Who would you say are the most influential bands or musicians of all time? Which performers have affected how we think, how we play music, how we understand our world around us?


My vote for the most influential band of all time would be Black Sabbath.

They invented heavy metal, and not one music shop goes by each day in this country where some young kid isn't jamming the opening chords to "Iron Man" or "Paranoid". They made music darker, and more relevant after the demise of the happy-hippie '60's. They created a social commentary not ever heard of before in rock and popular music.

http://www.black-sabbath.com/gallery_2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=888&g2_serialNumber=2

My 3 picks would be:

Rolling Stones
B.B. King
Eric Clapton

Put me down for Alabama as one of the most influential bands of all time. :) :) :)

God bless you and them always!!! :) :) :)

Holly

By far, it has to be The Beatles!!!

By far, it has to be The Beatles!!!

I agree...and Frank Sinatra, because he had that voice and pop culture. Sinatra had the Rock-and-Roll life though he NEVER embraced it!

By far, it has to be The Beatles!!!

:yeahthat

I agree with a lot of those choices. But my choice would have to be Michael Jackson, because he broke racial barriers by having his video Billie Jean be the first video by a black artist to air on MTV, a lot of his songs had special messages in them. Man In the Mirror, Earth Song, Heal the World, We Are the World, etc. He opened our eyes to what was going on in the world and made us want to be better people, he wanted us to change what was and still is going on with this world and the people in it.
He was an amazing entertainer and an beautiful human being and I am glad to have lived with him and his music. He definitely influenced me and changed my life. There will never be another like him. :(

The Beatles
The Rolling Stones
James Brown
Sam Cooke
Otis Redding
Chuck Berry
Bob Dylan
Elvis Presley
George Clinton
Led Zeppelin
Aretha Franklin
Johnny Cash

As a singer and songwriter, I'd have to say Carole King - arguably the most successful woman in pop/rock history.

Believe it or not, Madonna. I don't think any of today's popular female pop singers would be big as they are without her to pave the way. Say what you want about her music and her personality, she was a huge influence and inspiration to a lot of people during the 80's and 90's, and has evolved with the changes in pop music.

The Beatles. Nobody has matched them as a successful band. They have still sold more albums world wide than anyone, even Elvis. I love Elvis more than the Beatles, but it is what it is.

Pink Floyd. Dark side of the Moon charted for 15 years. 1973 to 1988 and is considered one of the greatest albums of all time.

Michael Jackson. One of the greatest single artists of all time.

Now a new one has come along. Lady gaga will probably be the new #1
Like I said. It is what it is.

I'd also have to throw in Sly & The Family Stone. Sly mixed gospel, soul, pop, rock and psychedelia, and his band was sexually and racially mixed right in the turmoil of the 1960's. No Sly No P-Funk, Ohio Players, Earth Wind and Fire etc.

1. The Beatles
2. Elvis
3. Chuck Berry
4. The Rolling Stones
5. Led Zeppelin
6. Buddy Holly
7. Cream
8. Jimi Hendrix
9. Black Sabbath
10. Madonna

I chose artists based on who I truly thought was influencial and not just artists that I personally like.

It's interesting to think of who we might consider the most influential musicians out there. Because when we look back at a certain artist, we have to go back to the artists who influenced them, and so on.

Say like the most influential band was, for example, Lamb Of God. Okay, quite a stretch, because they're very recent, within the past ten years, but they have become a big name and are influencing a lot of newer metal bands.
So we go back to their influences, Metallica, Megadeth, plenty of the local metalcore bands on the scene in the late 90's and before that rubbed off on them. Combination of metal and hardcore, etc. So we've got Metallica and Megadeth. Who influenced them? Plenty of the NWOBHM acts
such as Iron Maiden and Motorhead, and punk as well, including Anti-Nowhere
League, Killing Joke, and others. Early British metal such as Budgie, and of course, the band that invented metal: Black Sabbath.

And of course, who were Black Sabbath's influences? The Shadows, a mid-60's surf-guitar band from England, Cream, a lot of jazz, including Django Reinhardt, and a number of electric blues acts that circulated around Britain at the time, as well as Led Zeppelin, with whom they were friends in Birmingham in the late 60's. And to go further back, their influences included Chicago blues, Delta blues, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, etc.

My personal favorite, especally when i was a teenager.Would have to be Metallica.Who was the most influential.I don't really know.It's all a matter of opinion.But some of the most influential would have to be Elvis Presley,The Beatles,Rolling Stones,Michael Jackson,Madonna.I am also a huge Guns n Roses,Nirvana,Aerosmith,Ac/Dc,Tom Petty,Bob Seger fan.I like all different types though.It just kind of depends on my mood.