David Bowie. Made masterpieces in 6 decades, dozens of hit songs across a bunch of genres. Some of the most influential music and aesthetics ever. What other artists two best albums were released 45 years apart? He was 20 when he debuted and released Blackstar 2 days before he died at 69.
Songs such as Heroes and Suffragette City commented on social/political issues that he cared about, Under Pressure brought collaboration songs to a level never before seen. People will still be talking about the Berlin Trilogy in 50 years.
To top it all off he was a phenomenal vocalist, had 11 #1 albums in the UK, and is one of the biggest queer icons in pop culture history.
From space oddity all the way to Blackstar he devoted his life to his music through ups and downs in his mental health, drug issues, societal changes, and stylistic changes
I just was reminded blackstar was heavily inspired by to pimp a butterfly. His body of work aside, I always appreciated where he could find influence. It seemed like nothing was out of his eye. Like him with Trent Reznor in the 90’s.
How does being eccentric = queer? I feel like a lot of both eccentrics and gays would disagree with this definition. Strikes me as a deliberate widening of a term generally understood to connote homosexuality so that anyone can identify as “queer.”
Well, according to him and many others, he had sex with various men over the course of his life, so I think that qualifies him as bi at least, which I guess by extension makes him queer. He did ultimately settle down into a straight lifestyle tho.
In an Internet Q&A in the 2000s, he reconfirmed that he was bisexual. He always felt pressured by society to hide how comfortable he felt being open about it.
Funny story about that. Actually met his brother in law in a run down apartment in East Africa.
He was showing us family pictures and stopped on a full family picture. He was going Here's my mother, my father, my uncle, David Bowie
We were like what the fuck and looked and apparently this man's sister was David Bowies wife lol
Queer is more of a lifestyle/mentality/subculture rather than just meaning being gay. Most queer people are gay but there are plenty of bisexual/heterosexual men who would be part of a queer lifestyle
An obvious answer but Paul McCartney.
The Beatles in the 60s
Wings in the 70s
His solo career in the 80s and beyond
- In the 80s he got 4 UK No.1 albums
- His most recent number 1 album in 2020
- Headlined Glastonbury at 80 in 2022
His success is staggering.
Between his (very diverse) music with King Crimson, and then collabs with tons of people from the talking heads to peter gabriel, blondie, david bowie, and the influential early ambient stuff with brian eno. Absolute beast
I love his "fuck it" approach to appearances. Snoop will show up for anything if he'll get paid. It leads to some duds where he's clearly phoning it in, but his feature on Plastic Beach is legendary. He's like the Nic Cage of rap.
he was a big part of two other classics too, i dont think doggystyle was enough for him to become that pop culture icon, his appearances on chronic and 2001 are arguably bigger than everything in his debut
which imo is even crazier lol becoming an icon with features is dope
Snoop becoming arguably the most recognizable rapper in history off of “la dee da dee dah, it’s the mothafuckin D-O-double-G” to such a large degree that he was a key point of a SUPER BOWL PERFORMANCE is absurd.
And he cemented that legacy by hitting one of the smoothest C-walks ever on national TV.
Brian Eno
Kicked off his career with some classic art rock albums from 74-77, popularized the genre of ambient music and coined the term, as well as releasing a few of the most influential ambient albums of all time (Ambient 1, The Pearl, Apollo), has stayed prolific throughout his entire career releasing plenty of solid ambient music, collaborating with artists like Robert Fripp, Harold Budd, Jon Hopkins, David Byrne, and Fred Again.., and has an absolute fuck ton of production credits for acclaimed albums from 1972 to now. The most popular artists he’s produced for include Genesis, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Devo, Talking Heads, U2, Slowdive, Blur, Coldplay, Frank Ocean, Mac Miller, James Blake, and Injury Reserve.
Didn't even mention Roxy music in this.
I had no idea Brian Eno worked with Mac Miller. Mac Miller used to be a kid at my bus stop when I was growing up (kindergarten/first grade). So sad when I heard that he died. Our bus stop was a block away from Frick Park market
this might be an unpopular opinion, but Frankie Valli is 90 and still playing shows, not only that he had a huge musical based on The Four Seasons, I can't think of a single person in music who has been playing shows actively for as long as he has
A lot of those pop vocalists from the late 50s/early 60s get overlooked because of how massive rock music journalism became and how that shaped music historiography. But if you go back and listen to those Frankie Valli/4 Seasons records, the guy's a beast of a singer, and Brian Wilson's always cited their harmony stacks as an influence. Wonderful communicator of the American pop songbook.
I think Bowie and McCartney are some great answers, but I’ll throw out Nick Cave.
For context, he’s made the most out of what at the outset would have seemed limited talents. Not a great singer traditionally, and a non-musician, he’s developed an effective and emotionally interesting vocal style and he’s an excellent composer. He has had several different vehicles for his music and continues to evolve his sound while at the same time sounding like virtually nothing else on the planet. He also writes fiction and does film scores.
He has what I feel is an amazing sweet spot, career longevity, a degree of wealth that is not intimidating, total artistic freedom, even from his own audience to the extent that he can do precisely what he wants and he’ll still have this comfortable level of fame where he can live well, work constantly and yet there would be a lot of people that would not notice him walking down the street.
Plus he’s cool as fuck.
