- David Bowie
David Bowie (born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947) is an English singer, songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist, producer, arranger and audio engineer. Active in five decades of rock music, and frequently re-inventing his music and image, Bowie is widely regarded as an influential innovator, particularly for his work through the 1970s. Bowie has taken cues from a wide range of fine art, philosophy and literature. He is also a film and stage actor, … - John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (9 October 1940 - 8 December 1980), was an Academy Award and Grammy Award-winning English songwriter, singer, musician, graphic artist, author and political activist who gained worldwide fame as one of the founders of The Beatles. Lennon and Paul McCartney formed a critically acclaimed and commercially successful partnership writing songs for The Beatles and other artists. Lennon, with his cynical edge and knack for introspection, and McCartney, … - Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney MBE, known as Paul McCartney, (born 18 June 1942) is an Academy Award- and Grammy Award-winning English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who first gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles. McCartney and John Lennon formed one of the most influential and successful songwriting partnerships and "wrote some of the most popular music in rock and roll history." On leaving The Beatles, … - Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 - December 4, 1993) was an American composer, guitarist, singer, film director, and satirist. In his more than 30-year long career, Frank Zappa established himself as one of the most prolific and distinctive musician-composer-band leaders of his era. Zappa worked in almost every musical genre and wrote music for rock bands, jazz ensembles, synthesisers and symphony orchestra, as well as radiophonic works constructed from pre-recorded, … - Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Phillip "Mick" Jagger CBE (born July 26, 1943) is an English rock musician, actor, songwriter, record and film producer and businessman. He is best known as the lead singer of the English rock band The Rolling Stones. - Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed (born March 2 1942 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. Reed first found prominence as the guitarist and principal singer-songwriter of The Velvet Underground (1965 - 1973). The band gained relatively little notice during its life, but is widely considered by some to be one of the seeds of alternative rock music. - Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950, in Chobham, Surrey, England) is an English musician. He first came to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career. More recently he has focused on producing and promoting world music and pioneering digital distribution methods for music. He has also been involved in various humanitarian efforts. - Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE (born 7 July 1940), known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an Academy Award and Grammy Award winning English musician, singer, songwriter and actor, best known as the drummer of The Beatles. He was the oldest and shortest member of the band, and the last to join the now familiar 'Fab Four' line up. - Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley (born December 30, 1928) aka "The Originator" of Rock 'N' Roll, is an influential American rock and roll singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is often cited as the key figure in the transition of blues into rock and roll, by introducing more insistent, driving rhythms and a hard edged guitar sound. He is also remembered for his characteristic rectangular-shaped guitar. - George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an Academy Award and Grammy Award-winning English rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, author and sitarist best known as the lead guitarist of The Beatles. Following the band's demise, Harrison had a successful career as a solo artist and later as part of the Traveling Wilburys super group where he was known as both Nelson Wilbury and Spike Wilbury. - Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948), is a rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans four decades. With a stage show that featured guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood and boa constrictors, Cooper drew equally from heavy metal, horror movies and vaudeville to create a theatrical brand of rock music that would come to be known as Shock rock. - Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE (born 9 January 1944) is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds, from late 1966 to 1968, before founding English rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is credited as a forefather of heavy metal by not only turning up the accepted volume of the electric guitar but also with his anthemic riffs and meticulous studio production. - Courtney Love
Courtney Love (born July 9 1964) is an American rock musician and Golden Globe-nominated actress, best-known as lead singer for the now-defunct alternative rock band Hole and for her two-year marriage to Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. "Rolling Stone" has called Love "the most controversial woman in the history of rock." - Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel (born May 9, 1949, in the Bronx, New York, USA) is an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and composer. He released his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973. According to the RIAA, he is the sixth best selling artist in the United States. Joel had Top 10 hits in the '70s, '80s, and '90s, is a six-time Grammy Award winner and has sold in excess of 150 million albums worldwide. He was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame (Class of 1992), … - Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry (born October 18, 1926 in Overland, Missouri) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Chuck Berry is an immensely influential figure and one of the pioneers of rock & roll music. Cub Koda wrote, "Of all the early breakthrough rock & roll artists, none is more important to the development of the music than Chuck Berry. He is its greatest songwriter, the main shaper of its instrumental voice, one of its greatest guitarists, … - Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana (born July 20 1947), known simply as Carlos Santana or Santana, is a Grammy Award-winning Mexican-born American Latin rock musician and guitarist. He became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, the Santana Blues Band, going mostly under the title "Santana," which created a highly successful blend of salsa, rock, blues, and jazz fusion. - Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley (September 7 1936 - February 3 1959), better known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and a pioneer of rock and roll. The change of spelling of "Holley" to "Holly" came about because of an error in a contract he was asked to sign, listing him as Buddy Holly. That spelling was then adopted for his professional career. The original spelling of "Holley" was engraved on his headstone (see photo). - Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury was a British musician and songwriter, best known as the frontman and pianist of the rock band Queen. He is remembered for his vocal abilities and charisma as a live performer. As a songwriter, he composed many international hits, including "Killer Queen", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Somebody to Love", "We Are the Champions" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love". In 1991, Mercury died of bronchial pneumonia brought on by AIDS, … - Brian Jones
Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones was the founding member, lead and rhythm guitarist and backing singer in the English rock group, The Rolling Stones. Jones was known for his multi-instrumental skills, fashionable mod image, and his drug excesses. His death at age 27 made him one of the first members of music's infamous 27 Club. - Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold ("Jeff") Beck (born June 24, 1944 to Arnold and Ethel Beck in Wallington, Greater London, England) is an English guitar virtuoso and songwriter. Though he played in several influential bands in the 1960s and 1970s (notably in The Yardbirds) Beck has maintained a sporadic solo career over the last 25 years. Despite never attaining the commercial viability of his contemporaries, Beck has gained widespread critical acclaim, … - Joe Strummer
John Graham Mellor better known as Joe Strummer, was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead singer of the English punk rock band The Clash. He was also a member of the The Mescaleros and (temporarily) The Pogues. - Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Lou Etheridge (born May 29, 1961, in Leavenworth, Kansas) is an Academy Award-winning and two-time Grammy Award-winning American rock musician and singer. - Brian May
Brian Harold May CBE (born July 19, 1947) is an English guitarist best known as the lead guitarist and backing (sometimes lead) vocalist for the English rock band Queen. As a guitarist, he is known for his memorable riffs and solos, distinctive tone, as well as for the fact that he built (with his father) his own guitar, called the "Red Special". He is also cited as a pioneer of the delay effect. He wrote many of Queen's most famous songs and biggest hits, … - Ritchie Blackmore
Richard Hugh Blackmore, (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist. He has been a founding member of both Deep Purple and Rainbow and is currently a member of the band Blackmore's Night. He was ranked 55 on Rolling Stone's the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time in 2003. - Bob Seger
Robert Clark Seger (born May 6, 1945) is a rock and roll musician from Michigan. After years of local Detroit-area success starting in the mid-1960s, Seger achieved his greatest national success starting in the mid-1970s and continuing through the 1980s with the Silver Bullet Band. A roots rocker whose songs deal with blue-collar themes, Seger has recorded many rock and roll hits, including "Night Moves", "We've Got Tonight", "Like a Rock", … - Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis (born September 29, 1935), also known by the nickname The Killer, is an American rock and roll and country music singer, songwriter, and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and his pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. - Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stephen "Stevie" Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 - August 27, 1990), born in Dallas, Texas, was an American blues guitarist. His broad appeal made him one of the world's most influential electric blues guitarists. In 2003, "Rolling Stone" magazine ranked Stevie Ray Vaughan #7 in their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. He was the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan. - Don Henley
Donald Hugh "Don" Henley (born July 22, 1947 in Gilmer, Texas) is an American rock musician who is the drummer and one of the lead singers and songwriters of the band Eagles. He has since become a successful solo artist and has played a founding role in several environmental and political causes. - Steve Miller
Steve Miller (born October 5, 1943 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American blues and rock and roll guitarist and performer. - Custom
Custom (also known as Duane Lavold) is a Canadian-born, New York-based rock musician best known for his song "Hey Mister". - Spencer Davis
Spencer David Nelson Davis (born 17 July, 1939 in South Wales, UK) is a musician and multi-instrumentalist, and the founder of the 1960s rock band, the Spencer Davis Group. Davis was greatly influenced by his uncle Herman's mandolin playing, and first learned the harmonica at the age of six. He moved to London when he was sixteen and began working in the Civil Service as a clerical officer in the Post Office Savings Bank. Some of his early influences were Big Bill Broonzy, … - Chrissie Hynde
Christine Ellen Hynde (born September 7, 1951 in Akron, Ohio) is an American rock musician, best known as the leader of the band The Pretenders. She is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and the only constant member of the band throughout its history. __TOC_ - Stewart Copeland
Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the band The Police and is an influential drum stylist. During the group's extended hiatus from the mid-1980s to 2007, he played in other bands and composed soundtracks. - John Wesley
John Wesley (born John Wesley Dearth, Jr. aka Wes Dearth June, 1962) is a US-born guitar player. John Wesley's professional music career began in the early 80's in the Tampa, Florida area where he founded 1991 Southwestern Music Conference's showcase act Autodrive along with drummer/producer Mark Prator. - Robbie Robertson
Robbie Robertson (born Jaime Robert Robertson, 5 July 1943, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a songwriter, guitarist and singer, best known for his membership in The Band. - Warren Zevon
Warren William Zevon (January 24, 1947 - September 7, 2003) was an American rock and roll musician and songwriter. He was noted for his offbeat, sardonic view of life which was reflected in his dark, sometimes humorous songs, which often incorporated political or historical themes. - Jeff Lynne
Jeff Lynne (born December 30, 1947) is a Grammy Award-winning English rock songwriter, singer, guitarist and record producer. Born in the Shard End area of Birmingham, England, he is best known for his involvement with the Electric Light Orchestra and the Traveling Wilburys. After disbanding ELO, Lynne became a much respected and much sought after record producer, … - Bill Haley
Bill Haley (July 6 1925 – February 9 1981) was one of the first American rock and roll musicians, and is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the mid-1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and their hit song "Rock Around the Clock". - Ben Harper
Ben Harper (born Benjamin Chase Harper on October 28, 1969 in Claremont, California, USA) is an American musician. - Roger McGuinn
James Roger McGuinn (known professionally as Roger McGuinn and born James Joseph McGuinn III on July 13, 1942) is a popular rock American singer-songwriter and guitarist of the 1960s and 1970s. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' hit records, the pioneering folk-rock band of the 1960s, contributing much to the band's unique sound.
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