Defined Legends
There are many musicians out there who we define as legends. Of course there will always be ‘The King of Rock and Roll’, Elvis, but also other greats like Patsy Cline and Jimi Hendrix. To be honest the list of definite music based legends is as long as a piece of string. We have seen great bands like the Beetles, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd but also great solo artists too. The likes of Barry White, Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles are amount the most successful musicians ever and who will continue to be recognised for years and years to come.
When looking at the legends of music you should even go back and think of people like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Samuel Barber even just for his brilliant work ‘Adagio for Strings’.
Others:
Janice Joplin
Stevie Wonder
Bob Marley
Circle Legends
Although there are many musicians that have timeless musical influence they don’t always hold up as legend as they may have only been around for a short time or had a less culturally successful history. The likes of Dolly Parton, Chuck Berry and even Whitesnake spring to mind. These were all exceptionally successful musicians in their own right but they just don’t cut it next to Elvis or the Beetles.
I think that circle legends are going to become a much more common place in the next few years as music has become a much more diverse and popular medium then ever before. The music seen produces a plethora of different talent but only those with a large record industry and millions of pounds in advertising get recognised as household names.
Others:
Tupac Skahur
Nirvana
The Grateful Dead
Future Legends
I have found that looking for the future legends in music is the hardest section for me to decide on. I’m not sure if this is down to my personal opinion of the industry or whether this is because I have different views of the current music scene than the majority of the general public.
I look at the commercial artists that are released today and don’t often think of them as musicians in their own right. When you look at a popular artist like Rihanna you may think she’ll be remembered for her catchy songs and repetitive choruses but they are never actually ‘her’ songs. So many people (especially in the world of popular music) have been raised for commercial success by a massive background of management and advertising campaigns – they very rarely play/release their own music.
The other thing about music today is that a band can be the biggest thing in the industry one year only to drop off the face of the earth the next, the Arctic Monkey’s are probably the best example of this.
This is a sorry state of affairs for the current climate and if the legends of yesteryear could see the music industry today they’d probably have a few things to say.
It’s difficult to pinpoint anyone to become a musical legend but Amy Winehouse and her contribution to Jazz could ensure that she is listened to for many generations to come. The tragedy of her death last weekend may overshadow how much she actually achieved but I certainly hope that’s not the case.
Other artists that spring to mind are Take That, or Robbie Williams to be exact, Kylie Minogue and Madonna. It’s very difficult to pick a full band that would also be categorised as a possible future Legend. I suppose you could state a case for the Foo Fighters, Metallica, Green Day or possibly even Blink 182 but none of these have the same following as a band like The Who.
Others:
Beyonce
Eminem
Muse
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