Marked by factors of:
Originality, skill, influentiality, genius,
excellence, contribution, output, etc.
Top Guitarists
- Steve Howe
- Alex Lifeson
- Jimi Hendrix RIP
- John McLaughlin
- Robert Fripp
- Jimmy Page
- Frank Zappa RIP
- Steve Hillage
- David Gilmour
- Michael Hedges RIP
- Pat Metheny
- Gary Moore RIP
- Stevie Ray Vaughan RIP
- Robert Smith
- Kaki King
- Huw Lloyd-Langton RIP
- Gordon Giltrap
- Mark Knopfler
- Geordie Walker RIP
- All of the below...
Honorable mentions:
Alan Holdsworth, Vini Reilly, Jan Akkerman, Steve Vai, Tony Iommi,
Steve Hackett, Andy Latimer, Davy Graham RIP, Guthrie Govan, Mick Turner,
Emma Ruth Rundle, James Blackshaw, John McGeoch, John Martyn RIP, Terry Kath RIP,
Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, Randy Rhoads RIP, Trevor Rabin, Andy Summers,
Al Di Meola, Bert Jansch RIP, Robbie Basho RIP, Martin Barre, Mick Box, Dave Edmunds,
Mike McCready, Keith Levene RIP, Phil Manzanera, Robby Krieger, Duane Allman RIP,
Paco de Lucía RIP, George Harrison RIP, Segovia RIP, Mike Oldfield, Andy Partridge,
Jeff Beck RIP, Alvin Lee RIP, Erik Mongrain, Ed Wynne, Erik Wøllo, Eddie Vedder, Neil Young,
Glenn Jones, Yasmin Williams, Muddy Waters RIP, Buddy Guy RIP, Albert King RIP,
Eddie Van Halen RIP, BB King RIP, Ritchie Blackmore, Robert Johnson RIP, LeadBelly RIP,
Prince RIP, Pete Townsend, Steven Wilson, Buckethead, Dave Brock, John Williams...
Top Bassists
- Jaco Pastorius RIP
- Stanley Clarke
- Chris Squire RIP
- Geddy Lee
- Tony Levin
- Jean-Jacques Burnell
- Mick Karn RIP
- Mark King
- Flea
- John Giblin RIP
- Les Claypool
- Victor Bailey
- Julie Slick
- Bill Laswell
- Youth (Martyn Glover)
- Bernard Edwards
- Doug Wimbish
- Robbie Shakespeare RIP
- Lemmy RIP
- All of the below...
Honorable mentions:
Percy Jones, Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten, Paul McCartney, Pino Palladino, Jack Bruce,
Gail Ann Dorsey, John Paul Jones, Charles Mingus RIP, Dave Pegg, Danny Thompson, Alan Davey,
John Entwistle, John McVie, Sara Lee, Louis Johnson, Tom Griesgraber, Tal Wilkenfeld, Nick Beggs,
Bootsy Collins, Tim Bogert, Aston "Family Man" Barrett, Noel Redding, Jah Wobble, Michael Wadada RIP,
Reginald Arvizu, Ryuichi Masuda, Paul Simenon, Bruce Foxton, Billy Sheehan, Henry J Osborne,
Herbie Flowers RIP, Dave Allen RIP, Jez Kerr (ACR), Anna Butterss, Esperanza Spalding, Billy Cox,
Geezer Butler, Sting, Roger Waters, John Myung, Peter Hook, Anthony Jackson, Bryan Beller, Guy Pratt.
Top Drummers
- Billy Cobham
- Buddy Rich RIP
- Neil Peart RIP
- Steve Gadd
- Bill Bruford
- John Bonham RIP
- Keith Moon RIP
- Art Blakey RIP
- Cozy Powell RIP
- Michael Shrieve
- Carl Palmer
- Pierre Moerlen RIP
- Ginger Baker RIP
- Sly Dunbar
- Budgie
- Nick Mason
- Paul Ferguson
- Mitch Mitchell RIP
- Phil Collins
- All of the below...
Honorable mentions:
Alan White RIP, Jon Hiseman, Bill Ward, Tristan Fry, Ian Paice, Style Scott RIP,
Stewart Copeland, Pierre van der Linden, Mike Portnoy, Terry Bozzio, Don Brewer,
Chris Frantz, Vinnie Colaiuta, Dave Grohl, Bev Bevan, Karen Carpenter RIP,
Danny Carey, Marco Minnemann, Gavin Harrison, Clem Burke RIP, Greg Fox (Liturgy)
Sheila E., Mickey Hart, Roy Haynes, Lars Ulrich, Simon Phillips, Gene Krupa RIP.
Top Keyboard Players
- Richard Wright RIP
- Rick Wakeman
- Keith Emerson RIP
- Tony Banks
- Pete Namlook RIP
- Edgar Froese RIP
- Dave Greenfield RIP
- Claude Debussy RIP
- Sergei Rachmaninov RIP
- Frédéric Chopin RIP
- Klaus Schulze RIP
- Joe Zawinul RIP
- Brian Eno
- Don Airey
- Ray Manzarek RIP
- Miquette Giraudy
- Richard Barbieri
- Gert Emmens
- Jim Kirkwood
- All of the below...
