10 most important figures in 20th century music

Going with individual musicians, no groups. Arranged from oldest to youngest. I'll admit I don't know enough about classical music to have been able to intelligently evaluate them against everyone else, and I'll accept any criticism related to that:

Louis Armstrong
Duke Ellington
Frank Sinatra
Miles Davis
Elvis Presley
John Lennon
Bob Dylan
Jimi Hendrix
Bob Marley
Michael Jackson

 

Nailed it!

 

Complete list

1) The Beatles / Lennon & McCartney 58
2) Elvis Presley 57
3) Bob Dylan 55
4) Miles Davis 46
5) Louis Armstrong 44
6) Frank Sinatra 37
7) Duke Ellington 36
8) Chuck Berry 35
9) Hank Williams 31
10) Jimi Hendrix 25


Charlie Parker 23
Igor Stravinsky 22
Robert Johnson 19
Beach Boys/ Brian Wilson 16
James Brown 14
George Gershwin 12
Arnold Schoenberg 12
John Coltrane 11
David Bowie 11
Bing Crosby 9
Billie Holiday 8
Michael Jackson 8
Les Paul 8
Ray Charles 8
The Rolling Stones 8
Muddy Waters 7
John Lennon 7
Nirvana / Kurt Cobain 7
Woody Guthrie 7
Joni Mitchell 6
Berry Gordy 6
The Sex Pistols 6
Lou Reed 5
The Carter Family 5
Claude Debussy 5
Bob Marley 5
Anton Webern 5
John Cage 5
Ella Fitzgerald 5
Frank Zappa 5
Little Richard 5
Bessie Smith 5
Thelonious Monk 5
The Velvet Underground 4
Smokey Robinson 4
Bill Monroe 4
Prince 4
Ennio Morricone 4
Neil Young 3
Led Zeppelin 3
The Who / Pete Townshend 3
Dean Martin 3
Cole Porter 3
Phil Spector 3
Black Sabbath 3
Sam Phillips 3
Benny Goodman 3
Public Enemy 3
Grandmaster Flash 3
Karlheinz Stockhausen 3
Buddy Holly 3
Patsy Cline 3
Johnny Cash 3
Howlin' Wolf 3
Brian Eno 3
Paul McCartney 3
Ahmet Ertegun 3
Erik Satie 2
Aaron Copeland 2
Lee Scratch Perry 2
Al Jolson 2
Claude Debussy 2
Charley Patton 2
Sam Cooke 2
Jimmie Rogers 2
Aretha Franklin 2
Leonard Bernstein 2
Madonna 2
Bela Bartok 2
Morton Feldman 2
Queen / Freddie Mercury 2
Edgar Varese 2
Scott Walker 2
Irving Berlin 2
B.B. King 2
Gustav Mahler 2
Django Reinhardt 2
Ravi Shankar 2
Scott Joplin 2

I've not included those who were only mentioned once, though I do have a list of them.

 

If we get away from any notion of talent or creativity or great music, and just judge by impact and importance, then I think that is probably a fair list.

 

I am impressed with this top ten list, even if it has some artists on there that would not necessarily be on my personal list. I really admire the varied musical genres that are represented on the list as well as the overall influence of those that were picked by a majority of posters.

 

Bing Crosby
Frank Sinatra
Hank Williams Sr.
Chuck Berry
Elvis Presley
The Beatles
Barbra Streisand
Led Zeppelin
Michael Jackson
Tupac Shakur

 

I was wondering when Babs would show up. She certainly defined and transcended a genre.

Is Tupac the first artist whose recording career started in the nineties to get a vote? I’d love to hear your reasoning for his inclusion.

 

This appears to me to be a great summary of Louis Armstrong's work as it includes much of his earlier stuff. A lot of collections appear to focus on the pop songs of the 60s and miss out on the earlier works.

The Essential Louis Armstrong

 

i have always thought john cale would belong somewhere on a list like this

 

When I first saw this thread a while back the first person I thought of was Glenn Gould. But I assumed he was already in here! In my little convoluted mind he created what I think of as "modern music" in the 20th century.

 

2Pac

2Pac spoke on behalf of the stereotyped black community but more importantly he offered poetry along the way more than raps.
Millions of fans aren't hip hop fans.