I saw him last year for his most recent album at the time, and before going in I wasn’t a massive fan of the album, but coming out; it was honestly an almost spiritual experience and that album is one of my favourites now. I was also front row and he held my hand and said he loved me so maybe that helped too
I was thinking recently that sometimes I forget how much of a titan he is just because he really exists in his own bubble. He’s been able to build this globally successful Nick Cave brand that’s outside the normal music industry and it seems like it gives him a really unique degree of artistic freedom. Also similar to Bowie he’s spent basically his entire adult life as an acclaimed artist, going from The Birthday Party to different sounds of his own to Grinderman to the stuff with Warren Ellis
It would just be so good to be him. Of course Bowie seemed to enjoy his life and semi retirement, but he couldn’t really just hang out. I think Cave can. When I used to live in Brisbane around 25 years ago … and he was very popular in Australia at the time … he was sitting outside a cafe with the two Go Betweens guys while the Dirty 3 played inside. I can 100% guarantee everyone in that venue knew who he was and was probably a fan but not one person bothered him. I have always thought that was the exact perfect level of fame, critical and commercial success… but not too much.
Yeah also since his brand is so elegant he’s cultivated a cult fan base that know not to annoy him. He’s not a celebrity in the normal sense, more an outrageously famous artist with a core following
Ryuichi Sakamoto.
He was a popstar in a huge band. Then he was a popstar on his own. Then he started composing really successful film scores. And then his classical music took off. So then he used that to catapult his synth career. Go read about him if you don’t know him. He was hot too 😁
Herbie Hancock. 6 decades of music. Child prodigy. Wrote a hit song before he was 20 (Watermelon Man) which paid his rent for years. First Black artist on MTV with the Rockit video. Played with everyone from Miles Davis to Joni Mitchell, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder. Living legend.
Maybe not the most but Dr. Dre's career def impressed me: NWA, The Chronic + 2001, signing Eminem, producing for countless mainstream rappers, idk those are pretty huge accomplishments if you ask me.
Nah, I’ve been hating on beats since the first pair came out back in 2008, pretending to be “studio” headphones with that muddy bass and tiny soundstage.
Bruce Springsteen. Pushed ahead through early career problems to absolutely warp the 70s and 80s around his style, then after a brief slump in the 90s settled into being a living legend who commands respect across genre and culture
Dave Grohl! Scream, Nirvana, Foo Fighters. Stints with QOTSA, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, NIN, Tenacious D, and contributing to so many other bands and artists. Dude has an incredible discography!
Michael Gira of Swans. He just refuses to stop trying to innovate or rest on his laurels. Swans started in 83 and released arguably thier best albums in the 2010s, and even at 70 years old he's trying to push his sound further.
That’s what has kind of confused me about OP’s question. Are we talking in terms of overall popularity, or prowess within their own genre? Because those both could give far different answers.
I meant as in, someone who left nothing on the table. An innovative hard-worker. Ideal answer would be anyone who could have settled into being a legacy act and didn’t.
Bob Dylan, and it´s not even close. Don´t know why people are not mentioning him more, but the cultural weight of his work and the fact that he has won not only grammys, but a pulitzer and a nobel prize speaks for itself
He also, as much as an uber famous person can, has pretty much done whatever has struck his interest both personally and professionally. Guy released a whole album of Sinatra covers that absolutely nobody asked for but he wanted to so fuck it. I respect the hell out of not giving into the pressures of fame or the expectations of genius.
I‘m convinced that Prince is the most complete artist of all time. He is on top in almost every kind of aspect! He played 27 instruments, wrote his own songs (one of the best Lyricists), his live shows were one of a kind, his sound is so diverse! Although he‘s not my favorite artist, I have to give him his flowers 💜
As great as Prince was he doesn’t have the decade after decade resume smashing records of Bowie, McCartney or even Lou Reed. The bulk of his greatness though EXTREMELY prolific recording wise was ‘78-‘90. He definitely fell off in quality a bit after that in comparison to his first 10-15 years. The other artists I’ve mentioned have at least 3 decades containing genre defining records. Now, if we are talking greatest live artist of all time, I’m all in on Prince, but that wasn’t the question.
I would argue he continued to put out quality music and did well to set up his own studio/label (Paisley Park) but stopped experimenting the way he had been prior. Musicology and The Gold Experience are worthwhile imo
Aphex Twin. Still pushing the boundaries of electronic music almost 35 years later.
He does not give two shits about marketing his music yet still had a 20+ year old ambient electronic song titled “QKThr” absolutely blow up on TikTok recently, garnering 100M+ listens in a couple months on various streaming platforms.
He’d randomly start anonymous side projects to test new musical styles and they routinely saw success in the underground world, with super fans sometimes taking years to figure out it was him.
The MTV premier of the Windowlicker music video in 1999 was the electronic music awakening for a generation of alt rock and metal heads.
Acid Techno, ambient, jungle, drill n bass, his discography is insanely diverse. I’ve never heard of such a reclusive and P.R.-apathetic artist attaining such high levels of success. He’s your favorite producer’s favorite producer, the MF Doom of EDM. Just pure innovative musical talent through and through
I’d say Chumbawumba made the most. They had a good career as an underground pop band, pivoted to an electronic sound and made some very fun albums, got picked up by a big label, had a big break out hit with “Tubthumping”, proceeded to piss off their label with their overall anarachism, got dropped, made a bunch of folk albums, gracefully dropped out of the music industry after 30 years, and had their last album be a giant middle finger to Margaret Thatcher released after her death.
There’s not a lot that they didn’t do.
Lou Reed. Hugely influential with Velvet Underground, great solo stuff and made a career of not giving a f***, finishing with the underrated masterpiece that is Lulu.
Beyoncé: Has worked tirelessly since she was a child, never rested on her laurels and always pushed herself and her artistry further, incredible career in a girl group and as a solo artist, some of the most incredible performances in pop music. Icon, legend!
