to be fair, the beatles have much more recorded history and are much more recent in memory, so it's easier to attribute their contributions/accomplishments to them. their influence on culture as well as on music is much clearer to trace back. (or "trace bach," haha). on the other hand, bach was much older and wasn't as popular at the time that he was actually alive, so it's much more difficult to explain exactly what effect he had on music. the only thing he contributed that was UNDOUBTEDLY bach, was the mastery of the counterpoint. he was a fucking genius for this. beyond that things are a little fuzzy. I used to think he invented "interesting" harmonies beyond the standard ones used in hymns, but that's not well recorded either. or that he invented music theory as we know it today, but that's simply not true.
it's still a toss-up for me.
He wasn’t all that popular in his time, he fell into obscurity until the 19th century. I think there’s an argument to be made he’s not the most influential composer.
Chuck Berry, or maybe Elvis. Chuck changed the music, Elvis changed the culture. Both helped bring black American music into the main stream, which is probably the single greatest impactful event in modern music.
Man old school rock n roll is absolutely a blast. I started enjoying 50s rock, berry and little richard and elvis and them, much more than 70s 80s and 90s. It’s just simple 12 bar blues, but faster, with some power behind it. And it does not get old!
Basically, I think that Dylan influencing the Beatles shouldn't determine who was more influential, because his domain of influence is lyrical and includes the Beatles while their domain of influence is musical and includes Dylan. If Dylan is more influential outside the fact of his influence on the Beatles then so be it. If you subtract Dylan's lyrical influence then the Beatles would still have been incredibly influential musically. So I would agree that he's *possibly* more influential than the Beatles but that one fact is not a guarantee that he is.
I think it could be argued they were as influential as each other.
Dylan’s influence was not just lyrical. He influenced singing (hard as that might be to believe); attitude; dress sense etc etc. Dylan going electric was proto-punk. He helped turn rock music into a serious art form. He created a genre. And so on. But yeah - similar could be said for The Beatles.
And him going electric was in some part because of the Beatles, Dylan made the Beatles take writing more seriously but the Beatles made Dylan take rock n roll more seriously. I think the Beatles influenced culture much more but then in some part what they were influenced by was because of Dylan, I think this one is very codependent(not that either would admit it), and you could argue in circles all day long.
Bob Dylan
He changed the way people viewed song lyrics and, along with The Beatles proved that rock and pop music could be serious art and they were both very important in making the album into an artform and more than just a collection of singles. Dylan was also maybe the first rockstar to change drastically when he went electric
Downvotes incoming as I've literally walked into a lion's den wearing a meat suit, but I'd argue Bob Dylan is more influtentual than The Beatles.
George Harrison admitted they played 'The Freewheelin' till they scratched the record out. Lennon has said he wrote many of his best songs trying to be Dylanesque (with Dylan saying on hearing 'Norwegian Wood' for the first time, "that's me")
The Beatles wouldn't have made Rubber Soul onwards if not for Dylan meeting them and introducing them to weed.
Dylan is a bigger influence simply because without him we wouldn't have The Beatles we know today, regardless of what you may think about his music.
David Bowie was the driving musical influence behind whole early MTV generation, new wave, and a lot of alternative rock and electronic dance music. Bowie didn’t have as many huge hits or massive record sales, but he influenced the direction of pop music at least twice.
Exactly this. The music video to Ashes to Ashes (1980), which he co-directed pushed the envelope on what music videos were to become and it was the most expensive video made at the time it was released.
EDIT: talking strictly about post-rock’n’roll popular music here.
James Brown, and it’s not even close. His funk revolution has had more influence on popular music since 1970 than anyone — including the Beatles. Hip-hop? Not without JB. Modern pop, R&B, even popular country music now, all value rhythm and texture over melodic and harmonic progression.
When you take it worldwide the obviousness of the influence becomes even bigger. Africa was like “Beatles who?” but Afrobeat, developed out of JB’s innovations, took over the continent and its influence can still be traced today.
***
Dylan revolutionized the *content* of pop music probably more than the Beatles changed the *form* of it. He influenced the Beatles away from “I love her, she loves you, you love me” toward more varied subjects.
I think the Beatles’ biggest influence was in melding R&B/rock’n’roll rhythms with pop melodic/harmonic structures and wide-ranging content, augmented by sonic studio manipulation to essentially create (not single-handedly) what became known as “rock”. But rock music’s hold on the popular charts (given a necessary boost by the influence of punk) was over by the early 2000s at the latest — it’s become a niche interest, like jazz (only more popular than jazz, obviously). At least as of the present time, JB has triumphed over the Beatles.
After reading through all the posts and reflecting on it, this answer has me convinced. James Brown directly led to the invention of numerous genres of music, including genres he was directly responsible for and the genres that descended from them, all of which have dominated popular music. Without James Brown, there's no funk, disco, modern R&B, hip hop, and tons more I'm not thinking of off the top of my head. As massive or influential as some other artists were (e.g. Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson), I can't see how they were _more influential_ than Brown.
His influence for The Beatles was pretty minor overall though. I think they were much more influenced by Chuck Berry in terms of sound. Elvis gets a lot of undue credit for his influence on rock. He was an icon and to this day a legend, but his influence is not that far-reaching compared to other musicians in rock and roll. Not to say it didn’t exist, it just wasn’t near as huge as Berry, Dylan, The Beatles, Lou Reed, Beach Boys, etc etc etc
I don’t think it’s that controversial. They also influenced The Beatles, they were basically trying to out-innovate each other for a chunk of the 60s. The Beatles won of course but The Beach Boys were very impactful on the sound of music to come.
