Annoyumous

The editors of Life Magazine had to be drunk when they made this list up.

1. Elvis Presley
2. The Beatles
3. Bob Dylan
4. James Brown
5. The Rolling Stones
6. Madonna
7. Stevie Wonder
8. Chuck Berry
9. Michael Jackson
10. Kurt Cobain
11. Eric Clapton
12. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
13. Smokey Robinson
14. Aretha Franklin
15. Bruce Springsteen
16. Jimi Hendrix
17. Ray Charles
18. The Everly Brothers
19. The Drifters
20. The Beach Boys
21. Buddy Holly
22. The Band
23. Bob Marley
24. The Four Tops
25. Grateful Dead
26. Public Enemy
27. Sting
28. U2
29. The Isley Brothers
30. Little Richard
31. Janis Joplin
32. The Moonglows
33. Tina Turner
34. The Clash
35. Roy Orbison
36. David Bowie
37. The Doors
38. The Four Seasons
39. Ramones
40. Otis Redding
41. The Supremes
42. The Who
43. Blondie
44. Sly and the Family Stone
45. Van Morrison
46. The Shirelles
47. Sam & Dave
48. Elvis Costello
49. The Velvet Underground
50. Prince
51. The Righteous Brothers
52. The Byrds
53. The Bee Gees
54. Sam Cooke
55. Led Zeppelin
56. The Coasters
57. Santana
58. The Sex Pistols
59. Steely Dan
60. Wilson Pickett
61. Linda Ronstadt
62. Dave Matthews Band
63. Talking Heads
64. The Temptations
65. The Allman Brothers Band
66. Paul Simon
67. The Kinks
68. Marvin Gaye
69. R.E.M.
70. Dion
71. Dr. Dre
72. Dusty Springfield
73. Elton John
74. Curtis Mayfield
75. Radiohead
76. Beastie Boys
77. Black Sabbath
78. The Mamas and the Papas
79. Joni Mitchell
80. John Fogerty
81. The Pretenders
82. Al Green
83. Fats Domino
84. Martha and the Vandellas
85. Fleetwood Mac
86. Smashing Pumpkins
87. Kiss
88. Jefferson Airplane
89. The Flamingos
90. Dionne Warwick
91. Gene Pitney
92. George Clinton
93. Tom Petty
94. Bjork
95. Beck
96. The Eagles
97. Traffic
98. Rage Against the Machine
99. Pearl Jam
100. Frank Zappa

Gdrlv

I actually think it's a pretty respectable list, as far as these types of lists go.

demonio

That list is a joke.

Radiohead ahead of Black Sabbath? What moron would actually believe that?

Three Day Delay

It's a bit silly trying to debate thee merits of Madonna vs. Smokey Robinson vs. The Clash.

I have never understood music evaluators need for "rankings." Maybe they should have a BCS instead.

Jason

It's a pretty white bread list. All the big names you'd expect are there, no obvious omissions, and a few surprises (sabbath, radiohead). Since they're a non-music rag, they seem to be trying a little too hard to cover all the bases, though.

For the obligatory criticism, Zappa should be much higher. Switch him with the Four Seasons.

Ergyu

I never really understood why they put rap acts on the best Rock and Roll lists. That list is pretty bad though despite the rap. Come on, Led zeppelin behind Kurt Cobain?

MJKTool

Come on!....Pink Floyd not even in the top 100?, yet they have Dr. Dre

Geoff H

Something's wrong with that list....

Led Zeppelin's not in the top five.

ziggy

I think I've looked at every list posted here - and they're all crap. All the listers seem to try to include everyone's favorites so they don't offend any groups. The lists they do on VH1 are better - not much better.

KevinSmithIsGod

Out of that list..my top 10 would be (and sticking to whats on the list)

Elvis
Beatles
Buddy Holly
Chuck Berry
Mamas and Papas
The Who
Rolling Stones
James Brown
Jimi Hendrix
KISS

Bands I would take off...
Pumpkins
Dr Dre
Public enemy
REM
Dave Matthews
Beck
Bjork(even though I did her)

I would also take off John Fogerty and replace him wth Credence..

Artists I think should be on there...
Richie Valens
Ricky Nelson
Van Halen
Aerosmith
Cheap Trick
Rush
Motley Crue
and Im sure I could think of others...

ziggy

Whoa, whoa, whoa - what is that? When you say "did her" do you mean what I think you mean? Was she wearing a dress that looks like a goose at the time?

KevinSmithIsGod

Rotfl

OOPS!! I meant to type "DIG" her..not did her..even though I would..

Deftones

doesn't the term "rock and rollers" connotate the artist plays rock and roll music?

Wag The Frog

You wanna replace these with Motley Crue?

lol

Well, maybe I'd replace Dr. Dre since he's made a fortune out of basically just recycling old George Clinton/Parliament songs.

These things are pointless anyway.
Nobody will ever have the same list.

cdollaz

Seems that Nirvana is being over-rated once again.

Johnny Zhivago

Any top 100 list that contains the words Dave Matthews Band loses any and all relevance... What a joke.

Agreed about Nirvana... Most over-everything band of all time...

Zappa needs to be about 95 spots higher on this list... Hendrix, Sex Pistols need to be way up there as well...

Yancey

Why would you do that? No one else in Credence made any sort of songwriting contribution and John was the only memorable personality.

GuessWho

I immediately found it interesting that "Kurt Cobain" was listed, NOT "Nirvana"

John Lennon and Jim Morrison are not listed separately; they're part of The Beatles and The Doors, respectively.

KevinSmithIsGod

Yes, I would.
None of those artists have had the impact on rock and the rock lifestyle like Motley Crue...
The crue more or less are the poster children for everything that is rock n roll..

Johnny Zhivago

REM had more impact on modern rock than Motley Crue will ever have in a thousand years... I can see your point, to a point, on the others, minus Public Enemy...

Agree about Van Halen 100%. They should definitely be on any top 100 list...

MJKTool

I didnt know Public Enemy played Rock N Roll

KevinSmithIsGod

You have got to be kidding me???
what did REM do that wasnt already done or what did they bring into the mainstream that wasnt already here??

JonTurner

Pearl Jam at #99

Yeah, like this list means s***!

misawa200

AC/DC GREATEST RNR BAND IS NOT IN THE LIST
AND THE FVCKIN SUPREMES ARE IN?

FOUR SEASONS=TO RNR?

WHERE THE HELL IS IRON MAIDEN?

I HATE NOISE BANDS LIKE SLAYER N SEPULTURA BUT I BET THEY'RE MORE RNR THAN MADONNA!

Johnny Zhivago

Simply, REM turned on a LOT of mainstream folks to the indie/college scene... Helped push the "alternative" sound into commercial airplay + mainstream acceptance (see Grammy Awards) + spawned a generation of wannabes... They were not the first, probably not the best, but they were the biggest and most influential.

What did the Crue do, other than a lot of drugs and mischief?