Thursday, April 7, 2022

The Top 100 Acts of All Time

Acts:

Top 100 All Time

Below are the top 100 acts of all time according to the DMDB. This list is an aggregate of multiple best-of lists, including specialty lists, such as those focused exclusively on a certain genre. Dave’s Music Database has created separate lists for the top 100 groups/duos of all time and the top 1000 music makers of all time, which features only individuals.

This information is combined with various awards, chart success, and sales figures (click here for a link to the resources). A great effort has been made to find lists that represent numerous genres and eras of music. Even so, this list still leans almost entirely on the 20th century, or roughly the era of recorded music, meaning classical music, such as composers Ludwig van Beethoven, are absent from this list. Still, this list does at least acknowledge that there were big-name acts who made music prior to the rock era, something which few best-of lists seem to realize.

Links below connect to the act’s entry in the Music Makers A-Z guide, which offers a short bio about the act and lists significant works. In some cases, the act has a more detailed DMDB page which can be linked to via the A-Z guide entry. When applicable, links have also been posted for best-of song or album lists for the act.

See other lists of Acts/Music Makers by Categories.

1. The Beatles: top 100 songs
2. Bing Crosby: top 100 songs
3. Elvis Presley: top 100 songs
4. Billy Murray: top 100 songs
5. Frank Sinatra: top 100 songs
6. Paul Whiteman: top 100 songs
7. The Rolling Stones: top 100 Songs
8. Bob Dylan: top 100 songs
9. Paul McCartney: top 100 songs
10. Elton John: top 100 songs
11. Irving Berlin: top 100 songs
12. Bruce Springsteen: top 100 songs
13. Henry Burr: top 100 songs
14. John Lennon: top 40 songs
15. Michael Jackson: top 100 songs
16. David Bowie: top 100 songs
17. Richard Rodgers: top 50 songs
18. Stevie Wonder: top 100 songs
19. Guy Lombardo: top 100 songs
20. Prince: top 100 songs
21. U2: top 100 songs
22. Oscar Hammerstein II: top 50 songs
23. Eric Clapton: top 100 songs
24. Tommy Dorsey: top 100 songs
25. Aretha Franklin: top 50 songs
26. Madonna: top 60 songs
27. Arthur Collins: top 100 songs
28. George Gershwin: top 50 songs
29. Led Zeppelin: top 100 songs
30. Byron G. Harlan: top 100 songs
31. Ray Charles: top 50 songs
32. Neil Young: top 40 songs
33. Pink Floyd: top 100 songs
34. The Beach Boys: top 100 songs
35. Jimi Hendrix: top 25 songs
36. Harry MacDonough
37. Benny Goodman: top 100 songs
38. The Who: top 100 songs
39. George Harrison
40. Louis Armstrong: top 50 songs
41. George Martin
42. Ludwig van Beethoven
43. James Brown: top 50 songs
44. Queen: top 50 songs
45. Glenn Miller: top 100 songs
46. Perry Como
47. Marvin Gaye: top 50 songs
48. Rod Stewart: top 100 songs
49. Johnny Cash
50. Al Jolson
51. Mariah Carey: top 40 songs
52. Billy Joel: top 50 songs
53. Sting
54. R.E.M.: top 100 songs
55. Jimmy Page: top 100 songs
56. Nat “King” Cole
57. Taylor Swift: top 100 songs
58. Ira Gershwin: top 50 songs
59. Duke Ellington
60. Eagles: top 70 songs
61. Ada Jones
62. Rick Rubin: top 50 albums
63. The Bee Gees: top 100 songs
64. Ringo Starr
65. Jimmy Dorsey
66. Whitney Houston: top 50 songs
67. Jerome Kern
68. Fleetwood Mac: top 100 songs
69. Cole Porter
70. Bob Marley
71. The Andrews Sisters
72. Aerosmith
73. Eminem
74. Drake
75. Johnny Mercer
76. Carole King: Top 50
77. The Temptations
78. The Peerless Quartet/Columbia Male Quartet
79. Smokey Robinson
80. Dolly Parton: top 100 songs
81. Van Morrison
82. Ben Selvin
83. Phil Collins: top 100 songs
84. Billie Holiday
85. Albert Campbell
86. Tom Petty: top 30 songs
87. Yes: top 30 songs
88. Willie Nelson: top 80 songs
89. Elvis Costello: top 50 songs
90. Simon & Garfunkel/Paul Simon
91. Pearl Jam: top 50 songs
92. Lou Reed: top 50 songs
93. Kenny Rogers: top 75 songs
94. Kanye West
95. Diana Ross: top 50 songs
96. The Doors
97. Mick Jagger
98. The Police: top 100 songs (Sting & the Police)
99. Chuck Berry: top 25 songs
100. Berry Gordy Jr.: top 100 Motown songs

Resources/Related Links:


First posted 11/13/2013; last updated 5/26/2019.

6 comments:

  1. How are the Velvet Underground not on this list? I have seen dozens of "Greatest of all time" lists,and they are always on them.That's not hyberbol. I think you need to double check your work.

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  2. Hey, Joe. That's just the way the lists played out. Personally, I'd put VU on my own list, but they just didn't make the cut often enough for this list.

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  3. Absolutely fantastic job you have done here.This is so nice.Thanks for sharing.

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  4. Great job, have you thought of expanding the list to 250, 500 or even 1000?

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  5. How about Top 100 acts for each decade?

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  6. Thanks for sharing your this great work of yours.

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