The Greatest Music Artists

of all time

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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