.M
35. Elton John
36. Public Enemy
37. Sly & The Family Stone
38. Bill Haley & His Comets
39. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
40. The Kinks

I'll say that, and Fido will probably agree that if we want The Who/Sam Cooke > Bowie/Floyd because of their influence Little Richard should probably be ahead of all of them for the same reason.

[ManPerson]

1. The Beatles
2. Elvis Presley
3. James Brown
4. Bob Dylan
5. Michael Jackson
6. Madonna
7. Chuck Berry
8. The Rolling Stones
9. Stevie Wonder
10. Aretha Franklin
11. Ray Charles
12. The Beach Boys
13. Led Zeppelin
14. Jimi Hendrix
15. Prince
16. Marvin Gaye
17. Fats Domino
18. Little Richard
19. The Who
20. Sam Cooke
21. Pink Floyd
22. David Bowie

[Tim]

For comparison, here's how Bruce ranks these 40 artists on his popular music artists list. Does not use acclaim or cultural impact but rather just impact and I figure does weight popularity the highest rather than influence plus some listings are broader than they are on this list. Ray prolly would not be as high on rock-only list as well.

1. Beatles
2. Elvis Presley
3. Michael Jackson / Jackson 5
4. James Brown
5. Bob Dylan
6. Ray Charles
7. Chuck Berry
8. Aretha Franklin
9. Madonna
10. Stevie Wonder
11. Rolling Stones
12. Beach Boys
13. Little Richard
14. Bob Marley and the Wailers
15. Prince
16. Led Zeppelin
17. Marvin Gaye
18. Jimi Hendrix (both)
19. Elton John
20. Sam Cooke
21. Bruce Springsteen (both)
22. Queen
23. The Who
24. Pink Floyd
25. Buddy Holly and the Crickets
26. Temptations
27. Diana Ross and the Supremes (cultural impact)
28. Fats Domino (cultural impact)
29. David Bowie (both)
30. U2 (both)
31. Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (acclaim)
32. Run-D.M.C. (cultural impact)
33. Public Enemy (both)
34. Nirvana (both)
35. Everly Brothers
36. Sly and the Family Stone
37. Neil Young (acclaim)
38. Kinks (acclaim)
39. Bill Haley and the Comets
40. R.E.M (acclaim)

Bolding artists who may benefit from having acclaim and/or cultural impact in criteria.

[Tim]

I am cool with/agree with Little Richard bump btw.

[Brian]

Brian, would you suggest us keeping Fats over Hendrix and/or Gaye? Guess I can see arguments for both sides here.

With the new criteria, I can see Hendrix ahead of Domino now. Influence counts for more and cultural impact for less both of which I think help Hendrix, since I think Hendrix beats Domino in influence and Domino beats Hendrix in cultural impact. I'd say Domino still has a slight edge on Gaye, as I see Domino winning influence and cultural impact, popularity being about a tie, and acclaim going to Gaye, but to me it looks like not quite enough to make up for Domino's lead elsewhere.

[ManPerson]

If we want to adjust by era for lasting popularity, I'd say Gaye and Domino's primes were about 15 years apart, give or take and I think it's pretty safe in saying that Gaye is a lot more popular in 2026 than Domino was in 2011.

Fwiw, this was one of my arguments for Gaye winning popularity.

[Tim]

How about trying a four way breakdown, Prince/Gaye/Fats/Richard

Influence (incl. cultural): Fats >= Little Richard > Prince > Gaye
Popularity: Prince > Gaye >= Fats > Little Richard
Acclaim: Little Richard >= Prince >= Gaye > Fats

Can see Little Richard topping this group but maybe I am highballing his acclaim. Think Little Richard > Prince > Fats > Gaye would be pretty balanced ranking.

[Tim]

I also kinda think Cooke and Gaye could be side by side or close to it. We all would agree Cooke is more influential, we also would agree Cooke is extremely acclaimed, imo close to Gaye in that regard. Gaye is clearly more popular but overall it seems like a close match-up to me.

[ManPerson]

We all would agree Cooke is more influential, we also would agree Cooke is extremely acclaimed, imo close to Gaye in that regard. Gaye is clearly more popular but overall it seems like a close match-up to me.

I agree with everything here, except I think Gaye is more acclaimed.

[ManPerson]

How about trying a four way breakdown, Prince/Gaye/Fats/Richard

Influence (incl. cultural): Fats >= Little Richard > Prince > Gaye
Popularity: Prince > Gaye >= Fats > Little Richard
Acclaim: Little Richard >= Prince >= Gaye > Fats

Can see Little Richard topping this group but maybe I am highballing his acclaim. Think Little Richard > Prince > Fats > Gaye would be pretty balanced ranking.

My take on this

Influence: I agree with everything except I see Gaye and Prince as pretty close.

Popularity: I see Gaye as a bit closer to Prince than Fats for reasons I've outlined.

Acclaim: I question Little Richard at the top here. While Fido rightfully points out that he deserves credit for his prowess as a performer, I see Prince and Gaye as fairly comparable to him in that regard with Prince's guitar playing and live performances receiving a ton of praise and Gaye being one of the most acclaimed r&b vocalists. As they all seem to be close in that regard I think Prince and Gaye pull ahead due to clearly having more acclaimed discographies, even after you adjust for the fact that Little Richard was more of a singles artist.

[ManPerson]

I think Domino's win in popularity is probably bigger than Richard's in acclaim while influence is pretty close, and if we weight popularity a bit more than acclaim I definitely lean towards Domino being ahead.