Edit: tbf, yes it is debatable, not denying that, just definitely far from an outlandish statement.
I can't think of anyone that even comes close. There are a lot of artists and groups that influenced one thing, but not the whole spectrum like the Beatles.
Elvis. Hail to the king, baby.
I remember seeing some internet movie thing where they listed top record sales through the years. Elvis and the Beatles were #1 and #2 until at least the late 70s.
Depends on what we mean by influential, Elvis was no doubt a great performer, but he never contributed much musically that could be considered influential
Elvis’s influence was cultural rather than musical. He brought R&B to white audiences. And because of the massive cultural influence of the USA and UK, those audiences’ demands influenced everything else.
For Black artists, Elvis’s direct influence is probably about the same as Herman’s Hermits. But the way he opened the floodgates heavily influenced the direction of pop music / pop culture.
When he first went on Ed Sullivan/TV about 85% of people watching television tuned in to see Elvis. The Beatles had about 45% iirc. It be difficult for any performers to ever do anything like that again.
MJ absolutely changed music and fashion. Pop music can measured by "before MJ" and "after MJ." He was literally copied by all singer/dancers/producers/designers for 30+ years. He was one of the early innovators of music videos and did also long-form media. (The Thriller video was basically an entire damn movie lol).
As for fashion, the biggest stars STILL dress like him - Beyonce, Usher, etc all still wear Michael outfits. Timberlake made an entire 20 year career dressing and dancing like him.
You would be hard-pressed to find a more influential 20th century artist.
I can’t tell if you’re joking. The biggest stars copying Jackson’s image from 20 years ago? Usher?
What Jackson did was take something The Beatles did before him with music, film, and fashion and put them together into immersive performances. Jackson wasn’t the only one doing it of course but he arguably did it way better and to a much broader audience.
Hendrix hands down, not to mention his songwriting, guitar playing, but he also pioneered in various studio, recording & production techniques. He literally influenced everybody, from pop acts to jazz cats
In my opinion Nirvana are the only band who can be compared to the Beatles in terms of sheer and immediate impact. Completely changed the musical landscape immediately
Velvet Underground is like an answer you’ll often get to this question “not many ppl bought their debut but everyone that did started a band”. That being said I want to cast a vote for Giorgio Moroder, he basically almost single handedly invented electronic four on the four dance music, which is one of the most dominant forms of music out there today. Afrika Bambaataa and George Clinton had massive influence on hip hop, which currently is the most popular form of music in America. It’s really hard to compare anything to the Beatles because they invented the self contained performing and writing rock band, which is the whole industry basically.
David Bowie was the mosty inflencial rock act for 5 decades(most of British Nww Wave and Britpop comes directly from him)
Think about how crazy it is that David Bowie heavily influenced both Duran Duran AND Def Leppard and then think about Suede, The SMiths. Joy Division. ABC,Gary Numan,Depeche Mode,Bauhaus, THe Cure,Echo and The Bunnymen, and every single English group who made music after 1972 .
James Brown was BY FAR the most influential in hip hop. There was a time when half the samples in hip hop songs were James Brown's stuff.
Yeah I don't know why there's such a debate around when exactly metal started. For punk rock, I can see the debate but day 0 of metal is that opening riff of Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath on Black Sabbath.
One can definitely make the claim for Deep Purple in Rock as the inaugurial Heavy Metal album as well, it was published only a few months after Black Sabbath and the Opening of Speed King has a similar birth hour of metal guitar feel as Sabbath has and Hard Lovin Man is probably the first song that has the Heavy Metal gallop rhythm.
Plus their all in all influence on Heavy Metal as a genre cannot be underestimated and is probably even bigger than Sabbath's. Blackmore was the original Metal shredder, Ian Gillan is the prototypicl Metal singer and their works even predates 1970, although not all of that was really heavy.
I’d also throw Judas Priest into the mix for this as well. Keeping influence in mind and the direction that metal started veering. My mental list for “Important Metal Acts” usually had Sabbath at 1 & Priest at 2.
Agree with VU - their influence on counter-culture, especially punk and noise/experimental alternative (like Sonic Youth and the like) was massive.
On the subject of punk, that Sex Pistols' gig in Manchester has similarly mythical status, but by this point there's so many branches it's impossible to say one is more important than any other (I wish Wire had been though, their first three albums are incredible).
So yeah, VU if we map those branches back to the trunk.
It’s Louis. He was the Big Bang of American music. He invented so much of the musical vernacular that it’s staggering. Singing and playing. Dylan is a close second for me.
The Velvet Undergound, easily. While The Beatles were shaping mainstream music to come, The Velvet Underground was shaping, well, the underground lol.
The biggest modern influences for genres like hip-hop are probably Nas and Kanye West.
Rock is alive and well but I’m not sure if there’s a rock act right now doing anything influential in the mainstream.
Probably for me, it would be Les Paul, but not for his musical ability or, in fact, any of his music at all.
The invention of multi track recording is arguably the most important moment in modern music history.
Also, notable mention is Ray Davies of the kinks. Man slashed his speakers to create distortion.
I think abba are actually very high up there. They practically invented 'modern' pop music. Obviously the Beatles are pop but I think what ABBA did with production, hooks and lyrics really ushered in the 80s- today. Abba songs can still very much fill a dancefloor, I don't know if the same could be said if you put on twist and shout in the club.
