'The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time' is a feature published by the American magazine Rolling Stone in August 2015.[1] The list presented was compiled based on the magazine's music critics, and unlike previous lists the votes came entirely from the magazine's staff. However, it predominantly features American and English songwriters solely of the rock era.[2]
Top 10 songwriters[edit]
Rank | Image | Name | Lifetime | First single written |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bob Dylan | May 24, 1941 – present | 'Mixed-Up Confusion' (1962), performed by himself | |
2 | Paul McCartney | June 18, 1942 – present | 'Love Me Do'/'P.S. I Love You' (1962), performed by the Beatles | |
3 | John Lennon | October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980 | ||
4 | Chuck Berry | October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017 | 'Maybellene' (1955), performed by himself | |
5 | Smokey Robinson | February 19, 1940 – present | 'Got a Job' (1958), performed by the Miracles | |
6 | Mick Jagger / Keith Richards | July 26, 1943 – present / December 18, 1943 – present | 'Tell Me' (1964), performed by the Rolling Stones | |
7 | Carole King / Gerry Goffin | February 9, 1942 – present / February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014 | 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow' (1960), performed by the Shirelles | |
8 | Paul Simon | October 13, 1941 – present | 'Hey Schoolgirl' (1957), performed by Simon & Garfunkel (then known as Tom & Jerry) | |
9 | Joni Mitchell | November 7, 1943 – present | 'Urge For Going' (1966), performed by Tom Rush | |
10 | Stevie Wonder | May 13, 1950 – present | 'Kiss Me Baby' (1968), performed by himself |
Reception[edit]
50+ videos Play all Mix - The Rolling Stone Magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time YouTube How to spot a liar Pamela Meyer - Duration: 18:51. TED 16,950,408 views.
The list received mixed response from fellow publications. Writing for Flavorwire, Judy Berman criticized the selection of the songwriters, saying 'Predictably, it's over 70% white and features only nine solo female songwriters (five other women are included as part of mixed-gender writing teams). Classic rock is overrepresented; every other genre and subgenre of popular music is underrepresented.'[3] Geeta Dayal from The Guardian accused 'corporate sponsorship' in determining the list's content.[4] Tom Moon from NPR wrote that 'This list represents another trip through the hagiographic, hermetically sealed rock hall of fame, with the same stars you've been reading about in Rolling Stone since the dinosaur age.'[5]The Daily Telegraph editor Martin Chilton responded with a list of 100 best songwriters missed out by Rolling Stone, including Cole Porter, Townes Van Zandt, Ewan MacColl, Kate Bush, and Ray Charles.[6]
Jacqueline Cutler from New York Daily News agreed with the magazine for ranking Bob Dylan as the top songwriter.[7] Jon Bream from Star Tribune praised the inclusion of songwriters from Minnesota and said that Dylan as a number-one songwriter is not surprising at all.[8] Baby A. Gil from The Philippine Star reacted positively to the list, saying that 'it is the best list of its type that I have come across and I like the fact that it arouses interest in sounds one may not have heard before or in a long time.'[9] Lori Melton from AXS said that the list 'reads like an iconic student body in a songwriting master class' and complimented the inclusion of female songwriters Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Dolly Parton, Stevie Nicks, Madonna, Chrissie Hynde, Loretta Lynn, Lucinda Williams, and Björk, as well as Taylor Swift who is the youngest person on the list.[10]
See also[edit]
- The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, also from Rolling Stone magazine
- The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, also from Rolling Stone magazine
- The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, also from Rolling Stone magazine
References[edit]
- ^'The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time'. Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
- ^King, Peter (August 27, 2015). 'Rolling Stone lists 100 greatest songwriters'. Newsday. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
- ^Berman, Judy (August 17, 2015). 'Does 'Rolling Stone' Know It Declared Songwriting Dead?'. Flavorwire. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
- ^Dayal, Geeta (August 24, 2015). 'The real peril in Rolling Stone's greatest songwriters wasn't the lack of diversity – it was the corporate sponsorship'. The Guardian. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
- ^Moon, Tom (August 24, 2015). 'The One Real Problem With Rolling Stone's 'Greatest Songwriters Of All Time''. NPR. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
- ^Chilton, Martin (May 17, 2016). '100 great songwriters not in the Rolling Stone list'. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
- ^Cutler, Jacqueline (August 14, 2015). 'Bob Dylan is Rolling Stone's greatest songwriter'. New York Daily News. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
- ^Bream, Jon (August 14, 2015). 'Dylan tops Rolling Stone's rankings of best songwriters; Prince is No. 18'. Star Tribune. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
- ^Gil, Baby A. (August 31, 2015). 'The greatest songwriters of the pop era'. The Philippine Star. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
- ^Melton, Lori (August 18, 2015). 'Taylor Swift makes her mark on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Songwriters list'. AXS. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
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'The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time' is a special issue published by the American magazine Rolling Stone in two parts in 2004 and 2005 and updated in 2011.[1] The list presented was compiled based on input from musicians, writers, and industry figures and is focused on the rock & roll era.[1] It predominantly features American and British musicians.
The publication also features comments written by musicians about their favorite colleagues (e.g., Eminem on The Beatles, Janet Jackson on Tina Turner, etc.). Since its publication, the list has been frequently cited by many specialized and generalist publications.[2][3][4][5][6]
Background[edit]
The list, published in two issues in 2004 and 2005 and updated in 2011, was based on the choices of a panel of 55 musicians, writers, and industry figures.[1] As the editors explain, the artists were selected by 'their peers', and the list aims to be 'a broad survey of rock history', encompassing rock and roll, blues, indie rock, rap and contemporary pop.
List statistics[edit]
In both versions of the list, the top three positions are held by The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Elvis Presley; rounding out the top ten (in descending order) are The Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Little Richard, Aretha Franklin, and Ray Charles.
In 2011, Rolling Stone published a revised edition of the list, with changes from the 27th position onward. The updated list features artists not present in the original (including Queen, Metallica, Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, R.E.M., Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Jay-Z), while removing a number of other artists (including Etta James, Miles Davis, Roxy Music, N.W.A., and Martha & The Vandellas).
The list consists primarily of American or British artists, with the following exceptions: AC/DC (Australia), The Band (Canada/US), Bob Marley (Jamaica), Joni Mitchell (Canada), Lee 'Scratch' Perry (Jamaica; only in the 2005 list), Carlos Santana (Mexico/US), U2 (Ireland), and Neil Young (Canada).[citation needed]Tina Turner, who relinquished her American citizenship after obtaining Swiss citizenship in 2013, was still an American citizen when included in the list.
Most artists on the list were active in the 1960s and 1970s.
See also[edit]
- The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time, also from Rolling Stone magazine
- The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, also from Rolling Stone magazine
- The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, also from Rolling Stone magazine
References[edit]
- ^ abc100 Greatest Artists of All Time Rolling Stone
- ^'100 Greatest Artists of All Time' on bbc.co.uk
- ^'100 Greatest Artists of All Time' on cnn.com
- ^'100 Greatest Artists of All Time' on usatoday.com
- ^Google Scholar, '100 Greatest Artists of All Time', 'Rolling Stone'
- ^Scott Witmer, History of Rock Bands, ABDO, 2009. Page 21
External links[edit]
- 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, Rolling Stone
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