Most Influential Rock Groups

Besides being by far the top selling musical act in history, The Beatles are also the most important musical artists of the past 200 years.
Other artists changed music, but The Beatles changed the world as a whole.
Before The Beatles, the world was about old people; after The Beatles, the world was about young people.

they are the most influential band for many reasons - they were the most innovative songwriters,they changed the industry and there is so many cover bands out there.There's no band that influenced as many as todays bands than any other band. - idolangelx13

Well all of the bands on here were influenced by the Beatles, but beyond that the Beatles influenced my life and are probably one of the greatest with over 20 #1 hit singles and all of their other songs were above average

AMAZING

Two bands are head & shoulders above everybody. Along with being revered as the most influential bands most people still maintain that Rock music reached its pinnacle in either or both of these titans. LED ZEPPELIN & THE BEATLES. I consider Led Zeppelin to be the superior outfit & the zenith of rock music. Nobody before or since has equaled their eerie mystique or commanded their level of power. Though every detail of Zeppelin's superficial qualities were (& are) endlessly studied, copied, emulated etc., there's ultimately only one reason that they are still so revered, because all the other elements will fade with the passage of time, and that is the music! Simply the music. They delivered the goods. A few more decades will pass & the unique magic & mystique will never again be truly understood...the people who experienced it will be gone & all will be reduced to subjective interpretation. They call that history & beyond cold unchanging facts & figures most of what actually existed & ...more

I guess not enough people have voted on this list yet because these results (#2 through #5) are utterly silly. THERE ARE TWO BANDS THAT REMAIN HEAD AND SHOULDER ABOVE ALL THE REST IN TERMS OF INFLUENCE, THEY ARE Led Zeppelin & THE Beatles. IT'S ALSO NO COINCIDENCE THAT THEY HAVE FOR DECADES CONSISTENTLY RANKED AS THE TWO GREATEST BANDS IN ROCK HISTORY. (Bon Jovi? Are you kidding me? Looks like some former 12-year old fangirls have been busy on this list.

Sabbath, zeppelin, & the Beatles are definitely the most influential bands. the Beatles were the ones that created the kind of guitar bands we hear today, zeppelin inspired millions with their INCREDIBLE different song styles, and sabbath was the first metal band. - 678rob754

Led Zeppelin was the most influential ROCK band of all time, in my opinion, but the Beatles were the most influential band of all time, although they were mostly pop.

#2! Right behind The Beatles and ahead of The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd? What a joke. Bon Jovi is not the most influential at anything in rock music. Uninspired drivel.

Surely this is a joke. Bon Jovi doesn't belong anywhere on this list

Huge Jovi fan here, These Days is one of the best 2-3 albums ever recorded and Sambora is one of the most versatile players that America has ever produced, however, not even I would put Bon Jovi anywhere near the top 10. Maybe somewhere 15-20th but even there, only because Slippery When Wet really opened a lot of doors for hard and heavy music and changed people's perspective (especially people who were outside the genre). So many metalheads I know are into rock/metal because of a Bon Jovi song they heard or because their parents were playing Jovi in their youth... that has to count for something. Direct influence on other bands though...rather limited.

Rip the rev. Rip kurt. Rip John lemon. Rip Jeff the bounty boy. Rip prince. Rip John llant

riffs and the best and lyrics speak for me to along with cannons and bagpipes and thunder and to the band that saluted me and taught me that there is no place worse then nowhere

My biggest influence in music - gibsonsg

Largest rock group of all time! And the best!

I like it

Bon Jovi #1?!?! Anyone who has any real knowledge of rock (sorry teeny-boppers) knows that two bands made the most impact: Black Sabbath and Zeppelin. - asphaltpilot

what is this bon jovi! Sabbath invented a whole new type of music where are they on the list

black sabbath invented metal! and you guys are telling me that judas priest is more influential than black sabbath, - metfan001

Since when is bon jovi influential? and why is acdc that high

Nirvana changed it all, and they didn't care. They grew up from nothing but divorced families and being picked on in school. Kurt Cobain AKA the Riff Master became the voice of the voiceless, the grunge city saint. Also giving a middle finger to glam rock

I remember hearing teen spirit for the first time, at that moment I knew glam rock was over, and guns and roses would lose title of biggest band on the planet.

Nirvana brought a previously unknown genre, I.E. grunge into the mainstream; and they rocked.
They were truly the "Beatles" of the 90s - yeah, yeah, yeah!