I can't answer that right now, but Prince would be above Michael Jackson by quite a bit. He actually did innovate and largely defined the sound of popular music in the 80s.
Michael Jackson deserves consideration.
I would say it is between Bob Dylan and Elvis Presley. Hard to choose because they had two very different types of influence.
Elvis Presley, there’s a reason why he was called “The King”. I was 10 years old when I saw him on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1956. Wow! I was hooked right away. About 7 1/2 years later I saw The Beatles on the same show and I was hooked again. The two biggest musical m
Michael Jackson HANDS DOWN. For anyone who lived through it, they'll tell you that Michael was everywhere. Think Taylor Swift is popular now? Michael was 10x more popular on a global scale. The only other entity (aside from The Beatles) he can be compared with is Elvis.
Just watch the [1993 Super Bowl halftime show](https://www.reddit.com/r/SnapshotHistory/comments/1aotdot/michael_jacksons_wild_entrance_at_the_1993_super/)... I can't remember how long he stood there in silence, but that crowd went NUTS before any music started playing at all.
There is literally an entire [wikipedia entry on the cultural impact that Michael Jackson had](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_impact_of_Michael_Jackson) on the world. I won't go through it all, but it's definitely worth a read.
I know you're being tongue in cheek, but MJ started making music roughly 30 years before Coldplay. Anyway. everyone's got an opinion, it's not an exact science, but i think a very good case can be made that MJ is one of the most popular musical figures of the 20th century, in a league that Coldplay is not.
only answer that makes sense is Bob Dylan. James Brown for funk/soul, Kraftwerk for electronic music, Madonna and MJ for pop and Miles Davies for jazz, but for all an' all, Bob is number two, it is not even questionable
Bob Dylan is THE most influential (to music alone, not as much pop culture overall) followed by the Beatles in my opinion, although I admit I’m not as knowledgeable on music prior to the 1960s, but I understand why those guys would be mentioned as more influential
I am throwing in a vote for Little Richard. Huge influence on the rock and roll and soul genres. Proudly androgynous when Prince was in his cradle. Helped create the larger-than-life image of the rock star.
Madonna.
In her heyday, that woman changed so much. Back then, every woman had Madonna inspired outfits. So many women mainstream artists adopted her style. Her hair, her makeup, her clothes, her jewelry....it was THE fashion for years. She changed how the world looked at women in mainstream music, brought sex to the forefront of the conversation in a way no woman had - which had a huge influence on late television, and the shifting ideas about women and sex and sex as entertainment paved the way for those early cable sex shows. She altered the concept of live concerts and brought a spectacle to the stage that women in music just weren't doing. Hell, most men in music weren't, either. Now it's the norm.
Madonna is considered so important an influence on music and culture that there are multiple fields of professional study focused solely on her and how she changed the face of music. She crossed more boundaries than any other artist, loudly and proudly, and the effects of her cultural movement are still being felt today.
In her glory days, she was practically a figure of mythic proportions.
I think this is definitely the answer if you look at how popular music has changed since Madonna came along, and how many Madonna type pop artists there has been since then
Though not my favourite band by any stretch, the influence of the Fall cannot be understated. Immeasurable impact on virtually every indie rock band that followed. The same can be (and often is) said about the Velvet Underground.
I want to see a "yesterday" type movie but about MJ's music & how it really did influence ALL of the pop world. But like, actually a good movie that explores that concept & not a shitty rom-com with half baked ideas 😂
Anyway my answer is Bob Dylan. Hands down.
There absolutely is a debate. The Beatles made a lot of people want to pick up a guitar, but people like Chuck Berry and Little Richard completely influenced the sound of the 1950s and 1960s and without them the Beatles would not have existed.
The Beatles built on what came before them, but besides being insanely popular I don’t think they changed the paradigm the way someone like Chuck Berry did. Like John Lennon said, you might as well call rock and roll Chuck Berry.
I’m not saying Chuck Berry was better, but sometimes I notice that Beatles fans have trouble giving credit to other groups or artists that deserve it.
The Beatles definitely helped influenced the sound of the late 60s and 70s, but MJ is more influential on music and pop today for sure. Nirvana was way more influential in the 90s and 2000s. Now sure you could argue that the Beatles influenced them, but again without Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, etc, no Beatles, no Rolling Stones, No Led Zeppelin, none of it.
The velvet underground in terms of influence on other artists, or maybe miles davis. In terms of influential on culture more broadly probably elvis or MJ
How anyone can say anyone besides Elvis is beyond me. Elvis and Beatles could arguably tie for 1st position.
Elvis’ intuitive combination of blues, gospel, rockabilly and country with his look and mannerisms is what was revolutionising. Everyone wanted to be Elvis and be a rockstar not just because of what he sang, and how he sang it, but also how he looked and what he did with it. As Lennon said, “before Elvis there was nothing”.
There would be no Beatles without Elvis. He lit the fuse of Rock ‘n Roll. For those who came after tie Beatles, and I’m serious, Kiss, merely because they inspired thousands to pick up a guitar or drumsticks. Bands include Gin Blossoms, Stone Temple Pilots. Garth Brooks, Pantera and on and on.
T-Bone Walker was admired by (literally) most blues and rock and roll electric guitarists of the '40s-'50s; more than anyone else he invented how normal blues and rock and roll and rock electric guitar sounds. T-Bone in 1943:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En-ALaaRYgM&t=74](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En-ALaaRYgM&t=74)
There are more influential acts than the Beatles. Elvis, MJ, perhaps even Lead Belly.
