Need some help here. So Steph just watched VH1’s 100 Greatest Artists in the history of Rock’n’Roll. The top ten were:
10 Stevie Wonder
09 James Brown
08 Elvis Presley
07 Prince
06 Jimi Hendrix
05 Bob Dylan
04 Rolling Stones
03 Led Zeppelin
02 Michael Jackson
01 The Beatles
I’m mostly ok with this. I love Prince but I’m ok with him being down at 7. Elvis I’d have moved below James Brown. I can see Zeppelin and the Stones going either way. But they ended up placing Michael Jackson 2nd and the Beatles first. I dunno. This bothers me. Just thinking about it, I gotta think MJ beats out the Beatles in the category of influential artists and ultimately important artists. The Beatles defiend the orgins or Rock. MJ however I think redefined it in a way that continues to be felt and over the course of several decades. I’ll grant that the Beatles are important and I’ll grant that they may even be second, but I could also see an argument that they’re only as important (or maybe slightly more) than Zeppelin or the Stones.
(the rest of the list is more suspect. I’m a HUGE Alicia Keys fan, but she doesn’t need to be #100. Not yet)
Anyway, opinions?
http://stereogum.com/495331/vh1-100-greatest-artists-of-all-time/list/
VH1 100 Greatest Artists Of All Time
You guys love lists, and we love to start our holiday weekend early, so thanks VH1 for putting together this 100 Greatest Artists Of All Time countdown.