After the sex pistols,god send us nirvana to rock.

Best Rock and Roll band out there. Queen should be in top 3; they're one of the most covered bands out there, and they have influenced many of the musicians from the world today!

Queen, in my opinion, is one of the best rock bands - just bands, full stop - of all time. The thing that they made was real music.

The lead singer was gay, and yet they're still one of the best bands there is

Queen leaves all the other bands behind the starting block. They made REAL MUSIC!

Not even worthy to be on this list. If it wasn't for Dave Mustaine developing their sound on their first 2 albums (check the wiki on ride the lightning if you don't believe me on their 2nd), no one would have even heard of these hacks. This isn't about a popularity contest, it is about the most influential; which these guys are not. Exodus even deserves more credit.

Easily the #1 most influential band in metal and a wide reach outside of metal. The Beatles did more in rock, but everybody else is at most equal in influence.

Their live concerts are unbelievably awesome! Even better than recorded ones and that's amazing. And he really has the sound!

Metallica was the greatest band to ever walk on a stage

Green Day have been a main influence to most, if not all, of the mainstream bands for the past 20 years.

Why even't Green Day is in Top 10?

Bearing in mind this is a list of the most influential rock groups, not necessarily the best, it's pretty shocking that Pink Floyd isn't in the top 5 at least, let alone the top 10. Not only did they lay the ground work for an enormous portion of all music to follow, but they dared to go places that most others wouldn't, and do things that people wouldn't try, and music benefitted greatly, as a result. They took their music to a level that transcended what we consider as 'music', and as a result of this, cemented their position in the history books as one of the forefathers of, not only modern rock, but modern music in general. Maybe they're not one of the best rock groups, personally I believe they are, but they sure as hell are one of the most influential. The idea that some people actually think Green Day are more influential than Pink Floyd is a truly demoralising thought.

When I was a kid. I grew up listening to the Beatles, the doors, the band, the clash, the Ramones, Black Sabbath and many big bands I have learned from my mother. I heard the band Pink Floyd but never really had the chance to listen and be influenced by their music when I was a teenager. Until I've watched "echoes" on YouTube. From that day onwards I was astonished, amazed how great this band is. Wouldn't be able to explain further how I praise them. Love them so much.

Pink Floyd is perhaps the band any musician should listen to and strive to make them as a bench mark. Pink Floyd popularized the methods of joining songs and as for David gilmour his guitar work is off another level. Pink floys have inspired numerous bands such as dream theater. Just listen to the wall or dark side of the moon to understand how timeless this music is ( I'm 17 )

This should be higher. - Kevinsidis

The greatest pioneers of hard rock and heavy metal should be in the TOP 3! - Metal_Treasure

The Ramones should be at least in the top five. They made "punk" clothes (such as leather jackets, ripped jeans, etc.) popular and released the first pure punk rock album. The Ramones and the Beatles are the reasons why simple and vigorous rock songs are so popular. If only they weren't so horribly underrated.

2263 shows, a career spanning through the 70's to the noughties, the ramones invented punk with funny and geniusly simple songs, inspiring bands of the future. good reason for being in the rock and roll hall of fame.

The Ramones inspired bands like the Clash who are in the top ten to play. They are the most influential punk band for no doubt, by the way they are in the Rock 'n' Roll hall of fame not many bands in this list are. - jungle551

The Ramones changed the face of rock and roll forever. They are easily the #2 or #3 on this list

with their mix of electronic sounds, a deep driving bass, and a really high pitched singer they blazed the way for alt-rock

I have heard many musicians, even from this list, who have stated that Rush was a huge influence on them.

Rush is the ultimate rock band only 3 guys compare to kid rock about 12 guys

Almost every band on this list was influenced by Rush in some way.

I don't think you people understand that this is a list about influential bands. That being said, why are Bon Jovi at number 2? Why are Journey at number 15?!?! So many of these bands on this list did nothing in terms of influence. After the 60's, if you identified as a rock musician and you did not cite Hendrix as an influence, then you were a fraud. Every person that plays the guitar today, acoustic or electric, was influenced by this man and this band.

They are second only to the Beatles when it comes to the influence of rock.

Really I think people don't understand this list because if there was no jimi MOST of the bands here would be non existant

I could think of more than 100 artist inspired by Scorpions. Even Bon Jovi was inspired by Scorpions. And Nirvana? Really? How can anyone even for that garbage?

There are a lot of artists which have been influenced by Scorpions!
It's just impossible to not be influenced by them!
Scorpions rocks!

