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Marked by factors of:
Originality, skill, influentiality, genius,
excellence, contribution, output, etc.

Top Guitarists
  1. Steve Howe
  2. Alex Lifeson
  3. Jimi Hendrix RIP
  4. John McLaughlin
  5. Robert Fripp
  6. Jimmy Page
  7. Frank Zappa RIP
  8. Steve Hillage
  9. David Gilmour
  10. Michael Hedges RIP
  11. Pat Metheny
  12. Gary Moore RIP
  13. Stevie Ray Vaughan RIP
  14. Robert Smith
  15. Kaki King
  16. Huw Lloyd-Langton RIP
  17. Gordon Giltrap
  18. Mark Knopfler
  19. Geordie Walker RIP
  20. All of the below...
Honorable mentions:
Allan Holdsworth RIPVini ReillyJan AkkermanSteve VaiTony Iommi, Eric ClaptonSteve HackettAndy LatimerDavy Graham RIPMick Turner, Glenn JonesEmma Ruth RundleJames BlackshawJohn McGeoch RIP, Joe SatrianiYngwie MalmsteenRandy Rhoads RIPGuthrie GovanSlash, Terry Kath RIPJohn Martyn RIP,  Trevor RabinAndy SummersBrian May, Al Di MeolaBert Jansch RIPRobbie Basho RIPMick BoxDave Edmunds, Martin BarreRobby KriegerBuddy GuyErik MongrainYasmin Williams, Mike McCreadyKeith Levene RIPPhil ManzaneraDuane Allman RIP, Paco de Lucía RIPGeorge Harrison RIPAndy PartridgeJohn Petrucci, Jeff Beck RIPAlvin Lee RIPEd WynneErik WølloEddie VedderNeil Young, Joni MitchellMuddy Waters RIPSegovia RIPMike OldfieldAlbert King RIP, Rory Gallagher RIPJohnny MarrSteve MorseJohn FruscianteRy Cooder, John ScofieldSimon JeffesJeff PearceBB King RIPDjango Reinhardt RIP, Carlos SantanaThurston MooreCousin SilasJohn Fahey RIPSteven Wilson, Eddie Van Halen RIPRitchie BlackmoreRobert Johnson RIPLeadBelly RIP, Prince RIPPete TownsendJoe WalshBucketheadDave BrockJohn Williams...

Note:
More top guitarists listed in <!--comments--> in the source code.





Top Bassists
  1. Jaco Pastorius RIP
  2. Stanley Clarke
  3. Chris Squire RIP
  4. Geddy Lee
  5. Tony Levin
  6. Jean-Jacques Burnell
  7. Mick Karn RIP
  8. Mark King
  9. Flea
  10. John Giblin RIP
  11. Les Claypool
  12. Victor Bailey
  13. Julie Slick
  14. Bill Laswell
  15. Youth (Martin Glover)
  16. Bernard Edwards RIP
  17. Doug Wimbish
  18. Robbie Shakespeare RIP
  19. Lemmy RIP
  20. All of the below...
Honorable mentions:
Percy JonesMarcus MillerVictor WootenPaul McCartneyPino PalladinoJack Bruce, Gail Ann DorseyJohn Paul JonesCharles Mingus RIPDanny ThompsonBruce Foxton, John Entwistle RIPJohn McVieSara LeeLouis Johnson RIPNick BeggsRoger Waters, Michael Wadada RIPTina WeymouthTal WilkenfeldTom GriesgraberHenry J. Osborne, Bootsy CollinsGreg Lake RIPTim Bogert RIPDave PeggNoel Redding RIPJah Wobble, Billy SheehanAston BarrettReginald ArvizuRyuichi MasudaPaul SimenonAlan Davey, Herbie Flowers RIPDave Allen RIPJez KerrAnna ButterssEsperanza SpaldingSting, Jamaaladeen TacumaMiroslav VitoušAlphonso JohnsonAnthony JacksonJack Casady, Geezer ButlerBilly CoxJohn MyungPeter HookLarry GrahamBryan BellerGuy Pratt.