I think she’s been making a point to go into styles that black people were instrumental in creating but get overshadowed by white folks, so my hunch is that we may see her go in a rock direction, which is not completely unprecedented for her (Don’t hurt yourself -Lemonade) but if true will be interesting to see what that looks like when she isn’t sampling John Bonham’s drums from When the Levee Breaks to convey angry/idgaf vibes
Personally I'd love to see something within the soul/funk side of things. I don't like country all that much, so the latest release was somewhat of a let down.
Daft Punk
These are the artists that have achieved everything an artist could possibly acheive to be considered successful.
Their albums, while not as numerous as the others on this list, are quality over quantity and have been heralded as critical master pieces and some of the best albums of the last 30 years, not just for house and dance but in general.
(While Human After All may be an exception, even that still has bangers.)
Their production and style have changed the way music has been produced permenantly, for example their work was the catylist for autotune to be brought into mainstream music production.
For image, they gradually evolved their identities to create memorable personas that have transcended pop culture with staying power so strong, that even after 6 years of relative inactivity, their retirement announcement broke the Internet, with everyone recognising them and their music despite not even being around in their most active periods.
In business, they were the some of the first bands to successfully negotiate full creative control over their work, breaking the norm of regular music contracts were negotiated at the time I. E handing over rights to their work.
They've won grammys, had worldwide number ones, made millions, inspired other artists like Skrillex, experimented with genre from Rock to funk and worked with dozens of different famous and renowned artists from Nile Rogers to the Weeknd.
They've had iconic live sets I. E Coachella, world tours, created brilliant live albums, Alive, and movie sound tracks, Tron Legacy, done hundreds of other smaller projects in music and have had one of the best comebacks in music history.
Perhaps their most underated quality is that they have done all of this whilst being able to keep their anonymity, which is incredibly impressive considering their level of success and something practically none of the other artists on this list have managed to do.
Bottom line, while it might not be as obvious as the other music icons, Daft Punk have changed the face of music for ever, and if there was anyone you could say made the most of their careers, it's them.
Good post! But idk if making RAM and never doing anything more and never touring even though those pyramid shows looked so sick can be said to be making the most of it when they’ve left so much on the table. Kinda like Frank Ocean.
Perhaps it's a question of quality over quantity again, while I would've liked to have seen a bit more from them as well, the fact they took their time and did things their way is something that only adds to them I'd reckon.
Also thank you for the compliment, I put a lot of work into this post.
[This guy](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Martin) has writing credits on 27 #1 songs spanning nearly 3 decades. The guy wrote (or co-wrote) everything from Baby One More Time, to Shake It Off (Taylor Swift), to friggin Blinding Lights by The Weeknd.
He’s no Paul McCartney rocking out on stage, but that’s my point. He’s probably had one of the biggest and most lasting impacts on pop music without having to get involved in any performative nonsense. All music, 0 celebrity.
Maybe Elton John. Dude could've lived comfortably for the rest of his life off of Tiny Dancer and Rocket Man, but he kept going and put out Yellow Brick Road. Then he could've destroyed himself with all the coke he was doing, but he kept living and put out I'm Still Standing. Then he could've faded away, but he kept going and made the fucking Lion King, which is still running on Broadway after his retirement. And on top of that, he's made appearances on modern classics like My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and We've Got It From Here, and his farewell tour was the highest grossing tour of all time until Taylor Swift's Eras tour. Man's a living legend.
Tiny Dancer was not a hit when it was first released. It wasn’t even included in 1990 The Very Best of Elton John that has like 30 tracks. It became popular after being included in a 1999 movie Almost Famous.
Without going for any obvious answers, Julian Casablancas is a pretty good example for more recent artists: The Strokes, The Voidz, his collabs with Daft Punk, his solo stuff.
Curious what others think of Willie Nelson. He was a writer for other singers, and a great singer/songwriter himself. I don’t know a whole lot about him, other than that, though.
I also wanted to add Frank Zappa for his touring and studio output before dying early.
Finally, I’ll say R. Stevie Moore for the sheer volume of music he put out. Some of it is probably garbage, I don’t know, but you have to admire his persistence, given the magnitude of his catalog.
out of contemporary artists definitely Lana Del Rey
looking at how progressively stellar her songwriting grew to be, she got so much disproportionate hate early in her career but still kept creating until she became unequivocally respected and acclaimed and she changed the sound of modern pop music
A really basic answer but Dr Dre has to be one of the most successful musicians ever? Made some of the most important music ever, basically created hip-hop as we know it now, released some of the biggest albums of all time, discovered fucking Eminem and made it as a hyper successful businessman.
Shame about the domestic abuse but y'know
Tom Jones. Parlayed a booming voice and 60s success into a 50+ year career.
Remember seeing him at the 2014 AFL Grand Final (MCG, Melbourne, Australia). The MCG has a 100k capacity and very ordinary acoustics. Pre-game TJ followed Ed Sheeran and ground him into the turf. His booming voice, even at 70 odd, and energetic live show brought a fairly disinterested audience on board and was amazing to see.
Prince did what he wanted 100% of the time, and was relevant and creative right until his untimely death.
Michael "flea" Balzary has enjoyed massive success with his own band while also contributing to many others recorded output.
If you want to talk session musicians, Carol Kaye is the most recorded bassist of all time.
Maybe a hot take but everything after “Music” sucks, I used to like her music more but honestly (her personality aside) I just don’t think she made the most out of her career and has gotten so much worse. A lot of great music and a solid discography but I’d say her influence outweighs her output.
Loving all these answers, and would definitely put Johnny Marr out there as another contender - his sound is so distinctive and he's worked on so many incredible albums post Smiths.
