I like R A Rahman .. He is fabulous musician...........

i could spend hours citing some of the musicians i respect as people.

immortal technique is currently at the top of the list. he's not only greatly intelligent, but he's well-versed in the history of the world and able to juxtapose that with his knowledge of current events. he's all about spreading awareness through his music and his actions. he's self-made. he's probably well-off, but he's not rich, and he uses his label in part to sustain his family life and also to go to third world countries and build schools. and he doesn't take sh*t from anyone.

zappa is another person i greatly admire as a person. he broke boundaries with his music, his philosophies, and his way of life. he never ceased to provide a sound critique on social norms and customs. he was as dedicated to helping people think for themselves as he was to writing ground-breaking music. and he didn't take **** from anyone.

ravi shankar for bringing peace and merging "us with them" on a mainstream scale.

marilyn manson for his understanding of the paradox that is society and his embodiment of his critique through his work and his willingness to say things people don't necessarily want to hear.

ben howard cuz he's just a real gentle guy.

i also have a lot of respect for maynard james keenan. this is even controversial to me, because i have a feeling he's a total egomaniac. but, he's just so damn creative. from his visual art, to his various musical projects over the years, to his relatively recent foray into the world of wine-making, the guy just never stops creating. and in his music, egocentric as he may be, he seems to always attempt a confrontation with his own psychological shortcomings and those of the world at large with an intelligent and empathic approach.

i will probably come back and add more later. there are a great many musicians in the world i can pay tribute to...

I see this thread is successful, and yet I was bored. Then I realized it's because many of the names are unknowns. Please focus on famous musicians.

The post above mostly meets the requirements.

Attention newbies: sopsych might seem grumpy at times, but he rarely means any harm and welcomes anyone who wants to make intelligent music talk.

Blinko is definitely an inspiration to me. His artwork has an almost juvenile appeal to me, and Peni is one of those bands that altered the way I look at music. The ferocity in his vocals is something that makes my hair stand up at times and i love their simplistic chord structures and catchy anthemic roots punk. Good choice Bob.

for clarification, could you please define "famous"?

John Coltrane..

:laughing:

And why the hell should people only respect famous musicians? It's your problem if you don't recognise a name. Maybe you should google these artists and learn some interesting facts.

that's kind of what i was getting at really. i figure, if i can list off a few things i respect about a person whom some people might not be aware of, those things i list might provoke the use of google, and the artist gets a bit more attention that they may not have otherwise received.

aside from that, everyone i listed has sold over a million units.

A million isn't much. Ten million, maybe. "Famous" as in household names at some point in the UK or USA, I suppose.