In 2004 — 50 years after Elvis Presley walked into Sun Studios and cut “That’s All Right” — Rolling Stone celebrated rock & roll’s first half-century in grand style, assembling a panel of 55 top musicians, writers and industry executives (everyone from Keith Richards to Questlove of the Roots) and asking them to pick the most influential artists of the rock & roll era. The resulting list of 100 artists, published in two issues of Rolling Stone in 2004 and 2005, and updated in 2011, is a broad survey of rock history, spanning Sixties heroes (the Beatles) and modern insurgents (Eminem), and touching on early pioneers (Chuck Berry) and the bluesmen who made it all possible (Howlin’ Wolf).
The essays on these top 100 artists are by their peers: singers, producers and musicians. In these fan testimonials, indie rockers pay tribute to world-beating rappers (Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig on Jay-Z), young pop stars honor stylistic godmothers (Britney Spears on Madonna) and Billy Joel admits that Elton John “kicks my ass on piano.” Rock & roll is now a music with a rich past. But at its best, it is still the sound of forward motion. As you read this book, remember: This is what we have to live up to.
The Top100 rock and roll artists recordings of all time:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6Hn0JI3ShdvlZ3mlBqALiA?si=1A9s-O22SI-uXznVPqMb5w&pi=JdljbznZRQyTj
So, this is a gut check as to how many of these artists fall into what I believe is the greatest music era of all time: The 1950s and 1960s.
In the following paragraphs, you will note that there are fifteen additional artists to be added to the blog that prevailed in the 1950s and 1960s: Jimi Hendrix (No6), Bob Marley (No11), Muddy Waters (No17), Bo Diddley (No20), Michael Jackson (No35), David Bowie (No39), The Band (No50), Howlin Wolf (No54), Parliament and Kunkadelic (No58), Joni Mitchell (No62), Phil Spector (No64), The Stooges (No78), The Yardbirds (No89), Booker T and The MGs (No93) and Curtis Mayfield (No 98). That leaves a total of 70 artists (of 100) that represent the 1950s and 1960s. A vast majority supporting the blog’s overall belief that the 50s and 60s was the best all-time era for music!
Lets give credit to those special artists from the 1970s and 1980s who made the Rollingstone Top100 list (their highest rated was No22):
(16) From the 1970s: U2 (No22), Bruce Springsteen (No23), The Ramones (No26), The Clash (No28), Patti Smith (No47), Queen (No52), Aerosmith (No59), Sex Pistols (No60), Al Green (No66), The Police (No70), AC/DC (No72), Eagles (No75), Elvis Costello (No80), Gram Parsons (No87), Tom Petty (No91), Lynyard Skynyrd (No85) and Talking Heads (No100).
(14) From the 1980s: Prince (No27), Nirvanna (No30), Madonna (No36), Public Enemy (No44), Run DMC (No48), Dr. Dre (No56), Metallica (No61), Radiohead (No73), Beastie Boys (No77), Eminem (No83), Tupac Shakur (No86), Jay-Z (No88), Nine Inch Nails (No94) and R.E.M (No97).
In the next post, I will highlight the 70 artists from the 1950s and 1960s that made the Top100 list using the information from the Rolling Stone Magazine.
All-Time Greatest Music 