Table Of Content

Published in 2010 by Britannica Educational Publishing (a trademark of Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.) in association with Rosen Educational Services, LLC 29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010. Copyright © 2010 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, and the Thistle logo are registered trademarks of Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Rosen Educational Services materials copyright © 2010 Rosen Educational Services, LLC. All rights reserved. Distributed exclusively by Rosen Educational Services. For a listing of additional Britannica Educational Publishing titles, call toll free (800) 237-9932. First Edition Britannica Educational Publishing Michael I. Levy: Executive Editor Marilyn L. Barton: Senior Coordinator, Production Control Steven Bosco: Director, Editorial Technologies Lisa S. Braucher: Senior Producer and Data Editor Yvette Charboneau: Senior Copy Editor Kathy Nakamura: Manager, Media Acquisition Gini Gorlinski, Associate Editor, Music and Dance Diana Solomon, Copy Editor Rosen Educational Services Hope Lourie Killcoyne: Senior Editor and Project Manager Nelson Sá: Art Director Nicole Russo: Designer Introduction by Chris Hayhurst Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The 100 most influential musicians of all time / edited by Gini Gorlinski. p. cm.—(The Britannica guide to the world’s most influential people) “In association with Britannica Educational Publishing, Rosen Educational Services.” Includes index. ISBN 978-1-61530-056-3 (eBook) 1. Musicians—Biography. I. Gorlinski, Gini. II. Title: One hundred most influential musicians of all time. ML385A15 2010 780.92'2—dc22 [B] 2009029076 Cover credit: Carlos Spottorno/Photonica/Getty Images; p. 8 © www.istockphoto.com/Neil Sullivan; p. 16 © www.istockphoto.com. CONTENTS Introduction 8 Guido d’Arezzo 17 Josquin des Prez 18 Antonio Vivaldi 20 George Frideric Handel 23 Johann Sebastian Bach 29 Joseph Haydn 38 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 43 Ludwig van Beethoven 52 Franz Schubert 58 Felix Mendelssohn 64 Frédéric Chopin 69 44 Franz Liszt 74 Richard Wagner 80 91 Giuseppe Verdi 85 Johannes Brahms 90 Sir W. S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan 97 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 100 Giacomo Puccini 106 Gustav Mahler 110 Claude Debussy 117 Sergey Rachmaninoff 121 W. C. Handy 125 Arnold Schoenberg 126 Charles Ives 132 Béla Bartók 134 Igor Stravinsky 138 Leadbelly 145 Carter Family 146 Sergey Prokofiev 149 Cole Porter 155 Jimmie Rodgers 158 Fletcher Henderson 160 148 Bessie Smith 162 George Gershwin 163 Duke Ellington 170 195 Kurt Weill 174 Aaron Copland 176 Louis Armstrong 179 Umm Kulth m 182 ū Count Basie 185 Dmitry Shostakovich 188 Bill Monroe 192 Mahalia Jackson 194 Robert Johnson 196 Woody Guthrie 198 John Cage 202 Muddy Waters 204 Billie Holiday 205 Frank Sinatra 208 Edith Piaf 214 Nat King Cole 216 Ella Fitzgerald 218 Leonard Bernstein 219 Pete Seeger 221 Ravi Shankar 224 Charlie Parker 226 Tito Puente 230 Hank Williams 231 Maria Callas 234 Clifton Chenier 235 B.B. King 237 Miles Davis 238 Chuck Berry 242 Antonio Carlos Jobim 245 Ray Charles 247 Patsy Cline 248 James Brown 250 Elvis Presley 253 Luciano Pavarotti 258 Buddy Holly 260 211 The Rolling Stones 262 Philip Glass 268 Smokey Robinson and the Miracles 269 Parliament-Funkadelic 271 The Beatles 273 Joan Baez 279 Plácido Domingo 280 The Beach Boys 282 Bob Dylan 285 Aretha Franklin 291 Jimi Hendrix 293 Joni Mitchell 296 276 Led Zeppelin 299 The Who 301 Bob Marley 305 Eric Clapton 309 King Sunny Ade 311 David Bowie 313 Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan 316 Bruce Springsteen 318 Stevie Wonder 323 The Sex Pistols 325 294 Prince 327 Madonna 329 Michael Jackson 332 Public Enemy 335 U2 336 Nirvana 338 Radiohead 340 Jay-Z 343 Glossary 345 For Further Reading 349 Index 351 336 I NTRODUCTION 7 Introduction 7 What is influence? Is it the power that one individual holds to change the world? Is it prestige—the glimmering reputation earned by those who have achieved excellence or superiority? Or is it that sense of immortality bestowed on certain people who, through their lives, their actions, and their accomplishments, have climbed pedestals so high and prominent that they are virtually guaranteed a place in the books of history? Influence can mean so many things and is therefore hard to define. But this much is clear: in a book such as this, where the subject is influential musicians, an exact definition hardly matters. Such artists may exert them- selves in all kinds of ways—through their compositions, lyrics, performances, or even through “extracurricular” activities such as raising funds for charitable causes and organizations. Just by taking the stage—whether in a local church or on the 50-yard line during halftime at the Super Bowl— musicians have instant influence. They command the ability to make people stop what they are doing—to have them clap, dance, and sing along. If musicians are truly great—be it composer Igor Stravinsky, classic rocker Eric Clapton, hip-hop rapper Jay-Z, “King of Rock and Roll” Elvis Presley, or “King of Juju” King Sunny Ade—their creations have the ability to transcend time and space, culture and nationality. Simply put, great music is more than just music. It makes us think; it makes us feel. And over twenty, thirty, even hundreds of years, it continues to make us listen. In the world of music, that is influence. Within these pages readers will also discover how the work of one musician inspired and motivated that of others, sometimes in groundbreaking ways. In 1791, having heard the moving oratorios of George Frideric Handel, 9 7 The 100 Most Influential Musicians of All Time 7 Austrian composer Joseph Haydn set to work on his own compositions in this genre, eventually creating a composition believed to be the first musical work written for two languages, in this case, German and English. Haydn also became good friends with musical genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the two composers finding camaraderie in each other’s company and inspiration in each other’s work. Mississippi native Robert Johnson, who legend holds acquired his musical genius by way of having made a deal with the devil, is known to have had a major impact on musicians from Muddy Waters to the Rolling Stones. Some musicians were inspired by influences beyond music. The art of English painter J. M. W. Turner and French painter Claude Monet struck a chord with semi- nal French composer Claude Debussy, prompting him to create his orchestral seascape La Mer. Visits to Paris prompted a young George Gershwin to create his famous orchestral composition An American in Paris. And it was John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath that provided the impetus for “Tom Joad,” Woody Guthrie’s classic entry in the American songbook. There are, of course, those musicians who, as child- hood prodigies, seem not to have needed outside influence to exert their own. Frédéric Chopin began playing piano at age seven, gave his first concert a year later, and at age eleven performed for the Russian tsar Alexander I. Mozart, whose life was all too short although with an extra ordinary influence, was composing from the age of five. Little is known about Johann Sebastian Bach’s early musical education, but in his prime he was recognized by his peers as being a talented harpsichordist, organist, violinist, and singer. He is now recognized as being one of the greatest composers of all time. By bringing together 10