What are the most famous musical "legends"?

I'd say John Lennon, Queen and Jimy Hendrix.

Elvis, Rolling Stones, Bob Marley.

Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin.

If regarding modern pop culture, Madonna and Michael Jackson. Of the whole 20th century, I'd say Elvis and The Beatles. It's hard to say why, possibly people took the whole thing more seriously in the 50's and the 60's.


You forgot Bach. Although I tend to think that he was a "one-hit wonder", namely Toccata & Fugue in D minor.

Paul Simon, Dead Can Dance, Ry Cooder, Jim Morrison, Lou Reed, Nico,

Robert Johnson
John Coltrane
Serge Gainsbourg
Bruce Springsteen
David Bowie
The Velvet Underground
The Smiths

etc...

(and also my "personal" musical legends: Arthur Lee, Nick Drake, Michael Head, Peter Milton Walsh...)

20th century:
Louis Armstrong, Kurt Weil & Bertolt Brech, Robert Johnson, T-Bone Walker, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Woody Guthrie, Bill Monroe, Hank Williams Sr., Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Wailers