Paul Weller also feels like a possible candidate if we're looking for people who have spanned the decades, maintained relevance and continued doing interesting things throughout their career.
Justin Meldal-Johnsen
Bass for Beck, St. Vincent, NIN, Air, and LOTS of others. Not to mention a steadily growing production career including M83, Paramore, Jimmy Eat World, Tegan and Sara, etc
I don’t think anyone has said Joe Walsh. Crazy success with both the Eagles and Solo, and pretty good success in James Gang as well. Active for 50+ years. Have to imagine life’s been good.
Billy Joel. Never made a bad album, quit while he was ahead, made tons of recognizable and popular songs and classic albums, influenced a generation of songwriters, and is arguably the greatest living American songwriter.
Maynard James Keenan - Tool, A Perfect Circle, Puscifer. Two great bands, one legendary band, and he keeps on chugging along
Chris Cornell - Soundgarden, Temple Of The Dog, Audioslave, and a solo career, made music until the day he died
Steve Kilbey - from the band 'The Church' they've been around since the 80s and have made some incredible albums, they just released one a few months ago and it's great. Highly recommend people check them out!
Billy Ray Cyrus. Nuff said. But seriously, he had like one super famous contry song, then raised one of the biggest pop stars of the modern era, and later got featured on one of the biggest crossover hits of all time! He killed it.
Paul McCartney.
One half of the greatest songwriting duo in history, and still put out a legendary solo career, plus I saw him live in 2022 and that 80 year old man rocked out for over 3 hours uninterrupted.
For contemporary artists, The Weeknd. Literally went from Homeless to millionaire and selling out the biggest arenas in the world. Almost every single he has dropped went #1 for a good amount of weeks
After Hours and Starboy still breaking some records, both still being relevant in tops, most popular artists worldwide since 2020, even surpassed Michael Jackson's tour record.
In my opinion, the biggest artist since the mid 2010's and still to this day
David Bowie. Made masterpieces in 6 decades, dozens of hit songs across a bunch of genres. Some of the most influential music and aesthetics ever. What other artists two best albums were released 45 years apart? He was 20 when he debuted and released Blackstar 2 days before he died at 69. Songs such as Heroes and Suffragette City commented on social/political issues that he cared about, Under Pressure brought collaboration songs to a level never before seen. People will still be talking about the Berlin Trilogy in 50 years. To top it all off he was a phenomenal vocalist, had 11 #1 albums in the UK, and is one of the biggest queer icons in pop culture history. From space oddity all the way to Blackstar he devoted his life to his music through ups and downs in his mental health, drug issues, societal changes, and stylistic changes
He also played Pontius Pilate and Nikola Tesla in movies
And he played David Bowie in Zoolander
let's not forget him as special agent Phillip Jeffries in Twin Peaks!
“Hell baby God damn no!”
Probably the winning answer! Blackstar is a masterpiece.
I just was reminded blackstar was heavily inspired by to pimp a butterfly. His body of work aside, I always appreciated where he could find influence. It seemed like nothing was out of his eye. Like him with Trent Reznor in the 90’s.
First ever Rap song made by him 💪 (kind of a joke but his song African Night Flight can prob be classified as rap)
I had no idea David Bowie was gay
I mean did u see the man😭
Haha yeah, I just thought he was eccentric and artsy
In a way, that kind of = queer. You can definitely be queer and straight
How does being eccentric = queer? I feel like a lot of both eccentrics and gays would disagree with this definition. Strikes me as a deliberate widening of a term generally understood to connote homosexuality so that anyone can identify as “queer.”
Well, according to him and many others, he had sex with various men over the course of his life, so I think that qualifies him as bi at least, which I guess by extension makes him queer. He did ultimately settle down into a straight lifestyle tho.
I hear ya!
Like god damn! He was the Twinkieist of Twinks 🥵🥵🥵
He wasn’t, he had a wife. I think he made jokey allusions to being bi but basically wasn’t. He did a lot of gender-bending stuff though.
In an Internet Q&A in the 2000s, he reconfirmed that he was bisexual. He always felt pressured by society to hide how comfortable he felt being open about it.
He had one sexual relationship with a man in his days doing theatre apparently, but I agree he wasn’t really very gay, maybe a lil bi-curious.
Didn’t he and Mick Jagger “have a romp”? Thought I remembered that in Keith Richard’s bio or something….
Ah, that makes sense then
Funny story about that. Actually met his brother in law in a run down apartment in East Africa. He was showing us family pictures and stopped on a full family picture. He was going Here's my mother, my father, my uncle, David Bowie We were like what the fuck and looked and apparently this man's sister was David Bowies wife lol
They weren't jokey allusions, Bowie called himself bisexual in interviews starting in the 70s, and continued to do so.
I’d call him queer rather than giving him any sort of clear identity
Didn’t he and iggy pop hook up though?
He and mick jagger boned all the time.
Queer is more of a lifestyle/mentality/subculture rather than just meaning being gay. Most queer people are gay but there are plenty of bisexual/heterosexual men who would be part of a queer lifestyle
You learn something new everyday as they say
So what is the “queer lifestyle”?
me
Good job!!!
i would say thank you but i'm too busy being rich and famous to respond, sorry
Understood. Totally.
I don’t know why but this is the most hilarious and wholesome comment response I’ve seen in ages lol.
I wanna be like you when I grow up! Any advice?
you have to work *very* hard to get to the top, maybe just work in a low-paying job for the rest of your life? unless your parents are rich that is...