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Top Drummers
  1. Billy Cobham
  2. Buddy Rich RIP
  3. Neil Peart RIP
  4. Steve Gadd
  5. Bill Bruford
  6. John Bonham RIP
  7. Keith Moon RIP
  8. Art Blakey RIP
  9. Cozy Powell RIP
  10. Michael Shrieve
  11. Carl Palmer
  12. Pierre Moerlen RIP
  13. Ginger Baker RIP
  14. Sly Dunbar
  15. Budgie
  16. Nick Mason
  17. Paul Ferguson
  18. Mitch Mitchell RIP
  19. Phil Collins
  20. All of the below...
Honorable mentions:
Alan White RIPJon Hiseman RIPBill WardTristan FryIan PaiceStyle Scott RIP, Stewart CopelandPierre van der LindenMike PortnoyTerry BozzioDon Brewer, Chris FrantzVinnie ColaiutaDave GrohlBev BevanDanny GottliebDanny Carey, Karen Carpenter RIPSimon KingMarco MinnemannGavin HarrisonClem Burke RIPGreg Fox, Sheila E.Mickey HartRoy Haynes RIPLars UlrichSimon PhillipsGene Krupa RIP...


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Top Keyboard Players
  1. Richard Wright RIP
  2. Rick Wakeman
  3. Keith Emerson RIP
  4. Tony Banks
  5. Pete Namlook RIP
  6. Edgar Froese RIP
  7. Dave Greenfield RIP
  8. Claude Debussy RIP
  9. Sergei Rachmaninov RIP
  10. Frédéric Chopin RIP
  11. Klaus Schulze RIP
  12. Joe Zawinul RIP
  13. Brian Eno
  14. Don Airey
  15. Ray Manzarek RIP
  16. Miquette Giraudy
  17. Richard Barbieri
  18. Gert Emmens
  19. Jim Kirkwood
  20. All of the below...
Honorable mentions:
Tony KayePatrick MorazHerbie HancockChristine McVie RIPMike OldfieldKen Hensley RIP, Stevie WonderElton JohnJon LordThijs Van LeerJan HammerBarry Andrews, Gary Numan, Greg Allman RIPPaul HumphreysBernd SchollRon BootsJordan Rudess, Steve Nye, Evan BartholomewToby MarksSteve RoachRobert FoxHarvey Bainbridge, Hugh BantonMartyn WareTony GerberPaul LawlerBrendan PollardRuud Heij, Mario SchönwälderThomas Fanger RIPPeter MergenerBernd Kistenmacher, Frank KlarePaul NagleIan BoddyMixmaster MorrisJames Lavelle, Greg HunterDaniel PembertonFrancis Monkman RIPEguana (Sergey Severin), Eric Woolfson RIPYann TiersenVladimir Horowitz RIPMartha ArgerichDaniel Barenboim, Harold Budd RIPTim StoryGeorge Gershwin RIPOscar Peterson RIPThelonious Monk RIP, Richard Tandy RIPChick Corea RIPGeorge Duke RIPLyle MaysArt Tatum RIPKeith Jarrett, Dieter Moebius RIPHans-Joachim RoedeliusLudovico EinaudiMax Richter, Constance Demby RIPAlfred BrendelGlenn Gould RIPClaudio Arrau RIPLang Lang, Delia Derbyshire RIPPauline Anna Strom RIPVladimir Ashkenazy, Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt...


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Top Violinists
  1. Niccolò Paganini RIP
  2. Yehudi Menuhin RIP
  3. Jascha Heifetz RIP
  4. Simon House
  5. Jean-Luc Ponty
  6. Fritz Kreidler RIP
  7. Stéphane Grappelli RIP
  8. Max Bruch RIP
  9. Nicola Benedetti
  10. Itzhak Perlman
  11. Vanessa-Mae
  12. Isaac Stern RIP
  13. L. Shankar
  14. Mik Kaminski
  15. Hoshiko Yamane
  16. Jerry Goodman
  17. Ida Haendel RIP
  18. Katie Jacoby
  19. Sonja Larson (A Whisper In The Noise)
  20. Nigel Kennedy
  21. All of the below...
Honorable mentions:
Anne-Sophie Mutter, Hilary Hahn, David Oistrakh RIP, George Enescu RIP, John Cale, Nash The Slash RIP, David Rivera, Martie Maguire, Alex DePue RIP, David Cross, Jessica Moss, Warren Ellis, Joe Deninzon, Ed Alleyne-Johnson, Mark Wood (Rock Orch.), Caitlin Papier, Chuck Bontrager, Steve Unruh, Lydia Gentry, Lindsey Stirling, Mio Okamura, Darryl Way, Andrea Gutmann-Fuentes, Gavyn Wright, Haylie Ecker & Tania Davis & Elspeth Hanson, Rohan Roy, Eddie Jobson.


