As far as entertainers go, musicians tend to have the shortest life spans. Their fast-paced lifestyles mixed with the demands of the road have taken some of the era’s most shining stars while in their prime and those who have survived their heyday do not go unscathed. Heck, look at Poison’s Bret Michaels. He’s not in the best health these days.
Below is a list of the greatest musicians who are still alive. This list was developed by the Woove Editorial Staff: Matt Clark, Matt Dhillon, Miles Ellenberg, Stu Ruiz, Peter Tesh, Alex Tallant, Rosalie Wind and Ben Woody.
1. B.B. KING (SEPT. 16, 1925)
B.B. King as a guitarist, singer and songwriter cannot be contained to any one locale. His music is rooted in the Mississippi Delta, lives in Chicago, Muscle Shoals and Detroit. It’s impossible to imagine any musician with knowledge of the blues who isn’t inextricably linked to the man’s legacy.
King’s style of guitar is difficult to describe. The playing is never virtuosic, but it still impossible to replicate. There is a sense of emotional depth, brought through with his timing and delicate phrasings, that makes his works a continued touchstone to this day. His guitar tone is the perfect complement — elegant yet raw — marked with occasional squalls of distortion and feedback that match the ragged soul of voice being torn to shreds by an impassioned performance. Now 61 years into his career, King remains the essence of what the blues is about: the opportunity to throw it on the line in a fit of passion in order to cleanse the soul. — Stu Ruiz
2. BOB DYLAN (MAY 24, 1941)
Bob Dylan’s career may not be as long as King’s, but it certainly is just as influential to his genre. There is not a single American folk-rocker out there who has not paid homage to his work.
Dylan is to American music as T.S. Eliot is to American literature. Both are innovative, subversive voices that have experimented with different lyrical narrative structures. Their content also similarly matches up as both discuss the gradual decay of American society in their narratives.
Dylan is a musician who needs no introduction or explanation. His albums “Highway 61 Revisited” and “Blonde on Blonde” were two of the best albums of the 20th century. — Ben Woody
3. TOM WAITS (DEC. 7, 1949)
Somewhere in an ancient opera house, at an empty train station or beside a farmhouse cemetery where a hoarse bird croaks, Tom Waits is composing his trademark haunting sound.
Waits has created some of the most captivating music in the last few decades with some of the most unconventional equipment around. The macabre, gypsy quality of his atmospheric songs, his intimate, storytelling lyrics and his broken voice have earned him little radio time, but this hasn’t stopped him from amassing a large following. When you hear him play, you know you’re listening to someone with a touch of insanity who has managed to combine the grotesque with the sublime. — Matt Dhillon
4. DAVID BOWIE (JAN. 8, 1947)
David Bowie is one name that has continued to define rock music since his rise to the top in the ’70s. His dominating success captured this era through androgynous alter egos such as Ziggy Stardust. Here, he is only considered one of the greatest living songwriters, but Rolling Stone ranks Bowie as the 39th greatest rock artist of all time.
With his soaring success of selling an estimated 136 million records, Bowie is the multi-instrumentalist who crafted 24 groundbreaking albums. Mostly known for his hauntingly wide ranged voice and his intense live show. Bowie has also inspired future androgynous ringleaders of popular culture such as Prince, Madonna’s ’90s career and Lady Gaga. —Matt Clark
5. WILLIE NELSON (APRIL 30, 1933)
Willie Nelson was really an obligatory choice on a list like this. Not that he doesn’t deserve the spot, of course as few artists have had as either illustrious or as long a career as Nelson. He has written hit songs, played with artists from Bob Dylan to Snoop Dogg, appeared in movies, campaigned for causes and — most of all — become an American cultural icon.
There’s just too much to say about this man’s career than will fit in this top 10 list. There’s a commanding legitimacy in his music that hasn’t faded over his 50-year career. Not one to rest on his laurels, he’s still active, still playing, collaborating and innovating his sound. Country and folk music wouldn’t be what they are today without his signature sound — and it would be better if more of them still followed his example. —Peter Tesh
6. PAUL MCCARTNEY (JUNE 18, 1942)
Though it seems debatable these days, Paul McCartney lives. In 2009, the Guinness Book of World Records labeled him the most successful songwriter ever in pop music. His song “Yesterday,” one of the most covered songs in history, has been played by more than two thousand artists.