Honorable mentions:
Tony Kaye, Patrick Moraz, Christine McVie RIP, Mike Oldfield, Ken Hensley RIP,
Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Jon Lord, Thijs Van Leer, Jan Hammer, Barry Andrews,
Gary Numan, Greg Allman RIP, Paul Humphreys, Bernd Scholl, Ron Boots, Jordan Rudess,
Evan Bartholomew, Toby Marks, Steve Roach, Robert Fox, Harvey Bainbridge,
Hugh Banton, Martyn Ware, Tony Gerber, Paul Lawler, Brendan Pollard, Ruud Heij,
Mario Schönwälder, Thomas Fanger RIP, Peter Mergener, Bernd Kistenmacher,
Frank Klare, Paul Nagle, Ian Boddy, Mixmaster Morris, James Lavelle,
Greg Hunter, Daniel Pemberton, Francis Monkman, Eguana (Sergey Severin),
Eric Woolfson, Yann Tiersen, Vladimir Horowitz RIP, Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim,
Harold Budd, Tim Story, George Gershwin RIP, Oscar Peterson RIP, Thelonious Monk RIP,
Richard Tandy RIP, Chick Corea RIP, George Duke RIP, Lyle Mays, Art Tatum RIP, Keith Jarrett,
Dieter Moebius, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Ludovico Einaudi, Max Richter,
Constance Demby RIP, Alfred Brendel RIP, Glenn Gould RIP, Claudio Arrau RIP, Lang Lang,
Delia Derbyshire RIP, Pauline Anna Strom RIP, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt...
Top Violinists
- Niccolò Paganini RIP
- Yehudi Menuhin RIP
- Jascha Heifetz RIP
- Simon House
- Jean-Luc Ponty
- Fritz Kreidler RIP
- Stéphane Grappelli RIP
- Max Bruch RIP
- Nicola Benedetti
- Itzhak Perlman
- Vanessa-Mae
- Isaac Stern RIP
- L. Shankar
- Mik Kaminski
- Hoshiko Yamane
- Jerry Goodman
- Ida Haendel RIP
- Katie Jacoby
- Sonja Larson (A Whisper In The Noise)
- Nigel Kennedy
- All of the below...
Honorable mentions:
Anne-Sophie Mutter, Hilary Hahn, David Oistrakh, George Enescu, John Cale
(viola),
Nash The Slash, David Rivera, Martie Maguire (Dixie Chicks), Alex DePue,
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, Haylie Ecker & Elspeth Hanson (Bond), Rohan Roy, Eddie Jobson.
Top Cellists
- Jacqueline du Pré RIP
- Yo-Yo Ma
- Mstislav Rostropovich RIP
- Pablo Casals RIP
- Paul Tortelier RIP
- Heinrich Schiff RIP
- Julian Lloyd Webber
- Pierre Fournier RIP
- Sol Gabetta
- David Darling RIP
- Julia Kent
- János Starker RIP
- David Popper RIP
- Zoë Keating
- Steven Isserlis
- Natalia Gutman
- Maya Beiser
- Arthur Russell RIP
- Martin McCarrick
- Alisa Weilerstein
- Henrik Meierkord
- Luka Šulić & Stjepan Hauser (2Cellos)
Top Prog Rock Bands/Artists
- Yes
- Genesis
- Pink Floyd
- Rush
- Camel
- Porcupine Tree / Steven Wilson
- Jethro Tull
- King Crimson
- ELP
- Frank Zappa / Mothers of Invention
- Mike Oldfield
- Van Der Graaf Generator
- Gong
- Gordon Giltrap
- Focus
- Gentle Giant
- Big Big Train
- Riverside
- Pure Reason Revolution
- All of the below...
Honorable mentions:
Greenslade, Soft Machine, Frost*, Brand X, Wally, Jean-Luc Ponty, IO Earth, Wobbler, Opeth, UK,
Curved Air, Djam Karet, The Enid, The Flower Kings, Big Hogg, VOLA, IZZ, Mostly Autumn, Oak,
Yuka & Chronoship, Transatlantic, Regal Worm, Rick Miller, Hats Off Gentlemen It's Adequate,
Pendragon, Pineapple Thief, Colosseum I & II, Golden Earring, 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 who, although being one of my all-time faves, would be more classed as Space/Psychedelic Rock;
or Pentangle who would be considered to be folk-rock; 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, 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 Rock/Pop bands, not sure tbh. Damn genrefication & pigeonholing anyway.
p.s. Sorry, but I'm not a big fan of Marillion, Fish, Asia or The Tangent. They're alright, but I could just never get majorly into them, and believe me, I tried! Sorry again!
More to follow...