Top 20 Greatest Musicians
by Epoche | created - 03 Feb 2013 | updated - 15 Apr 2015 | PublicAlmost impossible to limit it to 10 artists, keep in mind that this is far from a complete list.
1. John Lennon
Actor | A Hard Day's Night
John Winston (later Ono) Lennon was born on October 9, 1940, in Liverpool, England, to Julia Lennon (née Stanley) and Alfred Lennon, a merchant seaman. He was raised by his mother's older sister Mimi Smith. In the mid-1950s, he formed his first band, The Quarrymen (after Quarry Bank High School, ...
2. Bob Marley
Soundtrack | I Am Legend
Bob Marley was born on February 6, 1945, in Nine Miles, Saint Ann, Jamaica, to Norval Marley and Cedella Booker. His father was a Jamaican of English descent. His mother was a black teenager. The couple were married in 1944 but Norval left for Kingston immediately after. Norval died in 1957, seeing...
3. Bert Jansch
Soundtrack | The Squid and the Whale
Bert Jansch was born on November 3, 1943 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He was a composer and actor, known for The Squid and the Whale (2005), Rebecca (2020) and Downsizing (2017). He was married to Heather Rosemary Sewell, Lynda Campbell and Loren Auerbach. He died on October 5, 2011 in London, England...
4. Bob Dylan
Soundtrack | Renaldo and Clara
Robert Allen Zimmerman was born 24 May 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota; his father Abe worked for the Standard Oil Co. Six years later the family moved to Hibbing, often the coldest place in the US, where he taught himself piano and guitar and formed several high school rock bands. In 1959 he entered the...
5. Joan Baez
Soundtrack | The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Joan Baez is the middle daughter of Albert Baez and Joan Baez Sr.. At age 10, her father took a job (and the family) to Baghdad, Iraq. A year later they moved to Palo Alto, CA, home of Stanford University. In 1956, she bought her first guitar and heard Martin Luther King, Jr.'s lecture on ...
6. Pink Floyd
Soundtrack | Tang shan da xiong
Syd Barrett: vocals, guitar (born: Roger Keith Barrett; 6 January, 1946; Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK). In 1968, Syd Barrett left the band. Syd died in July, 2006 at aged 60 from pancreatic cancer.
David Gilmour: vocals, guitar (born: David John Gilmour; 6 March, 1946; Cambridge, ...
8. Jethro Tull
Soundtrack | Apollo 18
Jethro Tull are a British rock band formed in Blackpool, Lancashire in 1967. Initially playing blues rock, the band later developed its sound to incorporate elements of hard and folk rock to forge a progressive rock signature. The band is led by Ian Anderson, and has featured a revolving door of ...
9. Jimi Hendrix
Soundtrack | Woodstock
Widely regarded as the greatest and most influential guitarist in rock history, Jimi Hendrix was born on November 27, 1942 in Seattle, Washington, to African-American parents Lucille (Jeter) and James Allen Hendrix. His mother named him John Allen Hendrix and raised him alone while his father, Al ...
10. Rodriguez
Soundtrack | Candy
Rodriguez was born on July 10, 1942 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He was a composer and writer, known for Candy (2006), Searching for Sugar Man (2012) and The Gambler (2014). He died on August 8, 2023 in the USA.
11. Sibylle Baier
Soundtrack | Drinking Buddies
Sibylle Baier was born in Germany. She is known for Drinking Buddies (2013), Alice in the Cities (1974) and The End of the F***ing World (2017). She was previously married to Michael Baier.
12. Anne Briggs
Soundtrack | The Good Girl
Anne Briggs was born on September 29, 1944 in Toton, Nottinghamshire, England, UK. She is an actress, known for The Good Girl (2002), The Outsider (1994) and Alias Grace (2017).
13. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Soundtrack | The Lobster
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds is known for The Lobster (2015), Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) and About Time (2013).
14. Led Zeppelin
Soundtrack | The Song Remains the Same
Led Zeppelin are a popular British band best known for their iconic "Stairway to Heaven" as well as for co-creating the music genre of heavy metal. Since their nine albums were recorded between 1968 and 1979, Led Zeppelin has been one of the most popular bands of all time, having sold more than 300...
15. The Kinks
Soundtrack | Pirate Radio
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm and blues and Merseybeat, and were briefly part of the ...
16. Frank Zappa
Soundtrack | Baby Snakes
Of all the qualities that typified Frank Zappa, perhaps the most striking is that he was a paradox. A workaholic perfectionist rock star who eschewed the hippie culture of the 1960s, deploring its conformism, spurious ideals and drug use, Zappa was not only a brilliant rock guitarist but an ...
17. The Velvet Underground
Soundtrack | Men in Black³
The Velvet Underground had its origins, oddly enough, in the world of manufactured pop music, around 1965. Long Island native songwriter/singer/guitarist Lou Reed had gone from college at Syracuse University to a day job as a staff composer and musician for Pickwick Records, whose specialities (...
18. Nico
Soundtrack | Allegiant
Model and singer Nico was born in Cologne, Germany in 1938. She was a part of the Andy Warhol "scene" in the 1960s. A member of The Velvet Underground experimental rock band (with John Cale), circa 1967, she made several solo albums during the 1970s. A heroin addict for the latter part of her life,...
19. The Rolling Stones
Soundtrack | Pirate Radio
The Rolling Stones are the legendary British rock band known for many popular hits, such as Paint it Black, Lady Jane, Ruby Tuesday, and (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction. Almost everyone who attended their shows is quick to comment on their ability to start you up and shake your hips. Their song "...
20. The Mamas and the Papas
Soundtrack | The One I Love
The Mamas and the Papas is known for The One I Love (2014), Hotel Artemis (2018) and Repo Men (2010).
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