100 Greatest Artists Of AllTime', according to VH1

Fri 10th Sep, 2010 in International News

VH1’s misleadingly named list of the ‘100 Greatest Artists Of All Time’ raises some very interesting questions. First of all it seems that only musicians count as artists in the world of VH1, which is fair enough… it is a list compiled by a music network.

But there are still many, many other points for debate, such as:
Should Alicia Keys make the cut on the list of the ‘100 Greatest Artists Of All Time’? Is Mariah Carey a better artist than OutKast, Depeche Mode, Pretenders or Journey? Are the Bee Gees really the second best band in Australian history and yet not quite as good as George Michael?

In other shocks Madonna is the only female artist who could make it to the top 20 – though after last year’s Hottest 100 of All Time maybe that’s no real surprise.

The top 5 on this list are presented in reverse alphabetical order – with the ‘correct’ ranking to be revealed soon – but here’s the full countdown:

100 Alicia Keys
99 Hall & 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 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 Notorious B.I.G.
62 Genesis
61 Cream
60 Whitney Houston
59 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
58 Cheap Trick
57 Iggy & The Stooges
56 KISS
55 Peter Gabriel
54 Public Enemy
53 Little Richard
52 Beyoncé
51 Billy Joel
50 Sade
49 Parliament-Funkadelic
48 Rage Against The Machine
47 Jay-Z
46 Ramones
45 Al Green
44 Joni Mitchell
43 Ray Charles
42 Metallica
41 Van Halen
40 The Police
39 The Kinks
38 Sly & 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
24 The Velvet Underground
25 Chuck Berry
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
09 James Brown
08 Elvis Presley
07 Prince
06 Jimi Hendrix

05 Rolling Stones
04 Led Zeppelin
03 Michael Jackson
02 Bob Dylan
01 The Beatles