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100 Greatest Musical Artists Of All Time

In 2010, VH1 released their list of the 100 greatest musical artists of all time. Although I don't agree with several aspects of the list (and I'm certainly not the only one), this is VH1's list, not mine. See how many of these bands and singers you can name.
Quiz by bebn123
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Last updated: March 30, 2020
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First submittedJune 25, 2012
Times taken17,898
Average score33.0%
Rating3.44
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15:00
FYI, some of the last names will work, some won't, depending on other artists on the list.
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Hint
Answer
100.
Alicia Keys
99.
Hall And Oates
98.
Depeche Mode
97.
Pretenders
96.
Journey
95.
OutKast
94.
Mariah Carey
93.
Pearl Jam
92.
LL Cool J
91.
Green Day
90.
Elvis Costello
89.
Beastie Boys
88.
The Bee Gees
87.
George Michael
86.
N.W.A.
85.
The Band
84.
Curtis Mayfield
83.
Earth, Wind And Fire
82.
Steely Dan
81.
ABBA
80.
Mary J. Blige
79.
Eminem
78.
Judas Priest
77.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
76.
Run-D.M.C.
75.
Rush
74.
The Cure
73.
Van Morrison
72.
Janis Joplin
71.
R.E.M.
70.
Def Leppard
69.
Tupac Shakur
68.
Otis Redding
67.
Coldplay
66.
Justin Timberlake
65.
The Doors
64.
Talking Heads
63.
The Notorious B.I.G.
62.
Genesis
61.
Cream
60.
Whitney Houston
59.
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers
58.
Cheap Trick
57.
Iggy Pop And The Stooges
56.
KISS
55.
Peter Gabriel
54.
Public Enemy
53.
Little Richard
52.
Beyoncé Knowles
51.
Billy Joel
50.
Sade
49.
Parliament Funkadelic
48.
Rage Against The Machine
47.
Jay-Z
46.
Al Green
45.
The Ramones
44.
Joni Mitchell
43.
Ray Charles
42.
Metallica
41.
Van Halen
40.
The Police
39.
The Kinks
38.
Sly And The Family Stone
37.
Fleetwood Mac
36.
Paul McCartney
35.
Johnny Cash
34.
Tina Turner
33.
Guns N' Roses
32.
Black Sabbath
31.
John Lennon
30.
Aerosmith
29.
Radiohead
28.
Elton John
27.
Aretha Franklin
26.
Neil Young
25.
Chuck Berry
24.
The Velvet Underground
23.
AC/DC
22.
The Clash
21.
Bruce Springsteen
20.
Marvin Gaye
19.
U2
18.
Pink Floyd
17.
Queen
16.
Madonna
15.
The Beach Boys
14.
Nirvana
13.
The Who
12.
David Bowie
11
Bob Marley
10.
Stevie Wonder
9.
James Brown
8.
Elvis Presley
7.
Prince
6.
Jimi Hendrix
5.
Bob Dylan
4.
The Rolling Stones
3.
Led Zeppelin
2.
Michael Jackson
1.
The Beatles
jess1769
+1
Level 78
Jun 26, 2012
Great quiz! However, I think that either "Parliament" or "Funkadelic" should be acceptable for Parliament-Funkadelic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament-Funkadelic
bebn123
+1
Level 59
Jun 27, 2012
Yeah, that probably wouldn't have hurt; but as long as you know who the band is, you can still type their name. Thanks for the feedback!
AlexanderTheLarge
+2
Level 60
Jan 30, 2015
Actually, Parliament-Funkadelic is two bands: "Parliament" and "Funkadelic". The band's name itself is not "Parliament-Funkadelic", and nobody calls it that. The reason that they called it that was because both bands were led by the same guy, and they have pretty much the same sound. Not because the band is actually called "Parliament-Funkadelic".
bakainu
+1
Level 67
Apr 20, 2016
Actually, AlexanderTheLarge, they are commonly known as P-Funk. Other quizzes accept them as that. And their sound is quite different - Funkadelic is more rock, ironically.
Kontio100
+8
Level 52
Apr 2, 2013
Quiz is good. List is terrible.
bebn123
+2
Level 59
Apr 4, 2013
I agree somewhat. The list is tolerable, but I'd definitely make a few changes if it was up to me. Prince in front of Elvis Presley? Yeah right. I still find it hard to believe the Eagles and Buddy Holly didn't make the list.
Shiloh376
+3
Level 75
Jan 8, 2014
VH1 has produced a really silly list when they call it greatest of all time. I got 37 but I probably typed in at least 100 artists. Eagles, Paul Simon, Dave Mathews, Eric Clapton, Traffic, Rod Stewart, Stevie Ray Vaugan, Grateful Dead, Jethro Tull, I could go on but you get the point. Many great selections on their list but many laughable as well. Fun to take though.
bebn123
+2
Level 59
Jan 9, 2014
I couldn't agree more about how ridiculous some of the entrees were, but I'm glad you enjoyed the quiz! And yes, the Eagles, Simon & Garfunkel (or either of them), and Grateful Dead definitely should've made the list. Rod Stewart, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Jethro Tull are all debatable, but I wouldn't mind at all if they made it. I don't think Dave Matthews or Traffic should've made the cut, but they're both great acts for sure. As for Eric Clapton, Cream made the list, so that's enough to satisfy if you ask me. This is all my opinion though, so it doesn't mean all that much. Either way, thanks for taking this quiz!
camus
+1
Level 78
Feb 16, 2014
Some debatable choices, but this list is much better than the 100 Greatest Women list. Oddly, they thought Tina Turner and Aretha Franklin weren't among the 100 Greatest Women but among the 100 Greatest Musical Acts.
bebn123
+1
Level 59
Feb 17, 2014
Ridiculous, right? It's also kinda weird that on this list, Beyoncé was WAY higher up than Mariah Carey, yet on the 100 greatest women list, Mariah was just above Beyoncé. SO inconsistent...
bakainu
+1
Level 67
Apr 20, 2016
Yeah, I stopped doing that one when they didn't have Aretha, who should've been number 1.
zach12
+1
Level 17
Apr 9, 2014
They hit most of the people that should be on there but not in the right order, like The Clash infront of AC/DC? Radiohead over Aerosmith? COLDPLAY?!?!?! over 33 that are better. Oh well. its just an opinion
bebn123
+1
Level 59
Apr 10, 2014
I totally agree. To be honest, I don't think Radiohead should be on this list at all, but Aerosmith DEFINITELY got jipped. And yes, as much as I love Coldplay, they're still way too recent to earn a rank on this list (and I'm not even gonna start on Alicia Keys).
bakainu
+3
Level 67
Apr 20, 2016
I totally agree that the Clash and Radiohead should be ahead of AC/DC. Both are widely respected and influential. And why is Aerosmith even on it?
TheWombat
+1
Level 74
Aug 11, 2014
So Justin Timberlake makes the list, but Frank Zappa doesn't? Who are these people? Who?!
bebn123
+1
Level 59
Aug 12, 2014
More than 200 people who voted for their top 5. I have no idea where to find a list of everyone who voted, but there might be one somewhere. The only people I remember who voted were the members of Duran Duran... and somehow even they didn't make it.
TanithEdgley
+1
Level 36
Aug 17, 2014
The fact that The Doors are in the 60s makes me want to cry.
theoden92
+1
Level 59
Jan 14, 2015
No Dire Straits???
bebn123
+1
Level 59
Jan 14, 2015
Unfortunately, no. A few people voted for them though.
Psyduckthgreat
+2
Level 68
Oct 18, 2015
Meaning "the rock bands hipsters like best, or at least want people to think they like best."