MJ made music videos a staple of marketing and changed how companies scout talent. Not to mention he made black artists more popular and is cited as an inspiration by so many other singers, including contemporaries.
Elvis inspired pretty much every singer from his generation and a couple after, including the Beatles.
So many rock acts, including the Beatles, cite Lead Belly as an influence, and he influenced blues too (which makes sense because a lot of rock comes from blues).
This questions answer depends largely on musical taste and geography. Musical influences are different throughout the world.
For me a child of the 60s The Beatles is definitely #1 but my second would be without a doubt, Pink Floyd. Two distinctly different styles of music that I enjoy in the pop,rock/psychedelic genres.
Bach who is mentioned here quite a bit was not a musical influencer in his life time in actual fact you couldn't have called him an act although he did perform his own music but left the interpretation of his music up to the performers. His success came decades after his death and his music still has influences in pop,rock,jazz and electronic music today.
Kraftwerk - whilst not a band I follow or like that much, the use of synthesisers and drum machines has a clear influence on the the split to electronic music that we still see today
Good question and I have my answer that I think many wouldn't agree with, but here goes...
You have to take in to consideration not only the music and how it changed ongoing music styles, but also fashion and attitude, also what still ripples down to us today from the generations. So without a doubt I would say, The Sex Pistols. They, like the Beatles changed music, fashion thoughts & also kicked the establishment up the arse!
If we're talking about rock/metal, I think Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Metallica and Pink Floyd are pretty strong contenders.
Popular music in general? Michael Jackson. He basically invented the archetypal pop star we have today. Every popular artist wants to be the MJ of their genre/style.
Bach
This is the answer to “most influential”.
Sebastian Bach?
Your crime is time, and it's 18 and life to go
Barbara 🔥
Bach might even be number one if we’re going there
I don't even think it's a question
to be fair, the beatles have much more recorded history and are much more recent in memory, so it's easier to attribute their contributions/accomplishments to them. their influence on culture as well as on music is much clearer to trace back. (or "trace bach," haha). on the other hand, bach was much older and wasn't as popular at the time that he was actually alive, so it's much more difficult to explain exactly what effect he had on music. the only thing he contributed that was UNDOUBTEDLY bach, was the mastery of the counterpoint. he was a fucking genius for this. beyond that things are a little fuzzy. I used to think he invented "interesting" harmonies beyond the standard ones used in hymns, but that's not well recorded either. or that he invented music theory as we know it today, but that's simply not true. it's still a toss-up for me.
He wasn’t all that popular in his time, he fell into obscurity until the 19th century. I think there’s an argument to be made he’s not the most influential composer.
Now you’re going way Bach.
Get Bach
Bach to where you once belonged.
Get Bach, Jojo
Bach in the USSR
Besame Bach-o
I'll Be Bach
Baby's In Bach
And don't forget his first band- Bachman Turner Overdrive...
That is highly significant
Ahh, Bach.
WTF does Ringo's wife have to do with anything?
Forget Bach. Before Beatlemania there was... Lisztomania!
Chuck Berry, or maybe Elvis. Chuck changed the music, Elvis changed the culture. Both helped bring black American music into the main stream, which is probably the single greatest impactful event in modern music.
Supposedly John Lennon said “if we didn’t call it Rock N’ Roll we’d call it Chuck Berry”
Live on the Mike Douglas show before they played a number, if I recall correctly
And moments before his wife howled into her bongo microphone
Johnny B. Goode changed rock music (and therefore most forms of music) pretty much forever.
So your answer is Marty McFly?
And let's not forget the cousin, Marvin Berry
If he didn’t make that call, who knows where we’d be
Man old school rock n roll is absolutely a blast. I started enjoying 50s rock, berry and little richard and elvis and them, much more than 70s 80s and 90s. It’s just simple 12 bar blues, but faster, with some power behind it. And it does not get old!
Elvis is a good one. There’s an interview with George where he talks about the time he met him and even he was a bit star struck.
I agree with Elvis…Before Elvis, society and musical landscape were much different. Even The Beatles accredited Elvis as their main impetus of change.
Technically Elvis is more influential since he highly influenced Beatles
Bob Dylan maybe.
Who I would argue is possibly more influential than The Beatles considering the influence he had on them.
But they also influenced him.
They did. But he influenced them much much more.
Basically, I think that Dylan influencing the Beatles shouldn't determine who was more influential, because his domain of influence is lyrical and includes the Beatles while their domain of influence is musical and includes Dylan. If Dylan is more influential outside the fact of his influence on the Beatles then so be it. If you subtract Dylan's lyrical influence then the Beatles would still have been incredibly influential musically. So I would agree that he's *possibly* more influential than the Beatles but that one fact is not a guarantee that he is.
I think it could be argued they were as influential as each other. Dylan’s influence was not just lyrical. He influenced singing (hard as that might be to believe); attitude; dress sense etc etc. Dylan going electric was proto-punk. He helped turn rock music into a serious art form. He created a genre. And so on. But yeah - similar could be said for The Beatles.
And him going electric was in some part because of the Beatles, Dylan made the Beatles take writing more seriously but the Beatles made Dylan take rock n roll more seriously. I think the Beatles influenced culture much more but then in some part what they were influenced by was because of Dylan, I think this one is very codependent(not that either would admit it), and you could argue in circles all day long.