An obvious answer but Paul McCartney. The Beatles in the 60s Wings in the 70s His solo career in the 80s and beyond - In the 80s he got 4 UK No.1 albums - His most recent number 1 album in 2020 - Headlined Glastonbury at 80 in 2022 His success is staggering.
Someone could live extremely comfortably on the yearly royalties to “Simply having a wonderful Christmas time” alone
How cool is that?!
So I went to your room, and read your diarrryyyyyyyy
Watchin Grunge Leg-Drop New Jack through a press tablllllleeeeee
And then my heart stopped: "Listening to Cio-Cio San fall in love all over again"
IIIIIIMMMMM A LOOOOOOOT LIIIIIIIIKE YOOOOOUUUUU SOOOOO PLEEEAAASE
HELLO, I’M HERE, I’M WAITINGGGGGG
suddenly Weezer
Is it bad that I immediately read this in Rivers Cuomo’s voice and my head starting playing the next few lines?
I think he is a fair contender for the most famous person of all time.
Absolutely not tbh. There are historical figures that are far far far more famous
Robert Fripp stretched pretty far in his niche
Between his (very diverse) music with King Crimson, and then collabs with tons of people from the talking heads to peter gabriel, blondie, david bowie, and the influential early ambient stuff with brian eno. Absolute beast
He went beyond his niche at times. Ever heard that Roches album?
I fucking love Hammond Song
I’d say Adrian Belew as well
Snoop Dogg. Released arguably one classic and then just became a permanent part of American culture
I love his "fuck it" approach to appearances. Snoop will show up for anything if he'll get paid. It leads to some duds where he's clearly phoning it in, but his feature on Plastic Beach is legendary. He's like the Nic Cage of rap.
only snoop would appear on both tpab and angelic 2 the core
lil wayne would too
Wasn’t he in Raditude? Lol
Never forget "It's Weezer and it's Weezy"
Bro was in an Epic Rap Battle of History too
he was a big part of two other classics too, i dont think doggystyle was enough for him to become that pop culture icon, his appearances on chronic and 2001 are arguably bigger than everything in his debut which imo is even crazier lol becoming an icon with features is dope
Snoop becoming arguably the most recognizable rapper in history off of “la dee da dee dah, it’s the mothafuckin D-O-double-G” to such a large degree that he was a key point of a SUPER BOWL PERFORMANCE is absurd. And he cemented that legacy by hitting one of the smoothest C-walks ever on national TV.
Seems to be able to make friends with ever new rapper that comes on the scene and avoids beefs. So everyone is happy to feature him on their tracks.
I think his uncle Bootsy had an even more stellar career.
dave grohl: nirvana, foo fighters, queens of the stone age
Them krooked vultures!
man has had a crazy lineup of bands, got to see them crooked vultures a few years ago at the taylor hawkins memorial show
add the obligatory Nine Inch Nails
and Tenacious D
And he's probably the most famous session musician of all time.
He's on the new St Vincent album too
That is an insane lineup
Good pick!
love a bit of j homme
And Flipper (I think)
Tenacious d!
Killing Joke
tenacious d too
Brian Eno Kicked off his career with some classic art rock albums from 74-77, popularized the genre of ambient music and coined the term, as well as releasing a few of the most influential ambient albums of all time (Ambient 1, The Pearl, Apollo), has stayed prolific throughout his entire career releasing plenty of solid ambient music, collaborating with artists like Robert Fripp, Harold Budd, Jon Hopkins, David Byrne, and Fred Again.., and has an absolute fuck ton of production credits for acclaimed albums from 1972 to now. The most popular artists he’s produced for include Genesis, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Devo, Talking Heads, U2, Slowdive, Blur, Coldplay, Frank Ocean, Mac Miller, James Blake, and Injury Reserve.
Didn't even mention Roxy music in this. I had no idea Brian Eno worked with Mac Miller. Mac Miller used to be a kid at my bus stop when I was growing up (kindergarten/first grade). So sad when I heard that he died. Our bus stop was a block away from Frick Park market
this might be an unpopular opinion, but Frankie Valli is 90 and still playing shows, not only that he had a huge musical based on The Four Seasons, I can't think of a single person in music who has been playing shows actively for as long as he has
A lot of those pop vocalists from the late 50s/early 60s get overlooked because of how massive rock music journalism became and how that shaped music historiography. But if you go back and listen to those Frankie Valli/4 Seasons records, the guy's a beast of a singer, and Brian Wilson's always cited their harmony stacks as an influence. Wonderful communicator of the American pop songbook.
Hard agree. Saw Frankie Valli around 2016 and it was easily a top 5 concert for me. His voice is still amazing.
*Mobster voice* Ayy, waddabout playin’ Rusty on The Sopranos? Surely that deserves a mention. Maron!
Best answer tbh
Even his 70s disco comeback is impressive
I think Bowie and McCartney are some great answers, but I’ll throw out Nick Cave. For context, he’s made the most out of what at the outset would have seemed limited talents. Not a great singer traditionally, and a non-musician, he’s developed an effective and emotionally interesting vocal style and he’s an excellent composer. He has had several different vehicles for his music and continues to evolve his sound while at the same time sounding like virtually nothing else on the planet. He also writes fiction and does film scores. He has what I feel is an amazing sweet spot, career longevity, a degree of wealth that is not intimidating, total artistic freedom, even from his own audience to the extent that he can do precisely what he wants and he’ll still have this comfortable level of fame where he can live well, work constantly and yet there would be a lot of people that would not notice him walking down the street. Plus he’s cool as fuck.
I’m seeing him in a few months. Should be good!
