Theoretically I should've published this back in July; it's not like I didn't have the time.
It's the latest iteration of a list I first created in
2005 and updated in
2010 and
2015--in July or early August.
I can't really cite good justification for having skipped it until now, but in being not only a fan of recorded music but also--typically rather prolifically--live concerts, there is a certain wistfulness, perhaps even ruefulness, in citing so many great artists whose tour plans have been shelved until who knows when (if they're even still with us.)
I expect absolutely no one to agree with this list, and not just because I've never fully agreed with
ANY list (that's really not the point of list making).
But this is MY list. Of MY favorites.
I'm
not saying these are the best, or should be your favorites. And quite knowingly, with a foremost affinity for guitar-driven rock, this doesn't cover a vast idiomatic range even within the constructs of "popular music."
I certainly like, would've considered eligible and may have included some acts representing blues, country, folk, soul, R&B, pure pop, Motown, disco, rap, hip hop, funk and other popular musical styles. (And jazz, classical, opera and very much so Broadway, though it's beyond the purview here.)
So my choices--and rankings--come with no insistence or preaching, but also no apologies. Keep in mind, too, that while I did take the sequencing seriously, in some ways it's kind of arbitrary and could easily change day to day, if not year to year.
Some who look at the past lists will see that R.E.M.--while still in the Top 10--has slid somewhat, but I really can't say I like them any less than before. But perhaps their retirement has prompted me just feel like I like other legends a bit more.
Perhaps, sadly, death helps as well, as David Bowie made my Top 10 for the first time and Prince jumped from #84 in 2015 to #36 now.
But great concerts also factor in, and helps explain why Depeche Mode has jumped nearly 50 spots.
As in 2015, I've generally opted to include solo acts who derived from major bands as part of the band's entry, whether in auxiliary (e.g. The Beatles + the members' solo careers) or joint (Black Sabbath/Ozzy Osbourne) fashion. But where this really didn't make sense (Nirvana and Foo Fighters), I listed them separately.
It certainly isn't perfect, but especially in this crazy year, just go with it.
My 100 All-Time Favorite Artists of Popular Music - 2020
1. Bruce Springsteen
2. The Beatles (+ solo, Wings)
3. Led Zeppelin (+ Robert Plant)
4. Nirvana
5. The Rolling Stones
6. The Who
7. U2
8. David Bowie
9. R.E.M.
10. The Kinks (+ Ray Davies)
11. Pearl Jam
12. The Jam (+ Paul Weller)
13. The Smashing Pumpkins (+ Zwan, Billy Corgan)
14. Midnight Oil
15. AC/DC
16. The Clash
17. The Replacements (+ Paul Westerberg)
18. The Ramones
19. Jimi Hendrix
20. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
21. Cheap Trick
22. Neil Young (+ CSNY, Buffalo Springfield)
23. Rush
24. Queen
25. Van Halen
26. Depeche Mode
27. Bob Seger
28. Elvis Costello
29. Bob Dylan
30. Arcade Fire
31. Hüsker Dü/Bob Mould/Sugar
32. Soundgarden
33. Blur
34. Radiohead
35. Dinosaur Jr.
36. Prince
37. Talking Heads (+ David Byrne)
38. Pink Floyd
39. Guns 'N Roses
40. Green Day
41. Foo Fighters
42. Elton John
43. Steely Dan
44. Warren Zevon
45. The Killers
46. Stevie Wonder
47. The Wildhearts
48. Stereophonics
49. The Police
50. Aerosmith
51. Black Sabbath/Ozzy Osbourne
52. Creedence Clearwater Revival (+ John Fogerty)
53. Johnny Cash
54. Simon & Garfunkel (+ Paul Simon)
55. Eric Clapton/Cream/Derek & the Dominoes/Yardbirds
56. Fleetwood Mac
57. Willie Nile
58. The Waterboys
59. Peter Gabriel/(early) Genesis
60. Billy Joel
61. John Mellencamp
62. The Zombies
63. The Cure
64. Maxïmo Park
65. Garbage
66. Buddy Guy
67. Electric Light Orchestra
68. Jackson Browne
69. Metallica
70. Wilco
71. Van Morrison (+ Them)
72. Bob Marley
73. System of a Down
74. Smoking Popes
75. Blondie
76. Liz Phair
77. Elvis Presley
78. The Cars
79. The Doors
80. Beach Boys
81. Santana
82. Stevie Ray Vaughan
83. The Byrds
84. Stone Temple Pilots
85. Bee Gees
86. Leonard Cohen
87. White Stripes/Jack White
88. The Pretenders
89. Coldplay
90. Buddy Holly
91. Manic Street Preachers
92. The Supremes/Diana Ross
93. Nine Inch Nails
94. Velvet Underground/Lou Reed
95. Sex Pistols
96. Aretha Franklin
97. Smokey Robinson/The Miracles
98. Ash
99. Alejandro Escovedo
100. Dire Straits
The Next 30
Material Issue
Boston
Chuck Berry
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Taylor Swift
Beck
The Flaming Lips
Rod Stewart/The Faces/Jeff Beck Group
Love
Kiss
BoDeans
Social Distortion
Eagles
Def Leppard
Sly & the Family Stone
ZZ Top
Pulp
Weezer
Adele
The Monkees
Alice Cooper
The Struts
The Pixies
Supertramp
Oasis
The Tragically Hip
Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry
Rage Against the Machine (+ Tom Morello)
Graham Parker
The Bangles