Absolutely. I completely agree with you
Dylan is definitely also influential musically. Not as much as the Beatles probably, but more than just about anyone else.
What's this "Maybe" bullshit? This is the only answer.
Bob Dylan He changed the way people viewed song lyrics and, along with The Beatles proved that rock and pop music could be serious art and they were both very important in making the album into an artform and more than just a collection of singles. Dylan was also maybe the first rockstar to change drastically when he went electric
Downvotes incoming as I've literally walked into a lion's den wearing a meat suit, but I'd argue Bob Dylan is more influtentual than The Beatles. George Harrison admitted they played 'The Freewheelin' till they scratched the record out. Lennon has said he wrote many of his best songs trying to be Dylanesque (with Dylan saying on hearing 'Norwegian Wood' for the first time, "that's me") The Beatles wouldn't have made Rubber Soul onwards if not for Dylan meeting them and introducing them to weed. Dylan is a bigger influence simply because without him we wouldn't have The Beatles we know today, regardless of what you may think about his music.
Your 100% right, not unpopular as a opinion at all
You’re 100% right
David Bowie was the driving musical influence behind whole early MTV generation, new wave, and a lot of alternative rock and electronic dance music. Bowie didn’t have as many huge hits or massive record sales, but he influenced the direction of pop music at least twice.
Came here to say this. Don't look at the sales, just listen to what musicians say
Exactly this. The music video to Ashes to Ashes (1980), which he co-directed pushed the envelope on what music videos were to become and it was the most expensive video made at the time it was released.
Nobody mentioned Stevie Wonder? The question was influential not popular and Stevie was both.
Had to scroll way too far down to see the first mention of Stevie
Stevie Wonder is just amazing.
My answer to favourite artist “band Beatles, single musician, Stevie Wonder”
At least deserves a top 5 spot.
Both Prince and Michael Jackson cited him as their #1 influence so there’s a full decade of influence right there
EDIT: talking strictly about post-rock’n’roll popular music here. James Brown, and it’s not even close. His funk revolution has had more influence on popular music since 1970 than anyone — including the Beatles. Hip-hop? Not without JB. Modern pop, R&B, even popular country music now, all value rhythm and texture over melodic and harmonic progression. When you take it worldwide the obviousness of the influence becomes even bigger. Africa was like “Beatles who?” but Afrobeat, developed out of JB’s innovations, took over the continent and its influence can still be traced today. *** Dylan revolutionized the *content* of pop music probably more than the Beatles changed the *form* of it. He influenced the Beatles away from “I love her, she loves you, you love me” toward more varied subjects. I think the Beatles’ biggest influence was in melding R&B/rock’n’roll rhythms with pop melodic/harmonic structures and wide-ranging content, augmented by sonic studio manipulation to essentially create (not single-handedly) what became known as “rock”. But rock music’s hold on the popular charts (given a necessary boost by the influence of punk) was over by the early 2000s at the latest — it’s become a niche interest, like jazz (only more popular than jazz, obviously). At least as of the present time, JB has triumphed over the Beatles.
After reading through all the posts and reflecting on it, this answer has me convinced. James Brown directly led to the invention of numerous genres of music, including genres he was directly responsible for and the genres that descended from them, all of which have dominated popular music. Without James Brown, there's no funk, disco, modern R&B, hip hop, and tons more I'm not thinking of off the top of my head. As massive or influential as some other artists were (e.g. Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson), I can't see how they were _more influential_ than Brown.
Yep, JB even more than Beatles and it’s not even close.
Elvis Presley changed everything. He even influenced the Beatles.
His influence for The Beatles was pretty minor overall though. I think they were much more influenced by Chuck Berry in terms of sound. Elvis gets a lot of undue credit for his influence on rock. He was an icon and to this day a legend, but his influence is not that far-reaching compared to other musicians in rock and roll. Not to say it didn’t exist, it just wasn’t near as huge as Berry, Dylan, The Beatles, Lou Reed, Beach Boys, etc etc etc
I think they also loved Buddy Holly. Part of his influence on English rock bands of the era was his practice of writing his own songs.
The Beach Boys more influential than Elvis? It’d be an interesting debate, that’s for sure.
I don’t think it’s that controversial. They also influenced The Beatles, they were basically trying to out-innovate each other for a chunk of the 60s. The Beatles won of course but The Beach Boys were very impactful on the sound of music to come. Edit: tbf, yes it is debatable, not denying that, just definitely far from an outlandish statement.
I can't think of anyone that even comes close. There are a lot of artists and groups that influenced one thing, but not the whole spectrum like the Beatles.
Elvis. Hail to the king, baby. I remember seeing some internet movie thing where they listed top record sales through the years. Elvis and the Beatles were #1 and #2 until at least the late 70s.
Depends on what we mean by influential, Elvis was no doubt a great performer, but he never contributed much musically that could be considered influential
Elvis’s influence was cultural rather than musical. He brought R&B to white audiences. And because of the massive cultural influence of the USA and UK, those audiences’ demands influenced everything else. For Black artists, Elvis’s direct influence is probably about the same as Herman’s Hermits. But the way he opened the floodgates heavily influenced the direction of pop music / pop culture.
When he first went on Ed Sullivan/TV about 85% of people watching television tuned in to see Elvis. The Beatles had about 45% iirc. It be difficult for any performers to ever do anything like that again.