Best rock ballads, for every ages and tastes and great hard songs for every rocker!

They will literally "Rock You Like a Hurricane"! Get it?

An amazing band with a promising future in the world of rock.

The Beatles and The Beach Boys are #1 and #2. I listened to Pet Sounds off and on for three years before I heard it's magic sounds. There is not a better album.

The Beach Boys for Longevity, Vocal Styling, Originality blow every other group in the world out of the water. The are #1 without dispute.

The Beach Boys not being number one on this list discredits the list and makes it a joke. I mean seriously none of the other bands before them on here are worth a damn. I have a sense of humor like anyone but I don't get it. Summerkat called it, longevity, vocal styling #1 all the way!

Sounds, sounds and more sounds. Made harmony an art form - Summerkat2002

to the solos that will keep me praticing

Rip Satan rip axel roads. Rip air

Why isn't this band higher up?

They changed the history! SWEET CHILD O' MINE is one of the most influential song oF all time. NOVEMBER RAIN has touched and inspired millions of people.

Motorhead inspired Lars Ulrich, a founding member of Metallica as well as other groups such as Venom. No Motorhead - no Metallica. No Metallica, no thrash metal. No venom, no black/extreme metal. Motorhead should therefore be ranked ahead of both Metallica and Celtic Frost on this list...

Amongst a heavily male-dominated rock scene, Evanescence burst into the spotlight with a gorgeously dark and more melodic sound, and I love them for it. - phensh23

Hhh

Not only did they influence, a lot of post modern and modern metal bands, they even influenced punk, grunge and a lot of other stuff, by still have been more complete musicians than some of the bands that followed. Number 28 right now, for Iron Maiden is a joke, they had far more influence, than some of you may know...

Pretty much every band I listen to today has some influence form iron maiden. Avenged Sevenfold, disturbed, slipknot, and even Metallica. If that is not enough influence to at least raise it to the top ten I don't know what will

34th? That's bollocks! They formed heavy metal to what it is today. Easily in the top three.

The best heavy metal band in the earth

Surely Journey with Lights et al should rank above Rush

this is a joke, beach boys ahead of the chilis, the chilis changed music when cobain died thank god they did or rock would be even worse then it is today.

Going strong for 30 years now. Their style of music can't be matched by most other bands.

Bridged the worlds of funk, punk and rock. Not many other bands can compare. Great Job!

An Incredible band, so influencial

How is the Who not in the top 10? The fact that Journey, KISS Queen, and the Scorpians are in front of them if laughable. I understand this is all subjective but really?

Half the bands that came after these guys copied some element of them and countless guitarists credit Townshend as why they play guitar. These guys were the first great "live" band. Moon was arguably the best drummer ever, Entwistle was the real bass player, and Townshend is a great innovator (key boards on "Baba O'Reilly", "Won't Get Fooled Again"; he essentially invented the rock opera, "My Generation" was what Punk Rock was all about). Daltry is one of the better front men as well.

They were the first to wreck their instruments. First to invent the rock opera. First to use lasers. Invented the marshle stack... Invented the power cord... Made the first rock movie(TOMMY). Showed us what punk, heavy metal, and rock was all about ( visually). First to unbent the synthesizer. Even the Beatles wish they had what the who had. Zeppelin based themselves on the who. No one knows the facts. All you guys care about is your own opinions.

Yeah the who are better than Journey.

I have one question. Why are they 25 on the list?

38? Aerosmith is one of the most influential bands ever!

Starting with, every band of the 80's are less great hair rock version of Aerosmith, with that said, Aerosmith should be ahead Bon Jovi, Guns n Roses, Nirvana and everyone else! top 15 at least

inspired so many groups. It's Slash's favorite group... Joe Perry is the reason he picked up a guitar

RADIO HITS AND MUSIC UNBEATABLE IN YOUR GENERE

They are the first alternative rock band of the history and the weirdest bands ever, they are one of the first bands on the proto-punk scene, produced by the genius of andy warhol, they're an explosive combination, and the result is the Most influencial band on the underground rock

They influenced more bands than the Beatles, technically.

Without them, more than half of these bands on this list would not exist!

The most influential rock band of all time, they had greater impact on the music than the Beatles. Sorry for bad english.

