The 100 Most Influential Artists, according to NME:

100. Deerhunter
99. The Cure
98. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
97. Iceage
96. Country Teasers
95. Dirty Projectors
94. Richard Hawley
93. Black Lips
92. St. Vincent
91. Foals
90. Flying Lotus
89. Simple Minds
88. Oneohtrix Point Never
87. Billy Bragg
86. The Triffids
85. Black Flag
84. Nine Inch Nails
83. The Jesus and Mary Chain
82. Massive Attack
81. Animal Collective
80. Dusty Springfield
79. Suicide
78. Stevie Wonder
77. Best Coast
76. Vampire Weekend
75. The Wedding Present
74. Slint
73. Wu-Tang Clan
72. Grimes
71. Rilo Kiley
70. Pharrell
69. Nick Lowe
68. The National
67. Jay Z
66. The Slits
65. Diplo
64. The Zombies
63. Talk Talk
62. The Stooges
61. DJ Shadow
60. DJ Rashad
59. Chic
58. Black Sabbath
57. James Blake
56. Happy Mondays
55. The Chills
54. Aphex Twin
53. The Fall
52. Nas
51. Television
50. Sufjan Stevens
49. Death From Above 1979
48. Bat For Lashes
47. The Cars
46. Wiley
45. T Rex
44. Bikini Kill
43. New Order
42. PJ Harvey
41. Led Zeppelin
40. Tame Impala
39. Brian Jonestown Massacre
38. Dr. Dre
37. Kraftwerk
36. My Bloody Valentine
35. TV on the Radio
34. Depeche Mode
33. The Knife
32. Pavement
31. Bjork
30. Bon Iver
29. Bruce Springsteen
28. Beck
27. The Stone Roses
26. Fleetwood Mac
25. Nirvana
24. Queens of the Stone Age
23. Burial
22. Sonic Youth
21. Hole
20. Prince
19. Neutral Milk Hotel
18. Aaliyah
17. Blur
16. The Velvet Underground
15. Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers
14. The Clash
13. Joy Division
12. The Breeders
11. The Smiths
10. The xx
09. Nick Cave
08. Kate Bush
07. The Gun Gun Club
06. The Flaming Lips
05. The Strokes
04. The White Stripes
03. Kanye West
02. David Bowie
01. Radiohead



What do you think of it?

I presume this was a readers vote? I can't believe any music journalist would put that out.

There is so much wrong with this list we could be here for hours, but I love The National - but more influential than Pink Floyd, The Who, The Beatles, The Stones, The Doors. Haha.

Whilst the NME ceased to have any real relevance years ago I assume they mean the most influential artists to today's up-and-coming bands and if that is the case they are probably right.

Radiohead, for example, would be far more relevant to a 16 - 20 year old today than, for example, Pink Floyd although the Floyd were an influence on Radiohead.

Jesus what a garbage list. This must have been reader voted? No way a self-respecting journalist would put that out, then again this is NME we're talking about.

Influential to who exactly? And how did they work it out?

The NME is a joke now anyway, it's become a parody of itself.

I've been going to The Great Escape in Brighton for the last 9 years and I can tell you Guitar bands are down each year, this year they had Stormzy headlining. So if this reflected the modern youth influence then there should be far more grime, urban, hip-hop acts.

There are actually a couple of artists on that list that I haven't heard of. Not suggesting that means they aren't influential, but for example Country Teasers have never appeared on my radar. Are they really in the top 100 most influential artists in the world ever?

More suspiciously, Flaming Lips (who I have seen live) at #6? Great band, incredible live act but have they ever influenced anyone?

Influential to who? How do you measure influentiality? Number of people who count them as an inspiration?

Well, for example, you might expect Sly and the Family Stone to be on the list because they made amazing music, they were in the forefront of politically aware pop, they fused soul, funk, pop and psychedelic rock, they had a mix of black and white musicians and their bass player Larry Graham invented the slap bass technique. All of which influenced many artists from the 1960s to the present day.

But they're not on the list, which suggests that being influential is not necessarily the main qualification.

The Great Escape means nothing to me but certainly Download never seem to have many problems finding young guitar bands. The problem most young bands have is finding places to gig.

Neutral Milk Hotel are more influential than Nirvana. Is there even such a band, or did they make the name up for a laugh?

This is just what I meant about the NME being a joke and a parody, picking a band that virtually no one has ever heard of and pretending that they are influential, which is presumably supposed to make the NME look really cool and forward-thinking!

According to Wikipedia they influenced Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Beirut, Franz Ferdinand, Bright Eyes and The Decemberists. So quite influential. But surely Arcade Fire were more influential because they took that folk-anthem style into the mainstream and paved the way for every "indie" band that got in the charts with a big chorus and banjos? Yet Arcade Fire aren't on the list.

Actually, check out this from Neutral Milk Hotel: https://youtu.be/hD6_QXwKesU It totally sounds like so many of the modern "indie" bands yet it's from 1998.

That's mainly because Download is a Rock/Metal festival only. The Great Escape in more a showcase for up and coming acts or showcases for bands from other countries. It used to be dominated by guitar bands a few years ago, not so anymore.

Also looking at the Download line-up hardly any of the acts near the top of the list are modern - Maiden, Sabbath, Rammstein, Korn, Deftones, Megadeth, Nightwish, Disturbed. Even the smaller stages are being headlined by Janes Addiction, Pennywise, Saxon, Napalm Death, NoFX....etc! The fact there is barely a band form post 2000 near the top of the order says a lot.


Think of Neutral Milk Hotel as the 90's version of The Velvet Underground (60's), Television (70's) and The Pixies (80's) in that the fact the released music that didn't really get discovered properly till a decade of so later.

Yer what? I hope you are joking!

That Milk thingy sounds just like a chart song from the 1980s, but I'm still trying to think what it was.

Novelist Adam Foulds takes over the airwaves of BBC Radio 3 to explain his passion for Neutral Milk Hotel: https://youtu.be/K9gpR6Thrq4

I was a big fan of Aaliyah's and she definitely influenced quite a few modern female artists whether directly or indirectly. But putting her above Madonna and Michael Jackson strikes me as trying to be controversial for the same of it.

Are there any other examples of successful but uninfluential acts?

Radiohead are such a hipster band. Most people say they like them because they think it's cool, if you know what I'm saying. Like those ***** who wear those a ramones T- Shirts, who have never even heard a song of theirs. Just like Kate Bush fans, when they say she's underrated, when in actually she's massively overrated by her fans.

Who cares what NME thinks? Take these lists with a grain of salt.

They have Wiley but no Tupac or Biggie?

I take anything printed in NME with a tablespoon of salt.

I remember when I was at Stockport College and one of my mates had bought the latest issue of NME (so around 2002-2003 time it was) and whilst we were in the IT room, I browsed through the magazine and thought it was all a load of bollards.

My interest in NME plummeted from that day onwards.

in what parallel universe are Depeche Mode more influential than Kraftwerk?? When I pick the NME up at a tube station I'm always faintly embarrassed by it. How it's fallen since its 80s heyday.

Isn't the whole point of this contrarian list to get everyone annoyed and clicking on the NME website.

It's worked!