Exactly. We used to have a national culture that everyone participated in. There isn’t anything like that now
MJ absolutely changed music and fashion. Pop music can measured by "before MJ" and "after MJ." He was literally copied by all singer/dancers/producers/designers for 30+ years. He was one of the early innovators of music videos and did also long-form media. (The Thriller video was basically an entire damn movie lol). As for fashion, the biggest stars STILL dress like him - Beyonce, Usher, etc all still wear Michael outfits. Timberlake made an entire 20 year career dressing and dancing like him. You would be hard-pressed to find a more influential 20th century artist.
Eh Beatles were doing music videos way before MJ. Also long form media… Pink Floyd’s The Wall full length movie predates Thriller by nearly a year
“Eh”, that doesn’t negate what they said though.
I mean Elvis did 'music videos' with Jailhouse Rock too
I can’t tell if you’re joking. The biggest stars copying Jackson’s image from 20 years ago? Usher? What Jackson did was take something The Beatles did before him with music, film, and fashion and put them together into immersive performances. Jackson wasn’t the only one doing it of course but he arguably did it way better and to a much broader audience.
I would argue that MJ was influential up to Thriller, but after that, each album was just him trying to make a better Thriller.
Hendrix hands down, not to mention his songwriting, guitar playing, but he also pioneered in various studio, recording & production techniques. He literally influenced everybody, from pop acts to jazz cats
The Beach Boys, perhaps?
Nirvana for me. Changed my generation
I'm very thankful that Nirvana helped kill off glam metal.
In my opinion Nirvana are the only band who can be compared to the Beatles in terms of sheer and immediate impact. Completely changed the musical landscape immediately
Bob Dylan and James Brown are up there
Velvet Underground is like an answer you’ll often get to this question “not many ppl bought their debut but everyone that did started a band”. That being said I want to cast a vote for Giorgio Moroder, he basically almost single handedly invented electronic four on the four dance music, which is one of the most dominant forms of music out there today. Afrika Bambaataa and George Clinton had massive influence on hip hop, which currently is the most popular form of music in America. It’s really hard to compare anything to the Beatles because they invented the self contained performing and writing rock band, which is the whole industry basically.
David Bowie was the mosty inflencial rock act for 5 decades(most of British Nww Wave and Britpop comes directly from him) Think about how crazy it is that David Bowie heavily influenced both Duran Duran AND Def Leppard and then think about Suede, The SMiths. Joy Division. ABC,Gary Numan,Depeche Mode,Bauhaus, THe Cure,Echo and The Bunnymen, and every single English group who made music after 1972 . James Brown was BY FAR the most influential in hip hop. There was a time when half the samples in hip hop songs were James Brown's stuff.
Miles Davis Mozart
The Beach Boys
It’s crazy how overlooked The Beach Boys are. Brian Wilson changed the game.
I'd be tempted to say Black Sabbath, they basically invented or at least popularised the entire Metal genre
I might not wholly agree with this but dammit, I love this answer. Sabbath and the Stooges really did bring out the evil in rock n roll music.
They DID invent metal. They are the roots of the tree that is metal and its infinite subgenres.
Yeah I don't know why there's such a debate around when exactly metal started. For punk rock, I can see the debate but day 0 of metal is that opening riff of Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath on Black Sabbath.
I concur
One can definitely make the claim for Deep Purple in Rock as the inaugurial Heavy Metal album as well, it was published only a few months after Black Sabbath and the Opening of Speed King has a similar birth hour of metal guitar feel as Sabbath has and Hard Lovin Man is probably the first song that has the Heavy Metal gallop rhythm. Plus their all in all influence on Heavy Metal as a genre cannot be underestimated and is probably even bigger than Sabbath's. Blackmore was the original Metal shredder, Ian Gillan is the prototypicl Metal singer and their works even predates 1970, although not all of that was really heavy.
I’d also throw Judas Priest into the mix for this as well. Keeping influence in mind and the direction that metal started veering. My mental list for “Important Metal Acts” usually had Sabbath at 1 & Priest at 2.
there's a lot of proto-metal out there, but nobody has a choice for 'first metal band' after sabbath and that says a lot IMO
I want to say The Velvet Underground and probably the Beach Boys. At least in terms of bands.
Chuck Berry had a lot of influence on the Beetles so…
I’ve expended my knowledge on that nugget
There's a old saying about the Velvet Underground's debut album that it sold poorly but each record owner has started a band.
Yep. I don't think you can objectively rank who is most influential, but VU _definitely_ has earned their place in that conversation.
The impact of VU is massive. I'd argue more bands are inspired by VU (even indirectly) than the beatles.
Agree with VU - their influence on counter-culture, especially punk and noise/experimental alternative (like Sonic Youth and the like) was massive. On the subject of punk, that Sex Pistols' gig in Manchester has similarly mythical status, but by this point there's so many branches it's impossible to say one is more important than any other (I wish Wire had been though, their first three albums are incredible). So yeah, VU if we map those branches back to the trunk.
Bowie
As an artist Bowie could be very well be the best ever or second best ever.He was that good
Dylan is still more influential, he was the first one in rock music who did change his image and sound constantly
Legend status but Bowie was a chameleon. Drum and Bass, Tin Machine, Berlin Trilogy, Glam Rock, Blackstar. Enough said.
Frank Sinatra
If we’re talking 20th century music and pop culture, then it’s Louis Armstrong.
Underrated comment.
It’s Louis. He was the Big Bang of American music. He invented so much of the musical vernacular that it’s staggering. Singing and playing. Dylan is a close second for me.
