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Greatest musicians (as artists) (all time)

A ranking of musicians who can be rated in multiple musical areas; singers, songwriters, performers, musical instrument players, rappers, etc. This ranking is about them as artists, in whole. The rating of a musician as an artist may be based on their passion, singing skills, songwriting skills, performing skills, achievements, etc. To see the ranking of all musicians (including composers, etc.), see the higher ranking (Ranking scheme, right menu).

Person:
Gender:
Loc:
Age:
Joe Satriani
49

Joe Satriani

Joseph "Joe" Satriani (born July 15, 1956) is an American instrumental rock guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. Early in his career, Satriani worked as a guitar instructor, with many of his former students achieving fame, such as...
8.7
8.7
from 3 votes
Discuss [-]
Enya
52

Enya

Enya (born Eithne Ní Bhraonáin; anglicised as Enya Brennan; 17 May 1961) is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician, and producer. She has sold 26.5 million RIAA-certified albums in the US and an estimated 75 million worldwide, makin...
8.6
8.6
from 5 votes
Discuss [-]
Kurt Cobain
53

Kurt Cobain

Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who was best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Cobain formed Nirvana with Krist Novoselic in Aberd...
8.6
8.6
from 7 votes
Discuss [-]
Paul Simon
54

Paul Simon

Paul Frederic Simon is an American musician, actor and singer-songwriter. Simon's fame, influence, and commercial success began as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, formed in 1964 with musical partner Art Garfunkel...
8.5
8.5
from 4 votes
Discuss [-]
Bryan Adams
54

Bryan Adams

Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, and photographer.
8.5
8.5
from 4 votes
Discuss [-]
Grimes
56

Grimes

Claire Elise Boucher (born March 17, 1988), better known by her stage name Grimes, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, music video director, and record producer. Born and raised in Vancouver, she first became involved with the under...
8.5
8.5
from 2 votes
Discuss [-]
Adam Jones
56

Adam Jones

Adam Thomas Jones (born January 15, 1965) is a three-time Grammy Award-winning American musician and visual artist, best known for his position as the guitarist for Tool. Jones is also the director of the majority of Tool's music...
8.5
8.5
from 2 votes
Discuss [-]
Chuck Berry
56

Chuck Berry

Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry (born October 18, 1926) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter.
8.5
8.5
from 2 votes
Discuss [-]
Robin Finck
56

Robin Finck

Robert John "Robin" Finck (born November 7, 1971) is an American guitarist. He is one of only a few artists who has played in two different bands listed on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock": Nine Inch Nails (ranked no. 43)...
8.5
8.5
from 2 votes
Discuss [-]
Ritchie Blackmore
56

Ritchie Blackmore

Richard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist and songwriter, who began his professional career as a session musician as a member of the instrumental band The Outlaws and as a backing musician of po...
8.5
8.5
from 2 votes
Discuss [-]
Mick Jagger
61

Mick Jagger

Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer, songwriter and actor, best known as lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones.
8.4
8.4
from 5 votes
Discuss [-]
Bruce Springsteen
61

Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and humanitarian. He is best known for his work with his E Street Band. He is nicknamed "The Boss".
8.4
8.4
from 5 votes
Discuss [-]
Michael Jackson
63

Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actor. Called the King of Pop, his contributions to music and dance, along with his publicized personal life...
8.4
8.4
from 13 votes
Discuss [-]
Ed Sheeran
64

Ed Sheeran

Edward Christopher "Ed" Sheeran (born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter, musician, and occasional actor.
8.3
8.3
from 3 votes
Discuss [1]
Mariah Carey
65

Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey (born March 27, 1969 or 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She rose to prominence after releasing her self-titled debut studio album Mariah Carey in 1990. It went multiplatinum and...
8.3
8.3
from 4 votes
Discuss [-]
Marilyn Manson
66

Marilyn Manson

Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American musician, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actor, painter, multimedia artist, and former music journalist. He is known for his cont...
8
8
from 2 votes
Discuss [-]
Vic Vogel
66

Vic Vogel

Victor "Vic" Stefan Vogel, (born August 3, 1935) is a jazz pianist, composer, arranger, trombonist and conductor in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
8
8
from 2 votes
Discuss [-]
Bob Dylan
66

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, artist and writer.
8
8
from 2 votes
Discuss [-]
Whitney Houston
66

Whitney Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, producer, and model. Houston is one of pop music's best-selling music artists of all-time, with an estimated 170–200 million records s...
8
8
from 2 votes
Discuss [-]
The Notorious B.I.G.
66

The Notorious B.I.G.

Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names The Notorious B.I.G, Biggie, or Biggie Smalls, was an American rapper...
8
8
from 2 votes
Discuss [-]
Sammy Hagar
66

Sammy Hagar

Samuel Roy "Sammy" Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as The Red Rocker, is an American rock vocalist, guitarist, songwriter and musician. Hagar came to prominence in the 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose. He afterward...
8
8
from 2 votes
Discuss [-]
Billy Joel
72

Billy Joel

William Martin "Billy" Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American pianist, singer-songwriter, and composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth-best-selling recording artist and the thir...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Earl Sweatshirt
72

Earl Sweatshirt

Thebe Neruda Kgositsile, better known by his stage name Earl Sweatshirt, is an American rapper-producer and former member of the Los Angeles-based hip hop collective Odd Future. He is signed to Columbia Records, as well as his own...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Robert Trujillo
72

Robert Trujillo

Roberto Agustin Trujillo (born October 23, 1964) better known as Robert Trujillo, is an American musician known for his role as the current bassist of American heavy metal band Metallica. He also was a member of crossover thrash m...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Michael Stearns
72