No Mozart, Sinatra, Miles, Satchmo, Ellington, Caruso...

Merchue
+1
Level 27
May 29, 2017
Why no Weird Al Yankovic?
bebn123
+1
Level 59
May 30, 2017
He's actually #0. Everyone knows he's the greatest musical artist of all time, so there's really no need to put him on the list, since it's such common knowledge.
springb
+2
Level 55
Oct 11, 2017
"of all time"?

Sinatra

Streisand

Bennett

Mozart

Bach

Beethoven

I could go on...

Tomtrific
+1
Level 82
May 11, 2018
Yet another "greatest of all time" list that is totally subjective. I doubt some of the people who voted on this list have even a clue about many, many truly great musical artists in the past.
bebn123
+1
Level 59
May 11, 2018
Hyperbole aside, it's essentially impossible to come up with a truly objective list for this topic. But when it comes down to it, this quiz is based on one list in particular (one I also disagree with to an extent), so it'll definitely be different than every other list you might come across.
IrisIris
+3
Level 60
Jul 1, 2019
Nina Simone? Louis Armstrong? Miriam Makeba?
Dontforget
+1
Level 60
Oct 7, 2020
CanCon messed me up lol
ValorVanquish
+1
Level 18
Oct 30, 2022
I feel like Eminem got kinda robbed here, he’s definitely in my top 10 all time for me.
ENeis17
+1
Level 28
Jul 20, 2023
Jack Black Robbed
bebn123
+1
Level 59
Jul 21, 2023
They had to omit him from this poll, otherwise he'd make up like 70% of the list singlehandedly.
stirrer
+1
Level 34
Jan 18, 2024
A list called "100 Greatest Musical Artists Of All Time" that doesn't include Frank Zappa is completely, objectively invalid.
stirrer
+1
Level 34
Jan 18, 2024
PS - I registered and worked my way up to level 15 for the sole purpose of saying that.
bebn123
+1
Level 59
Jan 19, 2024
I admire the dedication. Welcome to JetPunk!

If it makes you feel better, I'm pretty sure Frank Zappa made at least a few of the voters' top 5 ballots. You can criticize the way the list was constructed all you like (it's nearly impossible to objectify a list like this, after all), but rest assured that you're certainly not alone in thinking Zappa should be here somewhere.

KarrotKnife
+1
Level 57
Mar 11, 2024
no CCR is an absolute crime
bebn123
+1
Level 59
Mar 14, 2024
Hard agree.
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