McCartney gained fame as bassist and vocalist for the Beatles, his rock group Wings and his constant social activism. The Beatles, a rock band that undeniably changed music forever, has been cited by many of today’s popular artists as an enormous inspiration. McCartney’s influence comes from his creative songwriting, positive messages in his lyrics, music and lifestyle. His musical stylings have crossed several different genres from psychedelia to straightforward rock ’n’ roll. He wrote a majority of Beatles songs such as “Let it Be,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “Hello, Goodbye,” “Penny Lane,” “Hey Jude” and “Here, There & Everywhere.”
He still performs to this day, most recently in November 2009. Truly a living legend, one cannot deny the many generous gifts and masterpieces Paul McCartney has granted music since 1957. — Rosalie Wind
7. GEORGE CLINTON (JULY 22, 1941)
The only thing as colorful as George Clinton’s hair is his style of music. With his back up band, Parliament Funkadelic, Clinton has been a funk and soul legend since his start in the ’70s. Today he is still kickin’ it with a 2008 solo release and recent live shows.
A testament to his legacy, his work is some of the most sampled in musical history and has naturally influenced all musicians in similar genres. This is largely because of his trailblazing sound that has been labeled “P-Funk,” which added a futuristic element to his funk foundation. Today, it’s a given that
Clinton is on the same level as James Brown when it comes to innovation and funk-ability. —Miles Ellenberg
8. GLENN DANZIG (JUNE 23, 1955)
Danzig “ain’t no god damned son of a bitch,” or at least he thinks not. Finding his spot on this list, Danzig may be one of the more influential figures in modern metal music today, in spite of his immediate affiliation with punk and hard rock genres.
His ridiculous lyrics and behavior have made him a standout since the late ’70s, with one of the more recent highlights being an internet video of him getting his ass whooped by a fan. While that may not impress his Jeet Kune Do master, it has done little to affect his legions of loyal fans that have followed him through his stints with the Misfits, Samhain and his solo career.
And his legacy is not yet forgotten. Younger generations are still exposed to his songs on “Guitar Hero” games and characters based on him, like Nathan Explosion of Cartoon Network’s “Metalocalypse.” — Alex Tallant
9. QUINCY JONES (MARCH 14, 1933)
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. is best known for producing Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” but the man is an intensely successful musical composer whose work spans five decades. Born in 1933, Jones has earned 79 Grammy Award nominations and won 27 Grammys, including the Grammy Legend Award in 1991.
Jones has arranged albums for iconic performs such as Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr. and Aretha Franklin.
Jones is also a performer himself. After 30 years of attempting to perform with Miles Davis, Jones and Davis finally convened for Davis’ last album “Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux.”
Known for association and arranging the great musical innovators of the twentieth century, Jones further composed soundtracks for several films such as “The Color Purple,” “The Wiz,” “In Cold Blood” and “In the Heat of the Night.” — Matt Clark
10. SONNY ROLLINS (SEPT. 7, 1930)
If you have not heard “St. Thomas,” then you are lying to yourself.
It has one of the most recognizable melodies of any jazz tune, and its creator has one of the most recognizable tenor saxophones of all time.
Rollins began his career at an early age and has not stopped playing since.
I luckily got to attend his concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., back in 2008, and it was quite a moving experience. You get that feeling you are in the presence of an icon — you get nervous, scared even.
Then, Sonny took to the stage and belted out one of his famous standards, “Oleo.”
Rollins might be the second-best jazz tenor saxophonist of all time behind John Coltrane, and the impression he has had on the genre since the decline of bebop is comparable to Bob Dylan’s influence on folk.
Please check out his magnum opus, “Saxophone Colossus,” if you don’t know who this legend is. — Ben Woody