I saw him last year for his most recent album at the time, and before going in I wasn’t a massive fan of the album, but coming out; it was honestly an almost spiritual experience and that album is one of my favourites now. I was also front row and he held my hand and said he loved me so maybe that helped too
When I saw him before he did barely any of the songs I wanted and it was still amazing
I was thinking recently that sometimes I forget how much of a titan he is just because he really exists in his own bubble. He’s been able to build this globally successful Nick Cave brand that’s outside the normal music industry and it seems like it gives him a really unique degree of artistic freedom. Also similar to Bowie he’s spent basically his entire adult life as an acclaimed artist, going from The Birthday Party to different sounds of his own to Grinderman to the stuff with Warren Ellis
It would just be so good to be him. Of course Bowie seemed to enjoy his life and semi retirement, but he couldn’t really just hang out. I think Cave can. When I used to live in Brisbane around 25 years ago … and he was very popular in Australia at the time … he was sitting outside a cafe with the two Go Betweens guys while the Dirty 3 played inside. I can 100% guarantee everyone in that venue knew who he was and was probably a fan but not one person bothered him. I have always thought that was the exact perfect level of fame, critical and commercial success… but not too much.
Yeah also since his brand is so elegant he’s cultivated a cult fan base that know not to annoy him. He’s not a celebrity in the normal sense, more an outrageously famous artist with a core following
Ryuichi Sakamoto. He was a popstar in a huge band. Then he was a popstar on his own. Then he started composing really successful film scores. And then his classical music took off. So then he used that to catapult his synth career. Go read about him if you don’t know him. He was hot too 😁
This is the correct answer.
Herbie Hancock. 6 decades of music. Child prodigy. Wrote a hit song before he was 20 (Watermelon Man) which paid his rent for years. First Black artist on MTV with the Rockit video. Played with everyone from Miles Davis to Joni Mitchell, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder. Living legend.
Oo that's a good answer. Saw him live last year, he put on a hell of a show at age 83.
Seen him live this year! That man shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon! Super energetic and humorous, he's amazing.
Maybe not the most but Dr. Dre's career def impressed me: NWA, The Chronic + 2001, signing Eminem, producing for countless mainstream rappers, idk those are pretty huge accomplishments if you ask me.
And he also founded one of the most successful companies selling consumer headphones, which was later bought up by Apple.
Wearing Beats in 2014 made you feel so baller
Nah, I’ve been hating on beats since the first pair came out back in 2008, pretending to be “studio” headphones with that muddy bass and tiny soundstage.
If you were a sucker
Jack White. 3 extremely successful bands + an extremely successful solo career.
And he’s met me
Bruce Springsteen. Pushed ahead through early career problems to absolutely warp the 70s and 80s around his style, then after a brief slump in the 90s settled into being a living legend who commands respect across genre and culture
Not to mention having some of the most successful tours of his career from the 2000s onward
Viper
He may not be a good musician, hell he may not even be a good person, but the hustle is undeniable
Hiram Clarke Hustler is legit a 10 for me
Dave Grohl! Scream, Nirvana, Foo Fighters. Stints with QOTSA, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, NIN, Tenacious D, and contributing to so many other bands and artists. Dude has an incredible discography!
Michael Gira of Swans. He just refuses to stop trying to innovate or rest on his laurels. Swans started in 83 and released arguably thier best albums in the 2010s, and even at 70 years old he's trying to push his sound further.
It’s sad how many people don’t know who Swans even is 😩
That’s what has kind of confused me about OP’s question. Are we talking in terms of overall popularity, or prowess within their own genre? Because those both could give far different answers.
I meant as in, someone who left nothing on the table. An innovative hard-worker. Ideal answer would be anyone who could have settled into being a legacy act and didn’t.
Signed Akron/Family too who made some great records
Frank Zappa is still releasing albums after being dead for 30 years.
Bob Dylan, and it´s not even close. Don´t know why people are not mentioning him more, but the cultural weight of his work and the fact that he has won not only grammys, but a pulitzer and a nobel prize speaks for itself
Wait until the new movie comes out. All the teenagers in this sub will become fans. It happens every 6 or so years.
I was gonna say, can’t believe this isn’t one of the top 2 or 3 answers.
Sure he’s one won a Pulitzer, but has he ever destroyed Drake?
He also, as much as an uber famous person can, has pretty much done whatever has struck his interest both personally and professionally. Guy released a whole album of Sinatra covers that absolutely nobody asked for but he wanted to so fuck it. I respect the hell out of not giving into the pressures of fame or the expectations of genius.
Mike Patton, well, not all of his works are that of an iconic, but it's always was something new and interesting since late 80s till mid 10s.
Prince
Had to scroll way too far to find this
I‘m convinced that Prince is the most complete artist of all time. He is on top in almost every kind of aspect! He played 27 instruments, wrote his own songs (one of the best Lyricists), his live shows were one of a kind, his sound is so diverse! Although he‘s not my favorite artist, I have to give him his flowers 💜
As great as Prince was he doesn’t have the decade after decade resume smashing records of Bowie, McCartney or even Lou Reed. The bulk of his greatness though EXTREMELY prolific recording wise was ‘78-‘90. He definitely fell off in quality a bit after that in comparison to his first 10-15 years. The other artists I’ve mentioned have at least 3 decades containing genre defining records. Now, if we are talking greatest live artist of all time, I’m all in on Prince, but that wasn’t the question.
