Search results
- Musicnotes
- The Beatles. The Beatles exploded out of north England with their debut single "Love Me Do," unleashing a sound unlike any musical artists' that came before them.
- Led Zeppelin. While firmly entrenched in the rock genre, Led Zeppelin's eclectic sound had a strong influence on the heavy metal bands that followed. The band possessed a unique combination of passion and expertise, infused with mystery and an experimental edge that kept them on the fringe.
- Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash, the original Man in Black, created a brand of country-folk music with grueling life experiences at its core. He wrote well over 1,000 songs in his lifetime, with more than 100 hits that pushed genre boundaries and influenced musical artists in rock, country, the blues, and even rap.
- Louis Armstrong. Louis Armstrong tops the list of the most influential black music artists in history. The informal, swinging vocal style he crafted during the Harlem Renaissance impacted such greats as Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and a host of both jazz and pop artists in subsequent generations.
- Blink-182. Don't let their toilet humor fool you — this irreverent SoCal trio is the real deal. Their hooks are infectious. Whether it's Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge or Mark Hoppus and Matt Skiba, that twin lead-singer attack is something else.
- Van Halen. Heavy music wasn't doing well at the end of the '70s. Lots of legacy hard rock bands were losing members or "entering the last phases of their career," according to Loude.
- Guns N' Roses. The speed with which people abandoned the lipstick and cheesy, over-processed ballads of hair metal for the grittier sounds of Guns N' Rose s, as per Revolver, indicates folks were ready for a change when "Appetite for Destruction" — still the biggest debut ever (via WRAT) — took the world by storm.
- The Ramones. The Sex Pistols might have given punk rock its iconic look and attitude, and the Clash maybe carried the torch from there, as per Esthetic Lens, but as Live About notes, the genre was started by four mop-haired, leather jacket-wearing Americans playing an entire set's worth of songs in 20 minutes flat at CBGB in New York.
In the immediate, 411 inspired the likes of Mariah Carey and Madonna to incorporate more hip-hop sensibilities into their brands of pop; but even two decades later, tracks like Ariana Grande's ...
People also ask
Who were the most influential music artists of the 20th century?
Who are the greatest rock bands of all time?
Who was the most influential songwriter of the 20th century?
Which rock band formed in the 1960s?
- The Rolling Stones
- Pink Floyd
- Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Queen
- The Beatles
- AC/DC
- Aerosmith
- Fleetwood Mac
- Linkin Park
- Nirvana
Back in 1962, a group of music-minded friends got together, formed the Rolling Stones, and have made rock and blues music since. After multiple changes in members—due to death or mutual separation—this band is still together and continues to tour and sell out massive stadiums worldwide. The Rolling Stones were hailed as the greatest rock and roll b...
Another enormous rock band that formed in the 1960s is English rock band Pink Floyd. With their music, they became deeply inspirational to other rising artists. The band drew in an audience from the psychedelic music scene, composing music for elaborately planned live performances. One of their biggest, and probably most well-known, album is 1973’s...
Formed in 1983 in Los Angeles, California, Red Hot Chili Pepperswent on to become one of the most successful rock groups of all time. This band didn’t stay in one genre, although they always had elements of hard rock. Red Hot Chili Peppers are masters of fusing elements of rock, alternative, funk, punk, pop, and psychedelic genres into their work, ...
British rock band Queenis one of legendary rock bands of all time, most notably due to iconic frontman Freddie Mercury and the alluring music they played. Everyone has heard of “We Will Rock You” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.” songs featured in dozens of movies and television programs. Queen rose to fame in the 1970s. The release of Sheer Heart Attack in...
Since its inception, the Beatleshad an otherworldly effect on rock music and paved the way for many other bands who took inspiration from their work. Comprising of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, they formed in 1960 and was instrumental in the countercultural movement during that decade. The Beatles only made music fo...
Australian brothers Malcolm and Angus Young formed AC/DCin 1973 with Larry Van Kriedt, Dave Evans, and Colin Burgess. Their music is often a mix of hard rock, blues, and heavy metal style. The band had great success, especially with the release of “Highway to Hell” in 1979 with the phenomenal guitar riff performed by Angus. Then their album Back in...
Hailing from Boston, Aerosmithwas formed in 1970 when Joe Perry and Steven Tyler decided to come together to create blues-inspired hard rock music. The band broke through commercial success with their 1975 album Toys in the Attic, selling over nine million copies. Get a Grip, in 1993, however, became their top-grossing album to date, with more than...
British rock band Fleetwood Macformed in London during the late 1970s founded by Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, and Jeremy Spencer. They initially focused on British blues music, but the tone and genre of the music slowly began to change as the band continued to make music. They had moderate success from the onset; however, the release of 1977’s Rumo...
In 1996, Californians Mike Shinoda, Rob Bourdon, and Brad Delso came together to form Linkin Park. Their unique way of weaving different sounds—incorporating features of rock, rap, heavy metal, and, then later, electronic and pop—became influential and appealed to a wide range of listeners. The band’s debut studio album in 2000, Hybrid Theory, laun...
Next we have another famous but tumultuous rock band, Nirvana, mostly due to the group’s rapid fame and troublesome history. The band was formed in 1987 but didn’t entirely settle into the grunge scene until the late 1980s. Nirvana dropped their first hit album Nevermindcontaining the massively successful single “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in 1991. T...
100 names. 1. The Beatles. Soundtrack | The Beatles: Get Back. The Beatles were an English rock band that became arguably the most successful act of the 20th century. They contributed to music, film, literature, art, and fashion, made a continuous impact on popular culture and the lifestyle of several generations.
May 16, 2024 · Ranker Community. Updated May 16, 20243.6M views863 items. Ranked By. 4.1M votes. 267.5K voters. Voting Rules. Rock music has captivated audiences around the world for decades, producing some of the most unforgettable and influential bands in music history.
Jul 11, 2023 · Bob Dylan. Perhaps the most influential artist of the 20th century and certainly one of the most important American songwriters of his time, Bob Dylan, born in 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota, became...
