Transcript
Greatest Music Aritsts: The Debate
With any discussion of the greatest music artists of all time comes debate.
Tastes and definitions of “greatest” vary between people, and so we’ll break down the different methods used to determine who the greatest music artist really is.
Greatest Music Artists: Sales
Unlike other marks of success, sales are quantifiable.
If we base our list of the greatest music artists on record sales, it looks like this:
The Beatles
Elvis Presley
Michael Jackson
Madonna
Elton John
Greatest Music Artists: Hits
Another metric used to determine the greatest music artists is the number of number one hits they had on the charts.
Here are the artists with the most number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100:
The Beatles
Mariah Carey
Michael Jackson
Rihanna
Madonna
Greatest Music Artists: Tours
By looking at the artists who have the highest-grossing tours of all time, we can determine the greatest music artists in yet another way:
U2
The Rolling Stones
Roger Waters
AC/DC
Madonna
Greatest Music Artists: Grammys
An artist’s total number of Grammys is also a measurable way to determine if they are one of the greatest music artists:
Sir Georg Solti
Quincy Jones (tie)
Alison Krauss (tie)
Pierre Boulez
Vladimir Horowitz
Greatest Music Artists: Bestselling Albums
As music was primarily and album-based medium in the 20th century, having one of the bestselling albums certainly qualifies you as one of the greatest music artists.
Michael Jackson: Thriller
Led Zeppelin: IV
Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon
Fleetwood Mac: Rumors
Blondie: Parallel Lines
Greatest Music Artists: Platinum Albums
Unlike merely having a ton of net sales, releasing the most platinum albums means that your music is consistently popular. Here are the greatest music artists in terms of number of platinum albums:
Elvis Presley
The Beatles
George Strait
Barbra Streisand
The Rolling Stones
Greatest Music Artists: Critical Acclaim
Winning the ears of critics is also a possible qualifier for determining the greatest music artists, so here the most critically-acclaimed albums of all time:
The Beatles: Revolver
The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds
Nirvana: Nevermind
The Velvet Underground & Nico: The Velvet Underground & Nico
The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Greatest Music Artists: Taste
What determining the greatest music artists really comes down to, though, is your own personal taste!
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