Who are the most important artists that aren't from the major English speaking countries?

Another vote for Kraftwerk.

 

Astor Piazzolla...

 

Can

 

A-ha

 

Fela Kuti

 

In Germany she's still mostly unknown. I like her music and I think she's very talented.

I'd add from Spain:
Paco de Lucia
Lole y Manuel

from Portugal:
Madredeus

 

Mozart. Second place ain't close.

Non-classical? Gotta be ABBA. Those songs are everywhere.

 

Goblin
Tangerine dream
Opeth
Abba

.... If we get into metal, this will make for a long list.

 

Roxette were pretty big for a while, and Robyn has also had a lot of success. There's something about Sweden and melodic melancholia.

 

B'z
Mr. Children
Hikaru Utada
Ayumi Hamasaki

 

Vangelis and J.M. Jarre are quite important in their genre, if not the most important.

 

POLNAREFF!

 

Flamenco related artists are a small niche, IMHO. Not big outside Spain

 

Perhaps we have to exclude classical, because most great composers are not from the English speaking world.

 

YMO from Japan

 

Excluding the classical composers.
Edith Piaf
Tangerine Dream
Can
Shocking Blue
PFM
Focus
Golden Earring
Amon Duul II
Klaus Schulze
Nektar
Faust
Le Orme
Ange
Banco
Eloy
Grobschnitt
Triumvirat
Wigwam
Kayak
And unlikely as it may seem, Giles Giles and Fripp once backed Charles Aznavour for some concerts. They referred to him as Charles 'as no voice.

 

Suprised no one mentioned Serge Gainsbourg yet

 

Without Antonio Carlos Jobim a whole, very relevant part of the 1960s would be missing. Furthermore, a dozen or more jazz standards would be missing. His bossa novas with sophisticated harmonies is one of my favorite sounds in all of recorded music. An awareness of Jobim seems essential for any who claims to care about music.

Also hard for me to imagine the 1960s without Serge Gainsbourg- but that's more a personal feeling, not dogma.

 

Also Phoenix a great French pop band

 

As far as wide-reaching international influence goes - KRAFTWERK. No contest.

 

Django Reinhardt, Belgium

 

Okay, I may have overestimated the popularity but would you call any of these important artists from Spain or only when mentioning the niche flamenco?

 

Luis Miguel (México)

• Won a Grammy for his duet with Sheena Easton
• Had a Spanish-language album that reached #10 on the Billboard Top 200
• Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
• His tour in 2011 was the 5th-highest grossest tour in North America
• Was personally invited by Frank Sinatra to perform on his Duets II album

 

Joe Strummer was born in Ankara, Turkey.

 

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