I also think Prince does slightly better in all of the criteria than Gaye so if we want to balance Prince/Gaye and Domino/Richard a little, this is what I'd suggest...

15. Fats Domino
16. Prince
17. Marvin Gaye
18. Little Richard

This gets Gaye a bit closer to Cooke, fwiw.

[ManPerson]

Here's 23-40 in the middle ground that Tim posted earlier:
23. U2
24. The Supremes
25. Bruce Springsteen
26. Run-D.M.C.
27. Queen
28. Nirvana
29. Bob Marley & the Wailers
30. Buddy Holly & The Crickets
31. The Temptations
32. The Everly Brothers
33. Neil Young
34. R.E.M
35. Elton John
36. Public Enemy
37. Sly & The Family Stone
38. Bill Haley & His Comets
39. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
40. The Kinks

I think 31-40 looks pretty good.

My thoughts on 23-30:
- I think Run-D.M.C. should be at the top of this group, while they are a bit lacking in acclaim and popularity compared to some others here, I think their influence and cultural impact is large enough to get them to the top of this group.

- I think Nirvana could be a bit higher. They are more influential than the 4 artists ahead of them, and when compared to U2, Queen and especially Springsteen that win is pretty clear. I think they hold their own in acclaim compared to Springsteen and U2 while being more acclaimed than Queen or The Supremes. In terms of popularity, they are clearly last, but their popularity is still very strong, especially lasting.


So this is what I would suggest:

23. Run-D.M.C.
24. U2
25. Nirvana
26. The Supremes
27. Bruce Springsteen
28. Queen
29. Bob Marley & the Wailers
30. Buddy Holly & The Crickets
31. The Temptations
32. The Everly Brothers
33. Neil Young
34. R.E.M
35. Elton John
36. Public Enemy
37. Sly & The Family Stone
38. Bill Haley & His Comets
39. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
40. The Kinks

[Tim]

How do you think Elton, Public Enemy and REM compare? Had a last moment change of the heart and moved REM a couple of spots down myself.

Influence (incl. Cultural): PE > REM > Elton, the first two close but Public Enemy I'd say clearly more culturally impactful, Elton is not particularly musically influential but a cultural icon for sure.

Popularity: Elton >> REM >> PE, seems pretty straightforward

Acclaim: PE=REM > Elton, ignoring AM's placement for the first two.

[Tim]

I think Domino's win in popularity is probably bigger than Richard's in acclaim while influence is pretty close, and if we weight popularity a bit more than acclaim I definitely lean towards Domino being ahead.

I also think Prince does slightly better in all of the criteria than Gaye so if we want to balance Prince/Gaye and Domino/Richard a little, this is what I'd suggest...

15. Fats Domino
16. Prince
17. Marvin Gaye
18. Little Richard

This gets Gaye a bit closer to Cooke, fwiw.

I know Bruce's list does not share the same criteria but given relatively low placement of Fats Domino there, I am ok with Prince and Gaye staying ahead.

[Brian]

I think Domino's win in popularity is probably bigger than Richard's in acclaim while influence is pretty close, and if we weight popularity a bit more than acclaim I definitely lean towards Domino being ahead.

I also think Prince does slightly better in all of the criteria than Gaye so if we want to balance Prince/Gaye and Domino/Richard a little, this is what I'd suggest...

15. Fats Domino
16. Prince
17. Marvin Gaye
18. Little Richard

This gets Gaye a bit closer to Cooke, fwiw.

I think I agree with this order for these 4. With Little Richard, it factors pretty big for me that the other 3 very easily have more significant material and longer periods of significance. If you figure Little Richard's period of significance runs from the release of "Tutti Fruiti" to that of "Ooh! My Soul", that's 2 years and 7 months. So the other 3 have a lot more acclaimed and popular material, and a much longer period in which they were acclaimed and popular.

[Fido]

Not sure why Floyd and Bowie were singled out from the next group. Compared to Springsteen, his only weak area compared to them is influence, while he seems more popular (harder to compare with Floyd as they beat him in albums but he crushes in singles. Pink Floyd are obviously albums-centered but Springsteen seems much more well-rounded in both areas. Anyway, a hard comparison), more acclaimed than Floyd while tied with Bowie. Don't want to weigh in on cultural impact as Bruce has always been more important in the US compared to Europe.

[ManPerson]

How do you think Elton, Public Enemy and REM compare? Had a last moment change of the heart and moved REM a couple of spots down myself.

Influence (incl. Cultural): PE > REM > Elton, the first two close but Public Enemy I'd say clearly more culturally impactful, Elton is not particularly musically influential but a cultural icon for sure.

Popularity: Elton >> REM >> PE, seems pretty straightforward

Acclaim: PE=REM > Elton, ignoring AM's placement for the first two.

Based on this, I still kind of like my order.

[ManPerson]

Not sure why Floyd and Bowie were singled out from the next group. Compared to Springsteen, his only weak area compared to them is influence, while he seems more popular (harder to compare with Floyd as they beat him in albums but he crushes in singles. Pink Floyd are obviously albums-centered but Springsteen seems much more well-rounded in both areas. Anyway, a hard comparison), more acclaimed than Floyd while tied with Bowie. Don't want to weigh in on cultural impact as Bruce has always been more important in the US compared to Europe.

I think Bruce's fairly lackluster influence for this range of the list holds him back, I'd say...

Floyd vs Springsteen
Popularity: Close
Acclaim: Springsteen
Influence: Floyd fairly easily

Bowie vs Springsteen
Popularity: Springsteen fairly easily
Acclaim: Close
Influence: Bowie fairly easily