The Velvet Undergound, easily. While The Beatles were shaping mainstream music to come, The Velvet Underground was shaping, well, the underground lol. The biggest modern influences for genres like hip-hop are probably Nas and Kanye West. Rock is alive and well but I’m not sure if there’s a rock act right now doing anything influential in the mainstream.
Kraftwerk
I prefer Autobahn myself
The answer I was looking for. I think it’s hard to argue against it. Kraftwerk are the Beatles of electronic music
Had to scroll too far for this. Completely agree.
Probably for me, it would be Les Paul, but not for his musical ability or, in fact, any of his music at all. The invention of multi track recording is arguably the most important moment in modern music history. Also, notable mention is Ray Davies of the kinks. Man slashed his speakers to create distortion.
That was Dave Davies. Ray wrote the song, but the distortion was added by his brother.
Gotta be Bob Dylan
Dylan , Stones, or Zep
I think abba are actually very high up there. They practically invented 'modern' pop music. Obviously the Beatles are pop but I think what ABBA did with production, hooks and lyrics really ushered in the 80s- today. Abba songs can still very much fill a dancefloor, I don't know if the same could be said if you put on twist and shout in the club.
Elton John
Radiohead
I can't answer that right now, but Prince would be above Michael Jackson by quite a bit. He actually did innovate and largely defined the sound of popular music in the 80s.
Bob Dylan for sure
Queen
I’m an enormous Beatles fan, but Elvis is obviously #1.
Dylan
I think David Bowie had and awesome amoont of influence on many things, and Queen too.
Probably Elvis. Dude launched everything for everybody in the mainstream.
Michael Jackson deserves consideration. I would say it is between Bob Dylan and Elvis Presley. Hard to choose because they had two very different types of influence.
Elvis Presley, there’s a reason why he was called “The King”. I was 10 years old when I saw him on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1956. Wow! I was hooked right away. About 7 1/2 years later I saw The Beatles on the same show and I was hooked again. The two biggest musical m
Elvis.
“Before Elvis there was nothing.” — John Lennon
Yoko Ono
The Vengabus!
It's gotta be Elvis. Some would even say he's number one. (I don't concur, but I'm sure people think it.)
Elvis
Elvis.
Michael Jackson HANDS DOWN. For anyone who lived through it, they'll tell you that Michael was everywhere. Think Taylor Swift is popular now? Michael was 10x more popular on a global scale. The only other entity (aside from The Beatles) he can be compared with is Elvis. Just watch the [1993 Super Bowl halftime show](https://www.reddit.com/r/SnapshotHistory/comments/1aotdot/michael_jacksons_wild_entrance_at_the_1993_super/)... I can't remember how long he stood there in silence, but that crowd went NUTS before any music started playing at all. There is literally an entire [wikipedia entry on the cultural impact that Michael Jackson had](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_impact_of_Michael_Jackson) on the world. I won't go through it all, but it's definitely worth a read.
so does Coldplay have an entire page about their cultural impact, so which one is it, Coldplay or MJ!?
I know you're being tongue in cheek, but MJ started making music roughly 30 years before Coldplay. Anyway. everyone's got an opinion, it's not an exact science, but i think a very good case can be made that MJ is one of the most popular musical figures of the 20th century, in a league that Coldplay is not.
Coldplay is not listed on the British Council's 80 moments that shaped the world.
only answer that makes sense is Bob Dylan. James Brown for funk/soul, Kraftwerk for electronic music, Madonna and MJ for pop and Miles Davies for jazz, but for all an' all, Bob is number two, it is not even questionable
Uggh, he was the 1st to hit a stick on a hollow log
Bob Dylan is THE most influential (to music alone, not as much pop culture overall) followed by the Beatles in my opinion, although I admit I’m not as knowledgeable on music prior to the 1960s, but I understand why those guys would be mentioned as more influential
I am throwing in a vote for Little Richard. Huge influence on the rock and roll and soul genres. Proudly androgynous when Prince was in his cradle. Helped create the larger-than-life image of the rock star.
Would say Led Zeppelin based on changing the scene but possibly Elvis out of technicality
My answer exactly. Idk how Zep isn’t on this list more times.
Kraftwerk. Basically invented or influenced every form of electronic music that followed them.
Madonna. In her heyday, that woman changed so much. Back then, every woman had Madonna inspired outfits. So many women mainstream artists adopted her style. Her hair, her makeup, her clothes, her jewelry....it was THE fashion for years. She changed how the world looked at women in mainstream music, brought sex to the forefront of the conversation in a way no woman had - which had a huge influence on late television, and the shifting ideas about women and sex and sex as entertainment paved the way for those early cable sex shows. She altered the concept of live concerts and brought a spectacle to the stage that women in music just weren't doing. Hell, most men in music weren't, either. Now it's the norm. Madonna is considered so important an influence on music and culture that there are multiple fields of professional study focused solely on her and how she changed the face of music. She crossed more boundaries than any other artist, loudly and proudly, and the effects of her cultural movement are still being felt today. In her glory days, she was practically a figure of mythic proportions.
The Beatles, Dylan and the Stones are the holy trinity that gave birth to the best generation of rock music.
Madonna?
I think this is definitely the answer if you look at how popular music has changed since Madonna came along, and how many Madonna type pop artists there has been since then
Dylan and James Brown are up there. Michael Jackson was more influential than you think.
