Names to Know in Music

'NOTE: THIS PAGE IS EXTREMELY INCOMPLETE AND PROTECTED FOR ONE WEEK SO THAT ONLY ADMINS CAN EDIT IT. ADMINS ARE WELCOME TO ADD EXPLANATIONS WHY THESE PEOPLE ARE ON THE LIST, NEW ENTRIES, AND NEW SECTIONS. THE TALK PAGE SHOULD BE EDITABLE BY EVERYONE.'

This page is part of the "Names to Know" project.

The groundbreaking, the influential, the seminal... but not necessarily the most famous people in the music industry, in any and all styles and genres of music.

These people are the genre definers, the Trope Makers, the people that other musicians and people in the music industry look to for inspiration.

For works to know in music, see Music of Note.

An incomplete list. Feel free to add more.

Groups
"I was talking to Lou Reed the other day, and he said that the first Velvet Underground record sold only 30,000 copies in its first five years. Yet, that was an enormously important record for so many people. I think everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band! So I console myself in thinking that some things generate their rewards in second-hand ways."

- Brian Eno


 * AC/DC - The most popular band in hard rock/heavy metal (Back in Black is the second biggest-selling album in history, after Michael Jackson's Thriller).
 * The Beatles - The most popular group of the British Invasion, the "Fab Four" still get airplay a half-century after they broke up.
 * Bill Haley & His Comets - The first Rock and Roll group to chart a hit, legitimizing the entire Rock genre.
 * The Grateful Dead - They were spending their lives on tour before it was cool.
 * Joy Division - Pioneers of the Post-punk movement.
 * King Crimson - Their debut album In the Court of the Crimson King had a major influence on Progressive Rock.
 * Led Zeppelin - Three Words: "Stairway to Heaven"
 * My Bloody Valentine - the first big "shoegazing" group
 * Nirvana - The "grunge" group.
 * Pink Floyd - The Psychedelic Rock group.
 * The Ramones - The first Punk Rock group.
 * Red Hot Chilli Pipers - Popularizers of rock music on the bagpipes.
 * R.E.M. - The first name in "alternative rock."
 * The Rolling Stones - The "bad boys" of the British Invasion.
 * Rush - Canada's greatest rock group (unless you think The Tragically Hip is). The literate great Canadian band.
 * Sex Pistols - Had a huge influence on punk and popular music as a whole.
 * The Three Tenors - Turned high culture into pop culture.
 * The Tragically Hip - Canada's greatest rock group (unless you think Rush is). The socially-aware great Canadian band.
 * U2 - Possibly Ireland's greatest rock group, definitely their most successful.
 * Velvet Underground - Late 60's/early 70's proto-punk/art rock.
 * The Who - The third of the big three British Invasion groups, and the one that inspired (but didn't play) Punk Rock.
 * The Yardbirds - Another British Invasion group, best-known nowadays for some of their members: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and Keith Moon.

Electronic groups

 * The Chemical Brothers - Helped popularize the big beat genre.
 * Daft Punk - They put French House into the mainstream.
 * Depeche Mode
 * Kraftwerk - They pioneered and popularized Electronic Music.
 * Merzbow - The foremost act in the Japanese noise genre.
 * Ministry - The most prominent band to ever blend industrial music and hard rock.
 * The Prodigy
 * Skinny Puppy - The most influential group in the current wave of industrial music.
 * Tangerine Dream - Also pioneers of electronic music.
 * Throbbing Gristle - The band who originated the term "industrial music" (coined by their friend Monte Cazazza for their label Industrial Records, which he released some music on).

Guitarists
"There are only two kinds of rock guitarists: Jeff Beck and everyone else."

- "Mio Akiyama", K-On!


