Rolling Stone:The Immortals:100 Greatest Artists of All Time

• This is RS magazine's list of the 100 greatest artists of all time.
• 1. The Beatles - Makes sense. What else can you say?
• 2. Bob Dylan - I could argue with this one. He's a legend, but number 2?
• 3. Elvis Presley - Very successful, the king of rock n roll of course, but he was very controlled by his manager.
• 4. Rolling Stones - Often called 'Anti-Beatles', definitely top 5
• 5. Chuck Berry - Probably invented Rock n Roll. Deserves to be here.
• 6. Jimi Hendrix - First guitar god, I believe. Revolutionary player
• 7. James Brown - Godfather of soul, is it? Great showman
• 8. Little Richard - American Rock & Roll/R & B singer and pianist
• 9. Aretha Franklin - I think she was the first woman to be inducted into the rock n roll hall of fame. I'll look that up later.
• 10. Ray Charles - American R&B singer and pianist
• 11. Bob Marley - Jamaican reggae singer
• 12. The Beach Boys - Some of the catchiest songs I ever heard.
• 13. Buddy Holly - Tragic death. One of the first to use a solid-body electric guitar.
• 14. Led Zeppelin - Possibly the 'fathers of heavy metal', but some might argue that Black Sabbath is.
• 15. Stevie Wonder - American soul singer. Plays many different instruments, and has won 22 grammy awards
• 16. Sam Cooke - A founder of soul music.
• 17. Muddy Waters - 'Father of Chicago Blues'
• 18. Marvin Gaye - 'The Prince of Motown'.
• 19. The Velvet Underground - American rock band, formed in 1965. Regarded as highly influencial in the rise to punk-rock, and alt-rock.
• 20. Bo Diddley - Legendary R&B singer. Known as the 'Originator'
• 21. Otis Redding - You might not know him, but you've probably heard 'Sittin' on the dock of a bay'.
• 22. U2 - The Joshua Tree was one of my favourite albums
• 23. Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA was overplayed. Good to see him make music again.
• 24. Jerry Lee Lewis - 'Great Balls of Fire' was his greatest hit, and one of my favs
• 25. Fats Domino - Rock & Roll pianist
• 26. The Ramones - Regarded as the first punk-rock group
• 27. Nirvana - I swear, RS magazine has a hard-on for these guys. They put Kurt Cobain at #12 on their 'Greatest Guitarists of All Time' list, and now this.
• 28. Prince - 'Purple Rain' is one of my favourite albums. He's also an icon in style
• 29. The Who - Should be higher. Rock artists still try to sound like them
• 30. The Clash - English punk-rock band from the 70's
• 31. Johnny Cash - The 'Man in Black'. Should be higher, since he's the equivalent of Elvis, except country. The only country singer I like
• 32. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - American R&B group
• 33. The Everly Brothers - Country/Rock Duo
• 34. Neil Young - Candadian singer-songwriter. Influential in grunge
• 35. Michael Jackson - Would be higher if he wasn't wacko. Thriller was the best-selling album of all time
• 36. Madonna - I don't like her music, but she could still be higher. The 'Queen of Pop'
• 37. Roy Orbison - American singer-songwriter. Sang 'Oh, Pretty Woman'
• 38. John Lennon - Liked him in the Beatles, not as a solo artist. Imagine was a great song, however
• 39. David Bowie - Icon in music, as well as style
• 40. Simon and Garfunkel - Should be in the top twenty, in my opinion. If you haven't heard of them, you need to get some education
• 41. The Doors - I'd put them top 30, but this is alright
• 42. Van Morrison - 'Van the Man'. Sang 'Brown Eyed Girl'.
