VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time"

Wow. VH1 may feature Behind The Music, but it appears that the station knows nothing about that music. VH1 just unveiled its 100 Greatest Artists of All Time list, and it is full of perplexing placements and disappointments.

As you can see below, the VH1 Greatest Artists of All Time list is horribly flawed, with a number of artists rated far too high, many rated too low, and many absent from the list. The list seems to be skewed in terms of mainstream popularity and modernity.

It’s hard to pick a place to start on this flawed list, but having Guns N’ Roses above Johnny Cash seems a little odd. And I understand that Beyonce might have had one of the best videos of all time (of all time!), but should she really be rated as “greater” than Whitney Houston, someone who paved the way for her?

In terms of rock music, does anyone actually listen to KISS? If so, shouldn’t they have realized that the glam band is not better than The Doors? Likewise, Pearl Jam seems to have been ripped off, barely making the list at 93, behind the Bee Gees, LL Cool J and ABBA. Really? That’s like giving Aerosmith the 30th spot and putting Coldplay ahead of R.E.M. Oh, wait…

And those not represented – Willie Nelson, the Allman Brothers, and countless others. We can’t even begin to list who was overlooked. Let us know what you think in the comments.

You can find downloads of your favorite artists right here.
VH1 100 Greatest Artists of All Time List


100 Alicia Keys
99 Hall & Oates
98 Depeche Mode
97 Pretenders
96 Journey
95 OutKast
94 Mariah Carey
93 Pearl Jam
92 LL Cool J
91 Green Day
90 Elvis Costello
89 Beastie Boys
88 Bee Gees
87 George Michael
86 N.W.A.
85 The Band
84 Curtis Mayfield
83 Earth, Wind and Fire
82 Steely Dan
81 ABBA
80 Mary J. Blige
79 Eminem
78 Judas Priest
77 Lynyrd Skynyrd
76 Run-D.M.C.
75 Rush
74 The Cure
73 Van Morrison
72 Janis Joplin
71 R.E.M.
70 Def Leppard
69 Tupac Shakur
68 Otis Redding
67 Coldplay
66 Justin Timberlake
65 The Doors
64 Talking Heads
63 Notorious B.I.G.
62 Genesis
61 Cream
60 Whitney Houston
59 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
58 Cheap Trick
57 Iggy & The Stooges
56 KISS
55 Peter Gabriel
54 Public Enemy
53 Little Richard
52 Beyoncé
51 Billy Joel
50 Sade
49 Parliament-Funkadelic
48 Rage Against The Machine
47 Jay-Z
46 Ramones
45 Al Green
44 Joni Mitchell
43 Ray Charles
42 Metallica
41 Van Halen
40 The Police
39 The Kinks
38 Sly & The Family Stone
37 Fleetwood Mac
36 Paul McCartney
35 Johnny Cash
34 Tina Turner
33 Guns N’ Roses
32 Black Sabbath
31 John Lennon
30 Aerosmith
29 Radiohead
28 Elton John
27 Aretha Franklin
26 Neil Young
25 Chuck Berry
24 The Velvet Underground
23 AC/DC
22 The Clash
21 Bruce Springsteen
20 Marvin Gaye
19 U2
18 Pink Floyd
17 Queen
16 Madonna
15 The Beach Boys
14 Nirvana
13 The Who
12 David Bowie
11 Bob Marley
10 Stevie Wonder
09 James Brown
08 Elvis Presley
07 Prince
06 Jimi Hendrix
05 Bob Dylan
04 Rolling Stones
03 Led Zeppelin
02 Michael Jackson
01 The Beatles