 * Jeff Beck
 * Adrian Belew
 * Chuck Berry
 * Ritchie Blackmore
 * Liona Boyd
 * Eric Clapton
 * Bo Diddley
 * Robert Fripp
 * Jimi Hendrix
 * Buddy Holly
 * Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath)
 * Pat Metheny
 * Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine)
 * Jimmy Page
 * Les Paul
 * Vernon Reid (Living Colour)
 * Django Reinhardt - The seminal jazz guitarist.
 * Snakefinger (aka Philip Lithman)
 * Trey Spruance (Mr. Bungle, Secret Chiefs 3)
 * Steve Vai
 * Eddie Van Halen
 * Angus Young (AC/DC)
 * Frank Zappa

Bassists

 * Jack Bruce (Cream)
 * Stanley Clarke
 * Les Claypool (Primus)
 * Bootsy Collins
 * Donald "Duck" Dunn
 * Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Melvins)
 * Bernard Edwards (Chic)
 * John Entwistle (The Who)
 * Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
 * Larry Graham (Sly and the Family Stone)
 * Peter Hook (Joy Division, New Order)
 * James Jamerson
 * Tom Jenkinson (Squarepusher)
 * John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin)
 * Mick Karn (Japan)
 * Lemmy Kilmister (Motorhead)
 * Mark King (Level 42)
 * Bill Laswell
 * Geddy Lee
 * Tony Levin
 * Charles Mingus
 * Jaco Pastorius
 * Robbie Shakespeare
 * Chris Squire (Yes)
 * Mike Watt
 * Doug Wimbish
 * Rob Wright (NoMeansNo)

Drummers

 * Tony Allen (Fela Kuti)
 * Ginger Baker (Cream)
 * Hal Blaine
 * John Bonham (Led Zeppelin)
 * Terry Bozzio
 * Bill Bruford (Yes, King Crimson)
 * Clem Burke (Blondie)
 * Danny Carey (Tool)
 * Billy Cobham
 * Vinnie Colaiuta
 * Phil Collins
 * Dale Crover (Melvins)
 * Sly Dunbar
 * Steve Gadd
 * Jim Gordon
 * Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters)
 * Elvin Jones
 * Manu Katché
 * Jim Keltner
 * Gene Krupa
 * Keith LeBlanc
 * Keith Moon
 * Ian Paice (Deep Purple)
 * Neil Peart (Rush)
 * Tommy Ramone (Ramones)
 * Buddy Rich
 * Max Roach
 * Bill Stevenson (The Descendents, Black Flag)
 * Clyde Stubblefield (James Brown)
 * Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson (The Roots)
 * Charlie Watts (The Rolling Stones)
 * Max Weinberg

Pianists and Keyboardists

 * Tori Amos
 * Victor Borge
 * John Cale (Velvet Underground, solo)
 * Wendy/Walter Carlos
 * Ray Charles
 * Burton Cummings (The Guess Who, solo)
 * Rick Davies (Supertramp)
 * Dr. John
 * George Duke
 * Keith Emerson
 * Glenn Gould
 * Herbie Hancock
 * Jools Holland (Squeeze, solo)
 * Jean-Michel Jarre
 * Billy Joel
 * Elton John
 * Booker T. Jones
 * Howard Jones
 * Michael Kaeshammer
 * Jerry Lee Lewis
 * Liberace - "Mr. Showmanship" proved you could make a fortune playing the piano
 * Jon Lord (Deep Purple)
 * Manfred Mann
 * Ray Manzarek (The Doors)
 * Sarah McLachlan - also the founder of Lilith Fair, which broke down barriers keeping female musicians out of the spotlight
 * Freddie Mercury (Queen)
 * Patrick Moraz (The Moody Blues, Yes)
 * Steve Nieve (Elvis Costello)
 * Oscar Peterson
 * Allen Ravenstine (Pere Ubu)
 * Leon Russell
 * Ian Underwood (Frank Zappa)
 * Rick Wakeman (Yes, solo)
 * Stevie Wonder
 * Bernie Worrell
 * Warren Zevon

Harpists

 * Loreena McKennitt

Clarinetists

 * Benny Goodman - The "King of Swing" made jazz respectable.