New Look and beginning of the extravagant shows - Summerkat2002

They should TOTALLY I MEAN TOTALLY be in the top 10 at least. They have awesome concerts and makeup and outfits. I saw them in concert onece and I'm only 7 years old. There for they should TOTALLY be number 1! - sparkle

Woo kiss started heavy metal

Rip gene simmons. Rip bill cosby. Rip Jeff hannebor. Rip mike jack. Rip mitch wucker. Rip billy ray Cyrus

they have revolutionized nu metal/rapcore/raprock as we know it!

They have meaning in their songs.

Linkin park is the best band

What to say about them
Only two words
Linkin park - mohajain

Although not popular among the younger generation this band has had an incredibly big impact on musical style and many bands have credited them for inspiration. Muse and Coldplay being some examples.

Awesome is not enough..

Excellent stream musical band

They are as influencial as the beatles if not more

I have no idea why they are so low on this list. At the very least they should be in the top five. I personally would put them at number 2 right behind the Beatles if for no other reason that they are all geriatric and yet still around and still tour.

you have the lyrics that made common saying like you can't always get what you want and the music is calm and crazy

This is a disgrace. The Rolling stones at 39? What? They deserve to be much higher, given as how they influenced many great groups

This list is so stupid. People turned it to a best band list. Top ten is in no particular order
The beatles
Led zeppelin
Rolling stones
Cream
The who
Chuck berry
Little richard
The kinks
The small faces
The yardbirds

All of these bands contributed significantly to the development of music. But the real influences stretch to Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Robert Johnson, so on

We are the kings and queens

The Pixies have influenced a large range of artists, Thom Yorke has said that the Pixies changed his life. The pixies have completely influenced nirvana sound and without the Pixies nirvana would not have made any music as good as they have, Kurt said he was trying to write a song that could pass off as a Pixies song when he wrote Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Pixies should be so much higher considering Kurt Cobain said that he was just trying to rip off the Pixies with Smells Like Teen Spirit. The Pixies started the loud-quiet-loud trend you hear all the time from Weezer, Nirvana, etc.

Without Pixies there would be no
Nirvana
Radiohead
Smashing Pumpkins
Neutral Milk Hotel
Arcade Fire
And basically every indie artist post-1990

On a side note, the fact people consider Bon Jovi, who has done nothing but create repetitive radio rock for his entire career, influential is pretty damn disgraceful.

They are the band who create an alternative movement, without them, there are no Radiohead and Nirvana.

were one of the pioneers of an entire genre of music (pop-punk) and one of the most influential bands of the 1990's and early 2000's... and certainly one of the most popular

Blink-182 inspired so many new-age rock bands and even some electronic music producers. They even inspired Machine Gun Kelly! (he's a rapper)

Go on Google search and type "bands inspired by". "bands inspired by blink-182" comes up first. That pretty much shows that they should be in the top 10! Come on now people.

O m g YOU SHOULD BE EMBARRASSED FOR EVEN MENTIONING THEM
ON ANY LIST.

In my opinion Alice in Chains was one of the most influential bands of their era. The music was honest and passionate. They are still gaining fans today. Their music is timeless.

So influential that Korn can take their sound, add rapping and electronics and create a new genre of rock.

The REAL influence of the 90's

Listen to heavy rock bands today and its easy to see just how lasting their infuence truly is. Jerry's guitar style especially helped keep rock heavy and palm muted through the 90's and influenced the 2000s greatly. They've long outlasted Nirvana in my option.

Awesome Rock Band should be a top ten rock band in music history.

35-40 years of spectacular music, distinctive timeless guitar sound, meaningful lyrics, powerful lead singer.

And the fact that they influenced many rock bands from the 90s onward. And when some new indie rock bands say "we want to be like U2," you know that's saying something.

Bon Jovi, Evanescence, def leopard, and three days grace above U2! What a joke! U2 is one of the most influential bands of all time and the band of a generation. Top 10 easily!

Very unique sound... And every Christian band guitarist on the planet now sounds like the edge!... That's got to be worth a boost on this chart...

Bands like Coldplay, Imagine Dragons and The Script not even be a thing without U2 they are the most influential band of the 80s they are the most influential live band they have re-shaped touring with ZooTV Tour and also albums like The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby leaved mark on alternative rock and rock in general I think they should be 6th behind The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones and The Who

While I was never a giant Van Halen fan, they need to be much higher on this list. Eddie changed how the guitar was played for millions of guitar players and this guitar sound and techique is a massive influence on every musical decade since they started... I'm still mad about how they influenced glam rock though... Laugh out loud.

I bet you that without Van Halen, most of the bands on this list wouldn't exist.