Michael Stearns

Michael Stearns (born 1948) is a United States musician and composer of ambient music. He is also known as a film composer, sound designer and soundtrack producer for large format films, theatrical films, documentaries, commercial...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Carly Rae Jepsen
72

Carly Rae Jepsen

Carly Rae Jepsen (born November 21, 1985) is a Canadian singer and songwriter from Mission, British Columbia currently based in Vancouver. In 2007, she placed third in Canadian Idol season five's competition. Jepsen independently...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Eddie Vedder
72

Eddie Vedder

Eddie Vedder (born Edward Louis Severson December 23, 1964) is an American musician who is best known for being the lead vocalist and one of three guitarists of the grunge band Pearl Jam...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Iggy Pop
72

Iggy Pop

Iggy Pop (born James Newell Osterberg, Jr.; April 21, 1947) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He is the vocalist of influential proto-punk band The Stooges, who reunited in 2003, and has been known for his outr...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Timbaland
72

Timbaland

Timothy Zachery "Timbaland" Mosley (born March 10, 1972) is an American rapper, record producer, and songwriter. Timbaland's first full credit production work was in 1996 on Ginuwine...the Bachelor for R&B singer Ginuwine. After f...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Janis Joplin
72

Janis Joplin

Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter who first rose to fame in the late 1960s as the lead singer of the psychedelic/acid rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company, and later a...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Scott Weiland
72

Scott Weiland

Scott Richard Weiland (né Kline; October 27, 1967 – December 3, 2015) was an American musician and singer-songwriter. During a career spanning three decades, Weiland was best known as the lead singer for the successful rock band S...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Mike McCready
72

Mike McCready

Michael "Mike" David McCready (born April 5, 1966) is an American musician who serves as the lead guitarist for the American rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding mem...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Duff McKagan
72

Duff McKagan

Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan (born February 5, 1964) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and author. He is best known for his twelve-year tenure as the bassist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved wo...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Ryuichi Sakamoto
72

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Ryuichi Sakamoto (坂本 龍一 Sakamoto Ryūichi, born January 17, 1952) (Japanese pronunciation: [sakamoto ɽju͍ːitɕi]) is a Japanese musician, activist, composer, record producer, writer, singer, pianist, and actor based in Tokyo and New...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Randy Rhoads
72

Randy Rhoads

Randall William "Randy" Rhoads (December 6, 1956 – March 19, 1982) was an American heavy metal guitarist who played with Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot. He died in a plane accident while on tour with Osbourne in Florida in 1982...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Tommy Emmanuel
72

Tommy Emmanuel

William Thomas "Tommy" Emmanuel (born 31 May 1955) is an Australian virtuoso guitarist, songwriter and occasional singer, best known for his complex fingerstyle technique, energetic performances and the use of percussive effects o...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Tiësto
72

Tiësto

Tijs Michiel Verwest (born 17 January 1969), better known by his stage name Tiësto, is a Dutch DJ and record producer. In 1997 he founded the label Black Hole Recordings with Arny Bink, where he released the Magik and In Search of...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Aretha Franklin
72

Aretha Franklin

Aretha Louise Franklin (born March 25, 1942) is an American singer and musician. Franklin began her career singing gospel at her father, minister C. L. Franklin's church as a child. In 1960, at the age of 18, Franklin embarked on...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Marvin Gaye
72

Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye ( born Marvin Pentz Gay Jr. April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984 ) was an American soul singer, songwriter, and musician. Gaye helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Alice Cooper
72

Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier; February 4, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, musician and occasional actor whose career spans five decades.
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Roger Waters
72

Roger Waters

George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd with drummer Nick Mason, keyboardist Richard Wright and...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Tak Matsumoto
72

Tak Matsumoto

Takahiro "Tak" Matsumoto (born on March 27, 1961 in Toyonaka, Osaka) is a Grammy Award-winning Japanese guitarist, producer, arranger, composer, singer and songwriter. In addition to being the guitarist and lead composer for the h...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Flea
72

Flea

Michael Peter Balzary (born October 16, 1962), better known by his stage name Flea, is an Australian-born American musician and occasional actor. He is best known as the bassist, co-founding member, and one of the composers of the...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Angus Young
72

Angus Young

Angus McKinnon Young (born 31 March 1955) is a Scottish-born Australian guitarist best known as a co-founder, lead guitarist, and songwriter of the Australian hard rock band AC/DC.
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
James Hetfield
72

James Hetfield

James Alan Hetfield (born August 3, 1963) is the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, main songwriter, and lyricist for the American heavy metal band Metallica. Hetfield is mainly known for rhythm playing, but has also per...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Brian Johnson
72

Brian Johnson

Brian Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and songwriter. Since 1980, he has been the lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC, with whom he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Jason Newsted
72

Jason Newsted

Jason Curtis Newsted (born March 4, 1963) is an American metal musician, known for playing bass guitar with the bands Metallica (in which he did occasional lead vocals), Voivod and Flotsam and Jetsam. Joining Metallica in 1986 aft...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Jack White
72

Jack White

Jack White (born John Anthony Gillis; July 9, 1975) is an American musician, record producer, and occasional actor.
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Kirk Hammett
72

Kirk Hammett

Kirk Lee Hammett (born November 18, 1962) is the lead guitarist and songwriter for the heavy metal band Metallica and has been a member of the band since 1983. Before joining Metallica he formed and named the band Exodus...
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Keith Richards
72

Keith Richards

Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, singer and songwriter, actor, and one of the original members of the rock band The Rolling Stones.
8
8
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
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