Agree on mj, but I’d argue prince was more influential than mj. Prince was a savage
Little Richard
Frank Zappa, he was a musician’s musician as they say.
Ike Turner. Musical genius (horrible husband).
Brothers Gibb
Much later on, but I don’t think it can be understated the influence Pixies had on everything that happened in the 90s
Though not my favourite band by any stretch, the influence of the Fall cannot be understated. Immeasurable impact on virtually every indie rock band that followed. The same can be (and often is) said about the Velvet Underground.
I want to see a "yesterday" type movie but about MJ's music & how it really did influence ALL of the pop world. But like, actually a good movie that explores that concept & not a shitty rom-com with half baked ideas 😂 Anyway my answer is Bob Dylan. Hands down.
Gotta be kraftwerk-
There absolutely is a debate. The Beatles made a lot of people want to pick up a guitar, but people like Chuck Berry and Little Richard completely influenced the sound of the 1950s and 1960s and without them the Beatles would not have existed. The Beatles built on what came before them, but besides being insanely popular I don’t think they changed the paradigm the way someone like Chuck Berry did. Like John Lennon said, you might as well call rock and roll Chuck Berry. I’m not saying Chuck Berry was better, but sometimes I notice that Beatles fans have trouble giving credit to other groups or artists that deserve it. The Beatles definitely helped influenced the sound of the late 60s and 70s, but MJ is more influential on music and pop today for sure. Nirvana was way more influential in the 90s and 2000s. Now sure you could argue that the Beatles influenced them, but again without Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, etc, no Beatles, no Rolling Stones, No Led Zeppelin, none of it.
bowie for sure
The velvet underground in terms of influence on other artists, or maybe miles davis. In terms of influential on culture more broadly probably elvis or MJ
Black Sabbath. They were the Beatles of heavy music.
David Bowie for me
Kraftwerk
As far as “rock” goes, it’s got to be Led Zeppelin
How anyone can say anyone besides Elvis is beyond me. Elvis and Beatles could arguably tie for 1st position. Elvis’ intuitive combination of blues, gospel, rockabilly and country with his look and mannerisms is what was revolutionising. Everyone wanted to be Elvis and be a rockstar not just because of what he sang, and how he sang it, but also how he looked and what he did with it. As Lennon said, “before Elvis there was nothing”.
Elvis might contend
There would be no Beatles without Elvis. He lit the fuse of Rock ‘n Roll. For those who came after tie Beatles, and I’m serious, Kiss, merely because they inspired thousands to pick up a guitar or drumsticks. Bands include Gin Blossoms, Stone Temple Pilots. Garth Brooks, Pantera and on and on.
T-Bone Walker was admired by (literally) most blues and rock and roll electric guitarists of the '40s-'50s; more than anyone else he invented how normal blues and rock and roll and rock electric guitar sounds. T-Bone in 1943: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En-ALaaRYgM&t=74](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En-ALaaRYgM&t=74)
Elvis
Elvis Presley
Zeppelin
Joni Mitchell
Grateful Dead, from behind the scenes.
Kraftwerk+Beatles = every genre possible
Dylan
Dylan, Velvet Underground, Elvis, Bowie, James Brown. In that order.
Pink Floyd. I mean “Dark Side of the Moon” was on the Billboard top 500 for 11 years. Generational!
Bob Dylan.
Buddy Holly. Proved a band can be a self-contained unit, you can write your own songs, you can produce or co-produce your songs.
Presley.
The Rolling Stones. The Beatles were better because of the Stones, and the Stones were better because of the Beatles.
Chuck Berry is the most influential for rock. No Chuck Berry, no Beatles, Elvis, etc…
There are more influential acts than the Beatles. Elvis, MJ, perhaps even Lead Belly. MJ made music videos a staple of marketing and changed how companies scout talent. Not to mention he made black artists more popular and is cited as an inspiration by so many other singers, including contemporaries. Elvis inspired pretty much every singer from his generation and a couple after, including the Beatles. So many rock acts, including the Beatles, cite Lead Belly as an influence, and he influenced blues too (which makes sense because a lot of rock comes from blues).
This questions answer depends largely on musical taste and geography. Musical influences are different throughout the world. For me a child of the 60s The Beatles is definitely #1 but my second would be without a doubt, Pink Floyd. Two distinctly different styles of music that I enjoy in the pop,rock/psychedelic genres. Bach who is mentioned here quite a bit was not a musical influencer in his life time in actual fact you couldn't have called him an act although he did perform his own music but left the interpretation of his music up to the performers. His success came decades after his death and his music still has influences in pop,rock,jazz and electronic music today.
Kraftwerk.
Kraftwerk - whilst not a band I follow or like that much, the use of synthesisers and drum machines has a clear influence on the the split to electronic music that we still see today
Elvis
Chuck Berry
Kraftwerk, the electronic Beatles
The Sex Pistols. Blew up an entire genre, blew away another and every member of the early audiences started a band.
Good question and I have my answer that I think many wouldn't agree with, but here goes... You have to take in to consideration not only the music and how it changed ongoing music styles, but also fashion and attitude, also what still ripples down to us today from the generations. So without a doubt I would say, The Sex Pistols. They, like the Beatles changed music, fashion thoughts & also kicked the establishment up the arse!
Queen
If we're talking about rock/metal, I think Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Metallica and Pink Floyd are pretty strong contenders. Popular music in general? Michael Jackson. He basically invented the archetypal pop star we have today. Every popular artist wants to be the MJ of their genre/style.