Not 'just' popular music, music that is made to be popular by being simplistic and catchy. As the examples I wrote above its pretty obvious where the distinction lies between pop music and any music that went on to being popular.
Music Best Solo Artist in Pop Music History
- Thread starter amolbhatia50k
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I agree with your wider point (especially regarding Hip-Hop) but Prince was a virtuoso on the guitar and bass and piano/Rhodes, don't play him like that
The answer to the question is Michael Jackson. People weren't fainting to Elton or Elvis (the latter was a thief anyways)
Is Bruno Mars a meta meme reference that’s passed me by?
@ that Elvis shite
Nope. Stevie has him beat. However the stretch from What's Going On to I Want You is unrivaled by all but a few.
Everyone fainted in the 50s! Drama queen teenagers.
It wasn't a diss! Though I can see why it came across that way, I would never hate on Prince. You should know me better than that by now.
Probably the fumes from all the pomade.
Just messing with yaIt wasn't a diss! Though I can see why it came across that way, I would never hate on Prince. You should know me better than that by now.
There you go!
Elvis is definitely up there, but did he have appeal outside the states? When the Beatles came over here they bypassed Elvis and went to the source of the funk (Chuck Berry and co)
He was big in the UK. He holds the record for the most number ones here, 21 compared to the Beatles' 17, which is a bit of a shame tbh as the Beatles are obviously far superior.
I consider Dylan on a different level to every name mentioned here. Which is why I stressed on the word "popular". Dylan is a proper proper singer songwriter and probably the most creative and influential, who had a lasting impact on all the great indie bands which form my favourite music now. But like I said he wasnt pop music (he was better). Only thing lacking was his voice thought which many would argue is pretty darn important
I don't think having a conventionally pretty voice is as important as might be expected, Maybe in disposable chart Pop, which is all about grabbing short term attention, don't want anything too challenging or distracting. Once you move out of that space there is a beautiful range of styles and expressiveness to explore.
There is another artist mentioned in this thread, Joanna Newsom, pretty much as far from the conventional voice as you can get, but that woman has created some of the most hauntingly beautiful music I have ever experienced, especially Ys( one of the finest albums ever made I believe) that album, even 10+ years since release can still move me to the verge of tears. I can't imagine another voice singing the same songs, impacting me in the same way, few try, given how unique she is.
Dylan I can understand why some hate his voice, but I don't agree, once you get past some of that initial discomfort at how unusual he can be there is such a depth of beauty to be found, character and an intimacy that can rarely be found in the standard voice.
In that case MJ and Madonna.
Not sure if serious.
Oh, and you could make an honest argument The Beatles were both the greatest pop and then the greatest rock band of all-time in regards to the other discussion.
In terms of sheer influence, probably Robert Johnson.
Yeah that's probably a correct estimation.
Who is that?
One of the greatest guitarists of all time, but probably just as popular in the general consciousness these days as the guy that sold his soul to the Devil at the crossroads before dying young mysteriously.
Oh I agree. Newsom is my second my favourite artist and my favourite solo artist of then all. Better than anyone we're discussing here. Her lyrical wizardly and enchanting music is other worldly. It's just that she doesn't qualify for this thread. Otherwise I absolutely adore her and will always champion her genius.
Nice to know she has another fan on the caf
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Well, he'd have to have become a solo artist for a start.
Really liked Billy Joel too as far as solo artists went as well but probably a level below the top tier ones.
Tbf most of that was down to his manager having a dodgy American citizenship, so he didn’t want to risk a world tour in case it was revoked while he was out of the country.
I find it curious how many people are saying Michael Jackson and that it's obvious. Of course he was hugely popular and successful, but I feel as though most people only actually know and like about 5 songs by him.
Blues master. Influenced just about every blues musician
Might have really, who knows. My guess is that he’d have just got together musicians for touring and recording a la Bowie
I can't accept elvis since song writing is an important criteria for me and he never wrote anything. He was a performer, not a creator.
It is hard to look past Michael Jackson. Unique vocals, brought a totally new level of production to the pop genre, unique dancing talent and brought it all together with a vision that literally conquered the music world in a way that only the Beatles have bettered.
Second tier, I am looking at Madonna, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Elton John, Beyoncé.
Not quite sure if bowie and Eminem qualify, but they deserve a mention.
It is hard to look past Michael Jackson. Unique vocals, brought a totally new level of production to the pop genre, unique dancing talent and brought it all together with a vision that literally conquered the music world in a way that only the Beatles have bettered.
Second tier, I am looking at Madonna, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Elton John, Beyoncé.
Not quite sure if bowie and Eminem qualify, but they deserve a mention.
how much did Jackson rely on Quincy Jones though? Did MJ really write everything? He didn’t write thriller for a start, and the Dangerous onwards was with an army of co-writers.
I think if you beat Elvis with this stick, you beat a lot of others. Elton John doesn’t write any of his own words for example - so how solo is he?
clearly not top - but I’d like to add Meat Loaf into the mix.
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The following have claims. In no particular order.
Elvis
Dylan
Stevie
Jacko
Bowie
Aretha
Prince.
Elvis
Dylan
Stevie
Jacko
Bowie
Aretha
Prince.
Ed Sheeran.
Even the songs he didn't write, he had a huge influence on the creative process. I am not a purist. Elton John also relied on Taupin's fabulous lyrics a lot.
Performers like Elvis, Rihanna, Whitney Houston are great artists to my mind. But for a category like this, I feel that the artists have to be a more critical part of the creative process for most of their work, in order to be included.
Good within his genre but to really be regarded as great, I’d like to see him break out and challenge himself by doing something different. Prince, Bowie, Dylan always looked to do some different. I just think Sheeran is comfortable doing what he does and selling millions. Nothing wrong with it but it just becomes stylised
Ed Sheeran is rubbish, I was taking the piss really. Though he gets props for being an ugly popstar.
I'd say MJ, Prince or Bowie are obvious answers. Queen is great too, but I guess they're considered Rock more than pop.
Well I was being polite about him. I can’t stand his music though it does appear to sell in huge numbers.
I agree, fully and it's a really good point that gets overlooked or not spoken about often enough. Songwriting & composing takes many forms and we’re led to believe that unless the artist is the sole ‘songwriter’ on the credits of their songs, it means they have a team doing the work for them, and they have no input.
In some cases that may be true, like some of the examples you gave. However for the greatest artists of all times it’s almost never this simple, and quite frankly it’s ignorant to continue that belief.
Especially since due to a change in laws (I think in the 80s) songwriting credits have to include everyone who had any input in a song, even if they suggested a phrase, a chorus, or were sampled in anyway, they have to be credited - and since song creation is almost never an isolated process, you end up with most songs having more than 1 person credited, even if the other 5 people had very little input, the average person will see 8 people credited with writing a song and assume the artist can't write their own songs by themselves.
Plus like you said, some of the greatest songs have been changed by the artist in ways such as pitch, tone, arrangements, tempo etc and a small creative change can ruin/improve a song tremendously. It's one of the reasons why some artists have gotten signed just off cover renditions they did on already popular songs, but they've changed it in a way to sound unique &/or better than the original artist did. And on the flip side, you can see just how much someone struggles to recreate a song in the same way as the original artist.
Does Lady Gaga rank anywhere in this? I'm not a fan of her stuff, but she does seem original at least.
On the latter part, just about everyone who’s covered Bob Dylan has done it better than him. Which also underlines his genius as a poet.
Dylan even took to doing All Along The Watchtower in the Hendrix style as he thought it was better
She’s ok. Like her to duet with Sheeran one day ha ha