What classic performer has had a lasting influence on popular music today and why?

Question

What bands or solo artists do you think shine through as a direct influence in today's music world? What aspects of their music made them a foundation for current musical artists?

Answer 1

Beatles, The Ramones, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, and Bob Dylan are all excellent answers. But of all people that have had influence on music, but no one persons influence can be seen as much as Chuck Berry's. He influenced the early 1960's British bands, and basically created the guitar solo. His influence has been directly linked to people such as Joe Perry, Jimi Hendrix, the Bruce, as well as many others. The punk songs of the Ramones are clearly influenced by the songs of Chuck Berry. Without the Ramones, there is no punk revolution in Britain. You can still hear his guitar parts through out rock and pop songs today.

Answer 2

They rose to the top of the punk world, which was the next big genre after the new rock and roll groups were just sell outs with pretty faces and hair. And then they challenged what punk, nay, ANY popular music really could be with 'London Calling'. They sorta killed rock and roll and punk (sorta kinda), but really opened up the whole industry, and showed them that a group trying new things could still sell. I mean, The Beatles and Dylan are better, but The Clash made more of a contribution to the ENTIRE music scene, especially today's, where bands are allowed to exist under the shadows and make whatever kind of record they want. If it wasn't for The Clash and 'London Calling', they probably couldn't do that as well as they do today. (Radiohead also kinda invented the whole indie scene, but they're not really a classic band yet.) Their slick brand of brit rock has influenced many major artists such as coldplay, travis and snow patrol (all great bands). But Radiohead is special in its own way and has plenty of great albums to back it up, the best of them being the bends and ok computer, with Hail to the Thief coming in a close third. Probably the greatest Radiohead song is Street Spirit (Fade Out) on The Bends; it has a great, simple riff throughout the song and Thom Yorke's vocals are excellent. Other great songs include Fake Plastic Trees, High and Dry, Airbag, Paranoid Android, Let Down, Karma Police, No Surprises, Knives Out, 2+2=5 (The Lukewarm), There There (The Boney King of Nowhere), and The National Anthem.

Answer 3

It's funny that almost all of the answers given have mentioned artists from the 1950's and forward. What about artists from the RADIO days who directly influenced Elvis and The Beatles? Try looking into the roots of popular music and you'll find the Big Bands, vocalists, and early Jazz & Blues artists like Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Patton, Frank Stokes...etc.

It's a true shame that anyone would fail to recognize these guys as influences, when they truly laid the groundwork for everything heard on the radio from the 1930's until now.

Nirvana? My Chemical Romance? Jimi Hendrix? No doubt these guys have made a small dent in the history of modern music, but direct influences on everything we hear today? Hardly.

Answer 4

There are a number of artists that have been around for generations and have had an influence on a number of people and other musical genres.

1. Aerosmith
2. Rolling Stones
3. Kiss
4. Red Hot Chili Peppers
5. Metallica
6. Dave Mathews Band
7. 2 - Pac
8. Green Day


These are just a few bands that come to mind when I think about influence and standing the test of time and proving everyone wrong.
They tend to venture off into different aspects of music and make it work. They tend to influence others on how to make music in the future.
I still hear songs played by all these artists to this day, and I can hear different aspects of each of these bands in todays new bands.

The other reason why I have listed some of these bands is simply for their strong following and the marketing campaigning. They make it a point to be well known.

Answer 5

Funny how the young-un's on here consider Hendrix, Beattles etc.. classic performers. I guess it's a matter of perspective.

From my perspective, the performer with the most influence is Bing Crosby. Reason - Bing is the artist who pushed the industry into using the recording technologies (tape) that made for that "studio" sound and the reproduction methods that enabled artists like Hendrix/Beattles etc.. to do what they did.

After posting this - I went through and read 100's of the replys.

There are basically only 2 good answers - one knowledgeable fellow mentioned Robert Johnson - he was 100% correct about who the most infuential "artist" was to the journey that the recording music industry has taken since in the 1950s. The other was the person who said African Slave music, which by and large was the influence on Robert Johnson.

Elvis Presley, the Beattles, Rolling Stones etc... all started out doing covers the blues artisits from the Mississipi Delta, Memphis and Chicago. Get you hands on the first best of the Beattles record - 1/2 those songs are covers of Chuck Berry among others.

Watch any of the movies about the early days of Elvis, Beattles etc.. and the conservative backlash against rock and roll was that it was white kids doing that dang niggra music.

Jimmy Hendrix - Johnny B Goode - written by Chuck Berry.

Honerable mention goes to the person who suggested Brian Eno. Without Eno you don't have Velvet Underground, David Bowie, Roxy Music, and the many many artists that spun out of that genre - Talking Heads (first producer - Brian Eno), Queen,

Answer 6

I don't quite know but you have recieved some pretty good answers so far......

I would say many of the performers from the "motown era" of music as well as the beetles and performers like Elvis, Micheal Jackson, as well as many early rap/hip-hop artists.