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Top Cellists
  1. Jacqueline du Pré RIP
  2. Yo-Yo Ma
  3. Mstislav Rostropovich RIP
  4. Pablo Casals RIP
  5. Paul Tortelier RIP
  6. Heinrich Schiff RIP
  7. Hugh McDowell RIP
  8. Julian Lloyd Webber
  9. Pierre Fournier RIP
  10. Sol Gabetta
  11. Martin McCarrick
  12. Helen Leibmann
  13. David Darling RIP
  14. Julia Kent
  15. János Starker RIP
  16. David Popper RIP
  17. Zoë Keating
  18. Arthur Russell RIP
  19. Steven Isserlis
  20. Rebecca Foon
  21. Natalia Gutman
  22. Maya Beiser
  23. Alisa Weilerstein
  24. Henrik Meierkord
  25. Luka Šulić & Stjepan Hauser (2Cellos)

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Top Prog Rock Bands/Artists
  1. Yes
  2. Genesis
  3. Pink Floyd
  4. Rush
  5. Camel
  6. Porcupine Tree / Steven Wilson
  7. Jethro Tull
  8. King Crimson
  9. ELP
  10. Frank Zappa / Mothers of Invention
  11. Mike Oldfield
  12. Van Der Graaf Generator
  13. Gong
  14. Gordon Giltrap
  15. Focus
  16. Gentle Giant
  17. Big Big Train
  18. Riverside
  19. Pure Reason Revolution
  20. All of the below...
Honorable mentions:
Greenslade, Soft Machine, Nektar, Frost*, Brand X, Wally, Jean-Luc Ponty, IO Earth, Wobbler, Opeth, UK, Curved Air, Alan Parsons Project, Djam Karet, The Enid, The Flower Kings, Big Hogg, Mostly Autumn, Yuka & Chronoship, Transatlantic, Regal Worm, Rick Miller, Hats Off Gentlemen It's Adequate, IZZ, Oak, Pendragon, Pineapple Thief, VOLA, Arena, Colosseum I & II, Golden Earring, Liquid Tension Experiment, Renaissance, Barclay James Harvest.


Note: I'm not including the likes of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple & Uriah Heep - who all did do some very good prog rock tracks but were mostly classed as Heavy Rock; or likewise, Black Sabbath, who were classed more as Stoner Rock or Black/Heavy Metal; Dream Theater... Prog Metal? or even Hawkwind or Ozric Tentacles who, although being amongst my all-time faves, would be more classed as Space/Psychedelic Rock; or Pentangle who would largely be considered to be folk-rock; Spooky Tooth as ?; Can as Krautrock; Tangerine Dream as Krautrock or Berlin School, etc... only bands/artists whose vast majority of output is considered to be prog-rock.

I'm not sure whether the likes of ELO, Procol Harum, Moody Blues & Supertramp fit into this category. They did some great prog songs, but I think they'd be more classed as Classic Rock, or just Pop-Rock bands... I'm not sure, tbph. Damn genrefication & pigeonholing anyway.

There's also plenty of other up & coming or less prolific prog rock bands not listed above but worthy of mentioning: Zopp, Sun Colored Chair, Änglagård, Circe Link, Cary Grace, The Future Kings of England, Karnataka, Black Mountain, Karmic Juggernaut, Ayreon, Echolyn, Barock Project, Dilemma, Pallas, Proud Peasant, Mahogany Frog, Mammatus, Sanguine Hum, Carpet, Cynic, Seven Impale, Red Bazar, Lunatic Soul, Leprous, 3RDegree, Chroma Key, Lifesigns...

p.s. Probably seen as glaring omissions but, sorry, I'm not a big fan of Utopia, IQ, Marillion, Fish, Asia, The Tangent or Glass Hammer. They're alright, but I could just never get majorly into them, and believe me, I tried! Though maybe I didn't try hard enough? Sorry again!

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