Most Influential music artists ever.
 

i dont want the most underrated nor the best. i want the most influential- bands that did the most for music or started a new movement/ genre.
5 of the most influential bands in my opinion are:

• kraftwerk- way way waaaaaaaay ahead of their time. their stuff wouldnt sound out of place in the contempory electro-dance era.
  the Damned- **** the sex pistols, punk in britian really kicked off with the release of damned damned damned.
  bob dylan- every singer/writer with an acoustic guitar is trying to be the new dylan. took songwriting to new levels.
  the pixies- they were doing grunge well before the early 90s boom.
  led zeppelin- zeppelin I sounded so different to everything done before it.

this list is my opinion. many will disagree. i just want to see who you believe to be the most influential. oh btw, there was no order to this list.

elvis

the ramones

Velvet Underground (Lou Reed's solo stuff too)
The Pixies
Pink Floyd
Tupac, influential in bad ways too though...
Minor Threat
Mozart
Frank Sinatra
Black Flag
Stan Getz
The Chemical Brothers
The Dead Kennedys
Alice Cooper
I'm adding:
The Beatles
The Stooges
MC5
The Doors
The Kinks
The Byrds
The Who
The Sex Pistols
Jimi Hendrix
Nirvana
David Bowie
Queen
And, Led Zeppelin

Snickers, you beat me to alot of them.
But I must add Sublime to this list. Several of the same type of ska/punk/reggae bands that we also love were spawned from their sound.
REM I think should be here too. Stipe's vivid and abstract lyrics hit high notes with shy and expressive dorks everywhere. :hphones:

For me, the most influential artists ever would have to be the Clash, they were probably the most experimental band of the seventies punk movement. They brought in a whole host of other genres to the table (reggae, ska, dub) but kept true to the punk ethics, add to this Joe Strummers and Mick Jones' suberb song writing talents and you have what I, and pretty much every punk/rock band formed since, consider the most influential.

^^100% agree^^

black sabath....even though i don't listen to them....a lot of bad shit sprawned from their music...

REM, Green Day, Blink-182 (Look at all the bands that the 2nd two spawned).

Green Day - Caused a lot of todays punkpop bands
Sex Pistols - 'Initiated' The Punk Of The 70s...which the clash finished
The Beatles - Despite the fact their music is in no way appealing to me, they are responsible for OZZY so i am forever glad.
Darude - Brought Ibiza culture to its most popular, Sandstorm of course the tune most familiar with even non club-goers.
Metallica - An unlikely choice? on kerrang tv awards every band that was interviewed seemed to mention this band and thank them for it was them who gave them the motivation to start - ESPECIALLY when they were introduced into the hall of fame