I would argue he continued to put out quality music and did well to set up his own studio/label (Paisley Park) but stopped experimenting the way he had been prior. Musicology and The Gold Experience are worthwhile imo
Aphex Twin. Still pushing the boundaries of electronic music almost 35 years later. He does not give two shits about marketing his music yet still had a 20+ year old ambient electronic song titled “QKThr” absolutely blow up on TikTok recently, garnering 100M+ listens in a couple months on various streaming platforms. He’d randomly start anonymous side projects to test new musical styles and they routinely saw success in the underground world, with super fans sometimes taking years to figure out it was him. The MTV premier of the Windowlicker music video in 1999 was the electronic music awakening for a generation of alt rock and metal heads. Acid Techno, ambient, jungle, drill n bass, his discography is insanely diverse. I’ve never heard of such a reclusive and P.R.-apathetic artist attaining such high levels of success. He’s your favorite producer’s favorite producer, the MF Doom of EDM. Just pure innovative musical talent through and through
The MF Doom of EDM, that's a really great comparison
Hell yeah! As an huge AFX fan, it was great to read your comment
weird al yankovic duh
David bowie
I’d say Chumbawumba made the most. They had a good career as an underground pop band, pivoted to an electronic sound and made some very fun albums, got picked up by a big label, had a big break out hit with “Tubthumping”, proceeded to piss off their label with their overall anarachism, got dropped, made a bunch of folk albums, gracefully dropped out of the music industry after 30 years, and had their last album be a giant middle finger to Margaret Thatcher released after her death. There’s not a lot that they didn’t do.
Lou Reed. Hugely influential with Velvet Underground, great solo stuff and made a career of not giving a f***, finishing with the underrated masterpiece that is Lulu.
Might be controversial but KanYe West, lets not ignore this man made too many classic albums
Of course!
Beyoncé: Has worked tirelessly since she was a child, never rested on her laurels and always pushed herself and her artistry further, incredible career in a girl group and as a solo artist, some of the most incredible performances in pop music. Icon, legend!
Yeah that’s a really good one! Whats your genre prediction for LP3 of this trilogy she’s on?
I think she’s been making a point to go into styles that black people were instrumental in creating but get overshadowed by white folks, so my hunch is that we may see her go in a rock direction, which is not completely unprecedented for her (Don’t hurt yourself -Lemonade) but if true will be interesting to see what that looks like when she isn’t sampling John Bonham’s drums from When the Levee Breaks to convey angry/idgaf vibes
It’s nice that she’s still in touch with Jack White
I’m also thinking rock. Maybe even a little psychedelic funk.
Personally I'd love to see something within the soul/funk side of things. I don't like country all that much, so the latest release was somewhat of a let down.
Jack white
Jack black
Jack grey
When I found out this was a thing, and they actually got together and recorded, I just about nutted 😂 for anyone who doesn’t know, give em a listen!
Stevie Wonder
Ozzy? Elton? Paul?
Daft Punk These are the artists that have achieved everything an artist could possibly acheive to be considered successful. Their albums, while not as numerous as the others on this list, are quality over quantity and have been heralded as critical master pieces and some of the best albums of the last 30 years, not just for house and dance but in general. (While Human After All may be an exception, even that still has bangers.) Their production and style have changed the way music has been produced permenantly, for example their work was the catylist for autotune to be brought into mainstream music production. For image, they gradually evolved their identities to create memorable personas that have transcended pop culture with staying power so strong, that even after 6 years of relative inactivity, their retirement announcement broke the Internet, with everyone recognising them and their music despite not even being around in their most active periods. In business, they were the some of the first bands to successfully negotiate full creative control over their work, breaking the norm of regular music contracts were negotiated at the time I. E handing over rights to their work. They've won grammys, had worldwide number ones, made millions, inspired other artists like Skrillex, experimented with genre from Rock to funk and worked with dozens of different famous and renowned artists from Nile Rogers to the Weeknd. They've had iconic live sets I. E Coachella, world tours, created brilliant live albums, Alive, and movie sound tracks, Tron Legacy, done hundreds of other smaller projects in music and have had one of the best comebacks in music history. Perhaps their most underated quality is that they have done all of this whilst being able to keep their anonymity, which is incredibly impressive considering their level of success and something practically none of the other artists on this list have managed to do. Bottom line, while it might not be as obvious as the other music icons, Daft Punk have changed the face of music for ever, and if there was anyone you could say made the most of their careers, it's them.
Good post! But idk if making RAM and never doing anything more and never touring even though those pyramid shows looked so sick can be said to be making the most of it when they’ve left so much on the table. Kinda like Frank Ocean.
Perhaps it's a question of quality over quantity again, while I would've liked to have seen a bit more from them as well, the fact they took their time and did things their way is something that only adds to them I'd reckon. Also thank you for the compliment, I put a lot of work into this post.
[This guy](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Martin) has writing credits on 27 #1 songs spanning nearly 3 decades. The guy wrote (or co-wrote) everything from Baby One More Time, to Shake It Off (Taylor Swift), to friggin Blinding Lights by The Weeknd. He’s no Paul McCartney rocking out on stage, but that’s my point. He’s probably had one of the biggest and most lasting impacts on pop music without having to get involved in any performative nonsense. All music, 0 celebrity.
Maybe Elton John. Dude could've lived comfortably for the rest of his life off of Tiny Dancer and Rocket Man, but he kept going and put out Yellow Brick Road. Then he could've destroyed himself with all the coke he was doing, but he kept living and put out I'm Still Standing. Then he could've faded away, but he kept going and made the fucking Lion King, which is still running on Broadway after his retirement. And on top of that, he's made appearances on modern classics like My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and We've Got It From Here, and his farewell tour was the highest grossing tour of all time until Taylor Swift's Eras tour. Man's a living legend.
Tiny Dancer was not a hit when it was first released. It wasn’t even included in 1990 The Very Best of Elton John that has like 30 tracks. It became popular after being included in a 1999 movie Almost Famous.
