KAN　

NAS　

Beginning with his classic debut, Illmatic (1994), Nas stood tall for years as one of New York City’s leading rap voices, outspokenly expressing a righteous, self-empowered swagger that endeared ..more

Christopher Cross　

Christopher Cross was far and away the biggest new star of 1980, virtually defining adult contemporary radio with a series of smoothly sophisticated ballads including the chart-topping Sailing ..more

Eagles　

With five number one singles, 14 Top 40 hits, and four number one albums, the Eagles were among the most successful recording artists of the 1970s. At the end of the 20th century, two of those albu ..more

Jeff Beck　

While he was as innovative as Jimmy Page, as tasteful as Eric Clapton, and nearly as visionary as Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck never achieved the same commercial success as any of those contemp ..more

Kate Bush　

One of the most successful and popular solo female performers to come out of England during the last several decades of the 20th century, Kate Bush was also one of the most unusual, with her keenin ..more

Beach Boys　

Beginning their career as the most popular surf band in the nation, the Beach Boys finally emerged by 1966 as America’s preeminent pop group, the only act able to challenge (for a brief time) the o ..more

Tanimura Yumi　

Bryan Ferry　

While his tenure as the frontman for the legendary Roxy Music remained his towering achievement, singer Bryan Ferry also carved out a successful solo career that continued in the lush, sophistic ..more

Nina Simone　

Nina Simone was one of the most gifted vocalists of her generation, and also one of the most eclectic. Simone was a singer, pianist, and songwriter who bent genres to her will rather than allowi ..more

AC / DC　

AC/DC’s mammoth power chord roar became one of the most influential hard rock sounds of the ’70s, and is now one of the defining sounds of rock and metal. In its own way, it was a reaction against ..more

John Williams　

Film music was typically mellow and sounded nostalgic until early ’60s. Nobody expected that film score would be as much exciting as Beatles and Michael Jackson. Enter John Williams, one of the most p ..more

Red Hot Chili Peppers　

Red Hot Chili Peppers was once called a mixture-rock band for its diversity of music styles. Fusing rock, funk, punk and rap into one, the pioneering modern rock band looks set to go on with its 20 ..more

Thompson Twins　

The Thompson Twins -- who were neither a duo nor related, but simply named after the Tin Tin cartoon -- were one of the more popular synth pop groups of the early MTV era, scoring a handful of h ..more

My Bloody Valentine　

Like the Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth, and the Jesus and Mary Chain before them, My Bloody Valentine redefined what noise meant within the context of pop songwriting. Led by guitarist { ..more

Blur　

Initially, Blur were one of the multitude of British bands that appeared in the wake of the Stone Roses, mining the same swirling, pseudo-psychedelic guitar pop, only with louder guitars. ..more

Kreator　

Arguably the most influential and successful European thrash metal band ever, Germany’s Kreator are also by far the most enduring. Like many of their European speed metal brethren, Kreator fused ..more

Donovan　

Upon his emergence during the mid-’60s, Donovan was anointed Britain’s answer to Bob Dylan, a facile but largely unfounded comparison which compromised the Scottish folk-pop troubadour’s own uniq ..more

Testament　

Testament were the biggest thrash metal band never to reach the platinum plateau. In fact, the San Francisco quintet seemed on the verge of challenging Metallica (their most obvious influence) i ..more

Kraftwerk　

During the mid-’70s, Germany’s Kraftwerk established the sonic blueprint followed by an extraordinary number of artists in the decades to come. From the British new romantic movement to hip-hop to ..more