 

ellington
armstrong
sinatra
gershwin
berry
penniman
presley
dylan
lennon
mccartney
hendrix

oops that's 11, but there's a duo

 

I am more than a little surprised that Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly and Patsy Cline only got named in the top ten by three posters. Cash was a transformational figure in both rockabilly and county music and went out on a high with his Rick Rubin produced albums; Buddy Holly was one of the architects of rock 'n' roll and also one of the first to self produce and add orchestral backings to the new sound; Patsy Cline has probably influenced just about every female in country music that came after her, from Loretta Lynn to Trisha Yearwood. Yes I know, I left Cash off my original top ten list as well, but I did amend it later to include him.

 

how much of these "lists" come down to marketing and PR?

I mean, there is something disingenuine about most of our choices
we obviously petition our personal favourites over the real "artform barrier pushers"

but who are changing and shaping the artform?

 

I'm also a little surprised that Cash wasn't mentioned more often. While I don't regard him as important enough to be in my Top 10, I had thought more people might mention him considering what a figure he was for so long, and that he crossed over into pop, rock, rockabilly, folk, and country. I regard him as more important than Elvis. But that could be because I'm more inclined toward creative figures than I am to icons.

The same with Buddy Holly. Wikipedia says: "Encyclopædia Britannica stated that Holly "produced some of the most distinctive and influential work in rock music".[64] AllMusic defined him as "the single most influential creative force in early rock and roll".[65] Rolling Stone ranked him number 13 on its list of "100 Greatest Artists".[66] The Telegraph called him a "pioneer and a revolutionary [...] a multidimensional talent [...] (who) co-wrote and performed (songs that) remain as fresh and potent today".[67]" As such I was expecting more votes. I don't rate Holly myself, seeing him as being in the same role for rock and roll as Glenn Miller was for swing: a popular figure who made their chosen musical genre smoother and more commercial, but I do acknowledge that plenty of people regard him as important.

I had to look into Cline as I didn't know that much about her. Yes, I agree that given what is said about her, that more people didn't vote for her. Wikipedia says: "Since her death, Cline has been cited as one of the most celebrated, respected and influential performers of the 20th century. Her music has influenced performers of various styles and genres.[10] She has also been seen as a forerunner for women in country music, being among the first to sell records and headline concerts." AllMusic says: "One of the greatest country singers of all time, emotive yet distant and cool, and an influence on countless singers after her." She released three albums in her short recording career. I like Showcase (1961)

 

This list reminds me of the Tower Record stores where classical music was given a room of its own.

 

Yes indeed, Patsy was a real oversight in my mind as she accomplished so much in such a short time. I think that she was also the first major female country star to headline in Las Vegas. I think that she also influenced a hell of a lot of future female pop singers such as k.d. lang. Her influence just cannot be overstated.

As far as Johnny Cash is concerned, he his my 25 year old nephew's all time favorite recording artist. I think that says something pretty powerful as well.

 

Sounds like a good idea.

 

Those recordings he made at the end of his life are really astonishingly good.

American Recordings

 

Yes indeed, and the video that he did for Hurt is my favorite music video of all time. Apparently, it is Justin Timberlake's as well, who embarrassingly won the Video Of The Year Award over Johnny Cash's Hurt video, which made him give a shout out for his preference for the Cash video when he won his award.

 

You've got Debussy on there twice.

 

Oh yes. Now I don't know if I included the second count of 2 into the final figure of 5, or if that final figure should be 7.

 

Good for Timberlake.

 

If we can get Debussy up to 7, we can empirically demonstrate that he is more important than the Sex Pistols.

 

According to BEA:


Best Ever Artists
1. The Beatles
2. Radiohead
3. Pink Floyd
4. David Bowie
5. Led Zeppelin
6. Bob Dylan
7. Arcade Fire
8. The Rolling Stones
9. The Velvet Underground
10. Nirvana
11. The Smiths
12. Kendrick Lamar
13. Neil Young
14. Pixies
15. The Beach Boys
16. Kanye West
17. Miles Davis
18. Bruce Springsteen
19. The Who
20. R.E.M.