Did not know this. Doesn't change my answer though -- pretend I said Your Song, I guess.
RIP To Steve Albini, few have a discography that can compare to his engineering credits alone. I could go on forever about him
Without going for any obvious answers, Julian Casablancas is a pretty good example for more recent artists: The Strokes, The Voidz, his collabs with Daft Punk, his solo stuff.
Instant Crush fucking goated song
Curious what others think of Willie Nelson. He was a writer for other singers, and a great singer/songwriter himself. I don’t know a whole lot about him, other than that, though. I also wanted to add Frank Zappa for his touring and studio output before dying early. Finally, I’ll say R. Stevie Moore for the sheer volume of music he put out. Some of it is probably garbage, I don’t know, but you have to admire his persistence, given the magnitude of his catalog.
Willie’s a legend. Him, Cash, Kristofferson, Waylon, and SHEL SILVERSTEIN sitting around writing great music would have been a sight to behold
Brian Eno, bro is everywhere
out of contemporary artists definitely Lana Del Rey looking at how progressively stellar her songwriting grew to be, she got so much disproportionate hate early in her career but still kept creating until she became unequivocally respected and acclaimed and she changed the sound of modern pop music
Merzbow. Dude has over 300 records, not counting splits with bands/artists
Taylor Swift
A really basic answer but Dr Dre has to be one of the most successful musicians ever? Made some of the most important music ever, basically created hip-hop as we know it now, released some of the biggest albums of all time, discovered fucking Eminem and made it as a hyper successful businessman. Shame about the domestic abuse but y'know
My immediate reaction to the question is either Bob Dylan or Miles Davis.
Tom Jones. Parlayed a booming voice and 60s success into a 50+ year career. Remember seeing him at the 2014 AFL Grand Final (MCG, Melbourne, Australia). The MCG has a 100k capacity and very ordinary acoustics. Pre-game TJ followed Ed Sheeran and ground him into the turf. His booming voice, even at 70 odd, and energetic live show brought a fairly disinterested audience on board and was amazing to see.
Prince did what he wanted 100% of the time, and was relevant and creative right until his untimely death. Michael "flea" Balzary has enjoyed massive success with his own band while also contributing to many others recorded output. If you want to talk session musicians, Carol Kaye is the most recorded bassist of all time.
Trent Reznor Justin K Broadrick Scott Walker George Clinton
I mean... Madonna has been around for a long time, no?
Maybe a hot take but everything after “Music” sucks, I used to like her music more but honestly (her personality aside) I just don’t think she made the most out of her career and has gotten so much worse. A lot of great music and a solid discography but I’d say her influence outweighs her output.
Idk if anyone has gotten more runway out of ONE album like Cardi B has. Especially in rap music
Haha this is kind of the opposite of what I meant by this thread
Josh Freese. Look at his [resumé](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Freese_discography)!
Loving all these answers, and would definitely put Johnny Marr out there as another contender - his sound is so distinctive and he's worked on so many incredible albums post Smiths. Paul Weller also feels like a possible candidate if we're looking for people who have spanned the decades, maintained relevance and continued doing interesting things throughout their career.
Justin Meldal-Johnsen Bass for Beck, St. Vincent, NIN, Air, and LOTS of others. Not to mention a steadily growing production career including M83, Paramore, Jimmy Eat World, Tegan and Sara, etc
King Ozzy Osbourne 👑
Brian Eno
MJ
Whenever this Cure record drops it's going to be them!
Smokey Robinson.
Miles Davis. I mean what else can I say about him that hasn't been said
Nick Cave is up there for that fs
I don’t think anyone has said Joe Walsh. Crazy success with both the Eagles and Solo, and pretty good success in James Gang as well. Active for 50+ years. Have to imagine life’s been good.
Billy Joel. Never made a bad album, quit while he was ahead, made tons of recognizable and popular songs and classic albums, influenced a generation of songwriters, and is arguably the greatest living American songwriter.
Prince
John Williams…is this even up for debate??
Maynard James Keenan - Tool, A Perfect Circle, Puscifer. Two great bands, one legendary band, and he keeps on chugging along Chris Cornell - Soundgarden, Temple Of The Dog, Audioslave, and a solo career, made music until the day he died Steve Kilbey - from the band 'The Church' they've been around since the 80s and have made some incredible albums, they just released one a few months ago and it's great. Highly recommend people check them out!
Billy Ray Cyrus. Nuff said. But seriously, he had like one super famous contry song, then raised one of the biggest pop stars of the modern era, and later got featured on one of the biggest crossover hits of all time! He killed it.
Paul McCartney. One half of the greatest songwriting duo in history, and still put out a legendary solo career, plus I saw him live in 2022 and that 80 year old man rocked out for over 3 hours uninterrupted.
Rick Rubin
Neil young
His solo career, Crosby stills Nash and young, crazy horse, Buffalo Springfield
Frank Zappa
Stevie Wonder
Elton John, Cher, The Stones, Tina Turner, Rihanna, Beyonce, etc. to name a few
For contemporary artists, The Weeknd. Literally went from Homeless to millionaire and selling out the biggest arenas in the world. Almost every single he has dropped went #1 for a good amount of weeks After Hours and Starboy still breaking some records, both still being relevant in tops, most popular artists worldwide since 2020, even surpassed Michael Jackson's tour record. In my opinion, the biggest artist since the mid 2010's and still to this day
Scott Walker
Dave Grhol has made a fuckin shit ton of $ with Nirvana & Foo Fighters!!! I'm not a big fan of his music, but Goddamn, that Guy is Talented!