• 43. Sly and the Family Stone - American funk band
• 44. Public Enemy - Not a chance. I'd say about 80, maybe
• 45. The Byrds - American rock group
• 46. Janis Joplin - American singer-songwriter
• 47. Patti Smith - The 'Godmother of Punk'
• 48. Run-DMC - Biggest act in hip-hop throughout the 80's
• 49. Elton John - Should be higher. Not a huge fan, but I can appreciate his talent
• 50. The Band - Canadian rock band. They backed Ronnie Hawkins, and Bob Dylan
• 51. Howlin' Wolf - Blues singer
• 52. Allman Brothers Band - Southern-rock band
• 53. Eric Clapton - English blues-rock guitarist
• 54. Dr. Dre - Has numerous Grammys for rapping and producing
• 55. Grateful Dead - American rock band
• 56. Parliament/Funkadelic - African-American soul band
• 57. Aerosmith - American hard rock band
• 58. Sex Pistols - One of the first punk bands. Definitely one of the most prolific
• 59. Louis Jordan - Jazz musician
• 60. Joni Mitchell - Canadian singer-songwriter
• 61. Tina Turner - American singer and entertainer
• 62. Etta James - American R&B singer. Sang 'At Last'
• 63. Phil Spector - He's a producer. Why is he on here?
• 64. The Kinks - English rock group
• 65. Al Green - American gospel singer
• 66. Cream - '60's British rock band. Considered to be the first 'supergroup'
• 67. The Temptations - American R&B vocal group
• 68. Jackie Wilson - R&B singer
• 69. Carl Perkins - 'The King of Rockabilly'
• 70. The Police - Sold over 50 million albums world-wide. Highest paid musical act of 2008
• 71. Frank Zappa - American composer. Phenomenal guitarist
• 72. AC/DC - They've had countless hits, and are one of the most popular bands around. I'm surprised they weren't higher
• 73. Radiohead - Glad to see them gettin' some love, but they were placed ahead of some great legends. Maybe a few years down the road I would put them here
• 74. Hank Williams - Country singing legend
• 75. The Eagles - Could be higher. Their greatest hits album was the 2nd greatest selling album of all time
• 76. The Shirelles - Girl group in the 60's. The first to get a #1 single on the Billboard 100.
• 77. Beastie Boys - Jewish hiphop group. Never would have guessed they'd be successful, but they were
• 78. The Stooges - Highly influencial in punk-rock
• 79. The Four Tops - American R&B quartet. Are noted for having a baritone for a lead singer(stubbs)
• 80. Elvis Costello - English musician, singer-songwriter
• 81. The Drifters - American R&B vocal group
• 82. Eminem - Has many awards, including an Academy award for 'best original song' for 2002's 'Lose Yourself'
• 83. N.W.A. - Gangsta-rap group from the eighties. Dr. Dre and Ice Cube were in this group
• 84. James Taylor - American singer/songwriter and guitarist from Boston
• 85. Black Sabbath - RS never really liked Black Sabbath. If memory serves me correctly, their first review of Sabbath went something like 'Should they even exist?...'. I would place them in the top 40 at least
• 86. Tupac Shakur - Rap artist. The first to have an album go to #1 while in jail.
• 87. Gram Parsons - Country singer. Died at age 26
• 88. Miles Davis - Jazz trumpet player
• 89. The Yardbirds - English rock group. Introduced us to Clapton, Page, and Beck
• 90. Carlos Santana - Solo guitar player. His band has consisted of about 40 people over the years
• 91. Ricky Nelson - American singer with over 50 Hot 100 hits
• 92. Guns n Roses - 'Appetite for Destruction' was the best thing they ever did. Too bad they weren't consistent
• 93. Booker T. and the MG's - Instrumental soul band. One of the first inter-racial groups
• 94. Nine Inch Nails - Trent Reznor is Nine Inch Nails. He's pretty much the only member
• 95. Lynyrd Skynyrd - American southern rock band
• 96. Martha and the Vandellas - Female R&B group
• 97. Diana Ross and the Supremes - Popular female singing group of the 60's
• 98. Roxy Music - English rock group from the 70's. They re-formed in 2001
• 99. Curtis Mayfield - American soul singer
• 100. Lee 'Scratch' Perry - Influencial figure in Reggae music