Singers

 * Gene Autry
 * Joan Baez - The female protest singer
 * Björk
 * David Bowie
 * James Brown
 * Kate Bush
 * Cab Calloway
 * Johnny Cash
 * Leonard Cohen
 * Elvis Costello
 * Gord Downie
 * Bob Dylan
 * Whitney Houston
 * Michael Jackson - Thriller is the biggest-selling album ever.
 * Janis Joplin
 * John Lennon
 * Madonna
 * Bob Marley
 * Freddie Mercury
 * Joni Mitchell
 * Phil Ochs
 * Luciano Pavarotti
 * Elvis Presley
 * Prince - who really should also be listed in half of the other sections in this list
 * Frank Sinatra
 * Bruce Springsteen
 * Neil Young

Rappers

 * 50 Cent
 * A Tribe Called Quest
 * Beastie Boys
 * Cypress Hill
 * De La Soul
 * Dr. Dre - Worked with many influential rappers, including 2Pac, Snoop Dogg and Eminem.
 * Eminem - The most important rapper around.
 * Ice Cube
 * Ice-T - Pioneer of Gangsta Rap
 * Jay-Z
 * Kanye West
 * Kendrick Lamar
 * Lil Wayne
 * N.W.A.
 * Nas
 * The Notorious B.I.G.
 * OutKast
 * Public Enemy
 * Queen Latifah
 * Run DMC
 * Slick Rick
 * Snoop Dogg
 * Tupac Shakur
 * Wu-Tang Clan
 * Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
 * The Last Poets - Considered the very first rap group.
 * Gil Scott-Heron
 * Jurassic 5
 * LL Cool J
 * The Sugarhill Gang

Composers

 * Aaron Copland
 * Andrew Lloyd Webber
 * Antonio Vivaldi
 * Claude Debussy
 * Dmitri Shostakovich
 * Elmer Bernstein
 * Felix Mendelssohn
 * Franz Liszt
 * Franz Schubert
 * Fryderyk Chopin
 * George Gershwin
 * Gilbert and Sullivan
 * Giuseppe Verdi
 * Gustav Holst
 * Henry Mancini
 * Irving Berlin
 * Joe Hisaishi
 * Johann Sebastian Bach
 * Johannes Brahms
 * John Barry
 * John Williams
 * Joseph Haydn
 * Leonard Bernstein
 * Lerner and Loewe
 * Ludwig van Beethoven
 * Philip Glass
 * Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
 * Richard Wagner
 * Rodgers and Hammerstein
 * Stephen Schwartz
 * Stephen Sondheim
 * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
 * Yoko Kanno

Producers

 * King Tubby - Influenced the development of Dub music in the 1960s and 1970s
 * Phil Spector
 * Sam Phillips
 * Arif Marden
 * Berry Gordy
 * Brian Eno
 * Butch Vig
 * Chris Thomas
 * Danger Mouse (aka Brian Burton)
 * Daniel Lanois
 * François Kevorkian
 * George Martin
 * Jeff Lynne
 * Jerry Wexler
 * Jim Steinman
 * Jimmy Iovine
 * Joe Meek
 * John Leckie
 * Lee "Scratch" Perry
 * Martin Hannett
 * Nile Rodgers
 * Quincy Jones
 * Rick Rubin
 * Robert John "Mutt" Lange
 * Sam Dickinson
 * Steve Albini
 * Steve Lillywhite
 * Todd Rundgren
 * Tom Dowd
 * Trevor Horn

Electronic music producers

 * Aphex Twin
 * Brian Eno - The Ambient artist.
 * Fatboy Slim - Helped popularize the Big Beat genre in the 1990s.
 * Frankie Knuckles - A pioneer of House Music during the 1980s.
 * Adrian Sherwood
 * Armin Van Buuren
 * Deadmau5
 * Diplo
 * Dr. Dre
 * J Dilla
 * James Murphy
 * Paul van Dyk
 * Richie Hawtin
 * Skrillex
 * Steve Aoki

DJs

 * Afrika Bambaataa - Influenced the development of Hip Hop in the 1980s.
 * DJ Kool Herc - Helped originate Hip Hop in the 1970s
 * A-Trak
 * Carl Cox
 * DJ Babu (Jurassic 5, Dilated Peoples)
 * DJ Jazzy Jeff
 * DJ Krush
 * DJ Premier
 * DJ Q-Bert
 * DXT aka Grandmixer D.ST - First brought scratching to the mainstream on Herbie Hancock's "Rockit" (although the World Famous Supreme Team came close with Malcolm McLaren's "Buffalo Gals").
 * Grand Wizard Throdore - Widely acknowledged as the inventor of scratching
 * Grandmaster Flash
 * Invisibl Skratch Pikls
 * Kid Koala
 * Larry Levan
 * Mix Master Mike
 * Pete Tong