I totally see where you are coming from with these names and I agree they are all highly influential artists (within' their respective genres) for future generations to come. I just can't help to think of the artists that influenced the artists you mentioned... and then who influenced them, and so on. To ask for THE MOST influential person EVER is pretty damn vague. Also, I know you agree with me on this... just restating my previous point, not really directing it at you.

Yep, I'm with you there. In one of my more cynical moments today, I thought that the most influential people might be the producers/promoters who "discovered" and made us all aware of the influential musicians (was listening to a radio show about Billy Holiday and how she wouldn't have succeeded without the discovery of the microphone and good promoters). Before anyone gets their hackles up, I understand the argument against this claim--it was a cynical moment. But, I pretty much agree that to try to name the most infuential musician, even in a single genre, is probably futile.

I love Lou Reed, brings back memories of first year at Uni.

Most influential in my opinion is James Brown. He took the soul and gospel music of the day and transformed it, influencing many artists in many different genres to this day. :)

It's interesting how gospel music was so inspiring considering it's religious context. I actually quite enjoy it though.

Old school gospel isn't bad but modern gospel is, if you'll pardon the pun, godawful.

Ug the Cro-Magnon was very influential in being the first to grunt and clap his hands in time... but then again there was Og who prefigured cave-beat with his innovative jawbone/rock arrangements?
Music has moved on since of course, but I think everyone from Haydn to Jelly Roll Morton to McCartney would doff their cap to Ug.

http://themusicstories.com/Stories/l...ayne-tct01.jpg

i think were rap/hiphop is concerned i think emenem is worth a shoutout, i remember when i was in school every little bastard tried to be just like him

For me, in terms of modern music, it comes down to three people.

Robert Johnson: His guitar playing I feel, was the first of it's kind and really turned the guitar into a mean instrument.

Buddy Holly: One of the first real performers to write their own songs. Not only that, he discovered (or was the first the use publicly, I feel, to say the least) just a simple method of writing music that produced so many of his wonderful catchy songs. I really wish I could have seen where he would have gone in time.

Bob Dylan: Even though countless blues artists and folk singers before him did it, he was the first to really capture a generation with songs about real life. I also feel because of how large his audience was/is and how far his music reached he was one of the first to be recognised as making music an art form. I feel that, from seeing a lot of those early variety shows, a lot of people thought music was a somewhat of a novelty, not in the sense of a fad, just something you grow out of once you're an adult. I feel that Bob Dylan was somewhat responsible for changing that perception a lot. Again, I really want to stress I'm not saying he's the first, but at least one of, if not the face of, many to do so. In doing what he did, he influenced countless singer-songerwriter including The Beatles.

Without A Doubt For Me It's Got To Be Berry Gordy, Founder Of Tamla Motown.
I Think That Tamla Changed Not Only The Face Of The Recording World, By Introducing Some Of The Greatest Singers And Songwriters That Have Ever Lived: Through Berry Gordy The Culture Of Society Began To Change, Albeit Slowly, To One Of More Tolerance Amongst Different Races Of People;Changes That Are Still Continuing Today.

Jimi Hendrix

Fuck, I forgot about Dylan, definately as influential as Holly.