Other classic performers I would be sure to include are:
Frank Sinatra
Tina Turner,
Dean Martin,
Bobby Darin,
Peggy Lee
Beatles,
Whitney Houston
The Beach Boys,
The Who,
Neil Diamond,
the BeeGees,
Burt Bacharach,
Aretha Franklin,
Isley Brothers,
Ray Charles,
Stevie Wonder,
The Supremes,
Marvin Gaye,
Bob Dylan
Billy Joel
Elton John,
the Eagles,
Rod Stewart,
Steely Dan,
and Fleetwood Mac.
David Bowie,
Barry Manilow,
Cat Stevens,
Carole King,
Jackson Five,
The Miracles,
Lionel Richie
The Commodores
Roberta Flack,
Carly Simon,
Cher,
Earth, Wind and Fire,
KC and the Sunshine Band,
Donna Summer.
Prince,
Gloria Estefan,
Paula Abdul,
Kylie Minogue,
Enya
Janet Jackson,
Duran Duran,
The Go-Go's,
Billy Joel,
Barry Manilow,
Cyndi Lauper,
Debbie Gibson
Phil Collins,
Talking Heads,
Eurythmics,
The Bangles,
Hall & Oates,
George Michael (and Wham),
Rick Springfield and Culture Club
U2
Pearl Jam

And Many more!!!!

Soo many performers have had an impact and lasting influence on the popular music of today.

Answer 7

There is a reason why a cliche becomes a cliche. That said, the band with the greatest influence on popular music today is The Beatles. The reasons are their musicianship, innovation, and ability to push the boundaries of the recording technology available to them at the time so that the technology itself could be further advanced. They redefined rock and popular music forever and no other band can claim as much success as the Beatles. They were the best at what they did and the most popular, which I believe only Beethoven can take the same credit. Every artist that came after them, as well as their contemporaries, has been influenced either directly or indirectly by their enormous contributions to popular music. There would be no psychedelic, punk, alternative, metal, progressive, or countless other subgenres of rock music without The Beatles. The Beatles also expanded the concept of the LP record/album from beyond a collection of songs to a piece in itself.

The next most influential artist would be Jimi Hendrix, who pushed the boundaries of not only the music he played but the instrument on which he played it. To this day, there are some of his guitar lines that no one has been able to duplicate however hard they try. He, like the Beatles, also advanced the use of the studio and the technology available at the time to further the music.

Other notable influential artists are Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, and Bob Dylan. Yes, I realize most of these artists are from the 1960s, but that was the period when the greatest advancements in popular music were made so that we could have the music we hear today.

Answer 8

Obviously bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Cream all really opened rock and roll up for their generation (and Bob Dylan gave lyrics a new spin, that's for sure), I think the most influential band on today's music scene is probably The Clash. They rose to the top of the punk world, which was the next big genre after the new rock and roll groups were just sell outs with pretty faces and hair. And then they challenged what punk, nay, ANY popular music really could be with 'London Calling'. They sorta killed rock and roll and punk (sorta kinda), but really opened up the whole industry, and showed them that a group trying new things could still sell. I mean, The Beatles and Dylan are better, but The Clash made more of a contribution to the ENTIRE music scene, especially today's, where bands are allowed to exist under the shadows and make whatever kind of record they want. If it wasn't for The Clash and 'London Calling', they probably couldn't do that as well as they do today. (Radiohead also kinda invented the whole indie scene, but they're not really a classic band yet.)
Oh, and Jack White rocks.

Answer 9

It's not the freaking Beatles everybody, because with the exception of bands like Oasis and others who cover them, people aren't playing music anything like the Beatles played. Likewise, it's not early 80's electronica or early 90's grunge.

The real influences are from classic R&B, Jazz, old country, and early rock. People like Ray Charles and James Brown. People like Elvis Presley, or David Bowie. Bands like Floyd, Black Sabbath, KISS, and Queen. THOSE are your influences. THOSE are your foundations.

You could probably go back even further and list the inspirations for all of these bands and artists... and back even more to list the inspirations of the inspirations... but at some point we must all recognize that music is constantly evolving, and the sounds today are vastly different from the sounds even 10 years ago, let alone 30, let alone 100.

Answer 10

Bob Dylan...Dylan was listed as one of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people of the 20th century. He changed folk music when he went electric in the summer of1965 at his Newport performance. He can play guitar, keyboard and harmonica. His song "The Times They Are a-Changin'', became an anthem of the anti-war and civil rights. With his lyrics which incorporated politics, philosophy and literary influences. In 2004, Bob Dylan was ranked #2 in Rolling Stone Magazine's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, second to The Beatles. He has also been nominated several times for the Nobel Prize in Literature.


Lets not also forget about:
The beatles
Elvis
Johnny Cash
Led Zepplin
Tom Petty
The Mamas and the papas
Neil Young
Jimi Hendrix
Bob Marley
U2
The doors
Eric Clapton
The Greatful Dead
Stevie Nicks

So many more

Answer 11

Well you weren't specific to a timeline, So i am going to try and answer fairly as such. Bill Munro comes to mind right off the bat, as 'the father of bluegrass' he and the carters were a great influence on a lot of the artists folks are referring to as legends now (e.i. Elvis) I would also consider Pollack's or Glen Grey'a band from the 30's and 40's, as they spawned some the greatest bandleaders that ever ripped vinyl, Like Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, The Dorsey's etc.. Without the past there is no way to determine how the present would have developed, and I thought it a bit far-fetched to consider the classical giants a direct influence, although a lot of musical theory developed centuries ago stands true today.