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Now I do wonder if Bruce (and U2) have potent enough combo of popularity & acclaim to cancel even comparatively huge Run-DMC influence advantage.

What do you think, Man? Guess I can see Bruce anywhere between #24-28.

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. Fats Domino
16. Prince
17. Marvin Gaye
18. Little Richard
19. The Who
20. Sam Cooke
21. Pink Floyd
22. David Bowie
23. U2
24. Run-D.M.C.
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

I'm fine with that.

Thinking out loud, is there a case for Berry being ahead of even MJ/Madonna?

Influence (incl. Cultural): Berry wins musically, loses culturally. Overall Berry wins as the latter does not count as much.

Popularity: landslide loss to both, even more so to MJ.

Acclaim: I'd say he wins this one over both, MJ closer match-up than Madonna.

Feel he has somewhat of a case here to be #5-6, not a must have move by any means but worth considering.

I think Madonna/MJ's win in popularity takes the matchup here since they are both very highly acclaimed and influential as well.

I'd agree with Berry below the pop king and queen.

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. Fats Domino
16. Prince
17. Marvin Gaye
18. Little Richard
19. The Who
20. Sam Cooke
21. Pink Floyd
22. David Bowie
23. U2
24. Run-D.M.C.
25. Nirvana
26. 2pac
27. The Supremes
28. Bruce Springsteen
29. Jay-Z
30. Queen
31. Bob Marley & the Wailers
32. Buddy Holly & The Crickets
33. Eminem
34. The Temptations
35. The Everly Brothers
36. Black Sabbath
37. Neil Young
38. R.E.M
39. The Clash
40. The Doors
41. Elton John
42. Public Enemy
43. Sly & The Family Stone
44. Bill Haley & His Comets
45. Bo Diddley
46. Metallica
47. The Beastie Boys
48. Roy Orbison
49. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
50. George Clinton & Parliament / Funkadelic
51. The Kinks
52. Otis Redding
53. Simon & Garfunkel
54. The Byrds
55. Van Halen
56. The Grateful Dead
57. The Drifters
58. The Impressions
59. Jerry Lee Lewis
60. Eagles

Big drop for Elton. Less influential than most in that range, but he beats them all in popularity, most of them in cultural impact, and holds his own or even wins acclaim. I think he beats the Doors, Everlys, Temptations, probably Holly too, could go either way against the rest.

Fido wrote: Fri Mar 06, 2026 5:23 am Big drop for Elton. Less influential than most in that range, but he beats them all in popularity, most of them in cultural impact, and holds his own or even wins acclaim. I think he beats the Doors, Everlys, Temptations, probably Holly too, could go either way against the rest.

Agreed.

I'll post my draft soon, though I'll say that Jay and Eminem look low.

I think Neil Young and R.E.M. both clearly take acclaim and influence over Elton John.

I will wait for Man's draft of course but an obvious solution would be to take Neil, REM and Elton and move them atop of this group (but not over Eminem). Don't wanna lowball Everlys, Temptations and Holly too much though some of the greatest rock artists of the singles era.

Black Sabbath seems a few slots too low - it beats the two ahead of it pretty easily in popularity and influence.

Seems like a stretch to suggest Sabbath wins popularity, popularity should not be just about who is more famous in 2026; Everlys had lots of charting success from the late '50s to early '60s (3 #1 singles in US, 15 top 10 appearances), and Temptations are even more popular (4 #1 singles, 16 top 10 appearances).

Attempted to sort of compromise on Elton John's placement. I think Temptations and Holly both take acclaim and influence over him as well.

New additions in bold

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. Fats Domino
16. Prince
17. Marvin Gaye
18. Little Richard
19. The Who
20. Sam Cooke
21. Pink Floyd
22. David Bowie
23. Eminem
24. Jay-Z
25. U2
26. Run-D.M.C.
27. Nirvana
28. 2pac
29. The Supremes
30. Bruce Springsteen
31. Queen
32. Bob Marley & The Wailers
33. Buddy Holly & the Crickets
34. The Temptations
35. Neil Young
36. R.E.M.
37. Elton John
38. The Everly Brothers
39. Black Sabbath
40. Public Enemy
41. The Byrds
42. Otis Redding
43. Metallica
44. Sly & the Family Stone
45. Bill Haley & the Comets
46. Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
47. The Kinks
48. Roy Orbison
49. Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions
50. The Beastie Boys
51. The Doors
52. Bo Diddley
53. The Clash
54. Simon & Garfunkel
55. Parliament/Funkadelic/George-Clinton
56. Eagles
57. The Drifters
58. The Grateful Dead
59. Van Halen
60. Jerry Lee Lewis

Tim wrote: Fri Mar 06, 2026 9:30 am Seems like a stretch to suggest Sabbath wins popularity, popularity should not be just about who is more famous in 2026; Everlys had lots of charting success from the late '50s to early '60s (3 #1 singles in US, 15 top 10 appearances), and Temptations are even more popular (4 #1 singles, 16 top 10 appearances).

From a quick Google search, BS has sold more albums than either by a decent margin. What do you guys use to measure a band's overall popularity?

Dubrow555 wrote: Fri Mar 06, 2026 8:48 pm

Tim wrote: Fri Mar 06, 2026 9:30 am Seems like a stretch to suggest Sabbath wins popularity, popularity should not be just about who is more famous in 2026; Everlys had lots of charting success from the late '50s to early '60s (3 #1 singles in US, 15 top 10 appearances), and Temptations are even more popular (4 #1 singles, 16 top 10 appearances).

From a quick Google search, BS has sold more albums than either by a decent margin. What do you guys use to measure a band's overall popularity?

Chart success is a big factor, and BS doesn't have very much.

Think I am pretty content with Man's #1-40. How about this for #41-60?

41. The Byrds
42. Otis Redding
43. Metallica
44. Sly & The Family Stone
45. Bill Haley & His Comets
46. The Beastie Boys
47. Bo Diddley
48. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
49. The Kinks
50. Roy Orbison
51. The Clash
52. The Doors
53. The Impressions
54. Simon & Garfunkel
55. Parliament/Funkadelic/George Clinton
56. Eagles
57. Van Halen
58. The Drifters
59. The Grateful Dead
60. Jerry Lee Lewis