THE 10 MOST IMPORTANT BANDS IN HISTORY | Ranked 

There has been so much pushback here in the comments about my choices I am preparing a seperate video to answer some of accusations that I don't know what I am talking about and why I didn't put Pink Floyd or Queen or whatever on this list. It will be called THE 10 MOST IMPORTANT BANDS IN HISTORY | Why I was right

When talking about Led Zeppelin, can anyone ever just mention John Paul Jones for a second?

What I always marvel at is that the Beatles were done before any of them had their 30th birthday. Stunning

Missing Queen

The Beatles knocked the world off its feet; not just musically, but culturally as well! Overall they produced an incredible 27 number one hit singles! Of their 12 studio albums, all but one went to number one! They had an incredible charisma that psychologists tried to explain but couldn't. Girls screamed uncontrollably and fainted at their concerts and some even went into convulsions! On August 15, 1965, they played to a packed house of 55,600 people at Shea Stadium in Queens, N.Y. near New York City! No one before The Beatles even dared to fill a venue so large.They wrote over 200 original songs appearing on their 12 studio albums. The Beatles are the biggest selling band of all time, selling over 500 million records! Amazingly, they accomplished all of this in a mere seven years! The Beatles were magic and fortunately I was there to experience their magic!

Great video! -Just one minor correction. George Harrison didn't write Michelle. That was credited to Lennon/McCartney, but I believe was written by Paul.

I had an experience that highlighted the god status of the Beatles. I was part of a harm reduction conference in Liverpool and as an introductory party we had a Beatles cover band. The conference participants came from roughly 100 countries, the participants ranged from academics, researchers, social workers, activists, addicts and sex workers and ranging in age from 18 to 80 and when the songs hit the floor so did everyone. I was thinking at the time that no other band had the global reach - the true everyman (everyperson) appeal. And was still art.

The Beatles started a new musical revolution with multiple influences from the US and Europe , everyone was always checking out what the Beatles were doing!

Fascinating presentation, I absolutely loved your commentary. Quite a good list I think, given the preconditions you outline.

I don't know if the Kinks should be on the list but they are certainly in the next 10. They influenced everyone from metal to prog. You really got me 1n 1964 Christ that's amazing guitar distortion and weight. Marvellous creative band. The two brothers fighting each other decades before Oasis. Influenced directly or indirectly everyone who followed.

Surprised Pink Floyd not there.

Excellent points all. This is great analysis from someone clearly committed to understanding music.

This popped up on my feed, and with Top __ lists I usually skip forward to just see the choices - but you are so intelligent and interesting I watched it through

The Beatles international career (1964 to 1970) coincided with my primary school years. Throughout those early years they were like an amiable presence. Like guidance officers of the better kind. I could evaluate their evolution through a child's senses. The entire experience was massively important to me. And when I hear some Beatles songs I am still taken back to landscapes long gone from that 1960's childhood. Experiences such as these are priceless. And they were all for free. Cheers.

I can't say that I agree with everyone on your list, but man was it really engaging hearing you articulate your reasons for having them where you had them. Great video.

fabulous - thanks very much Andy. thoughtful and fun,

I’m a boomer (76)). and I have to say you are the only commentator who has got anywhere near how important the Beatles were back then . Thank you.

Even more than Elvis, I think that the Beatles were the single most magical thing that has ever happened in pop culture.

I not only agree with your list, but absolutely love the music analysis that you express! This makes your videos so much the enjoyable.

Love this video Andy!

The Chicago Aesthetic!! Chess Records house band laid the groundwork for virtually all of the British rock bands of the next three or four decades. Little Walter on harmonica Otis Spann on piano Jimmy Rogers (or Buddy Guy) on guitar Willie Dixon on bass Fred Below on drums. (as a house band, they backed up Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Junior Wells, and many other Chess blues singers.) Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Stones, The Yardbirds, The Animals, John Mayall, and numerous others were all striving to duplicate their sound with varying degrees of success. The Beatles were one of the few exceptions. They also were a huge influence on many US groups.

The Beach Boys,Americas greatest band,still today,highly influential,over 100M records sold,but not on your list.

Great video! Thanks.

I get this is just Andy's opinion. Here are my thoughts. Some important bands missed: Post-grunge: Sigur Ros, Radiohead, Primus, Rage Against the Machine, Animal Collective, Portishead. Pre-grunge: King Crimson, Sonic Youth, The Grateful Dead, Rush, The Moody Blues, Bikini Kill. Other genres: Beastie Boys, Wu Tang Clan, Public Enemy, Modeski Martin and Wood, Outkast, The Jackson 5, Menudo. The one undeniable truth is that the Beatles are the most important band since the creation of rock and roll.

Another great discussion, Andy.

Beatles, pink floyd , led Zeppelin, deep purple, génesis , king Crimson, black sabbath ,cream , rolling Stones ,the doors , formy , all influence , rock history.

Very much appreciate the depth of musical wisdom that assembled your list.

I always love the idea that while the Velvet Underground didn’t sell a ton of records, everyone who bought one, started a band

Very very interesting commentary. Thanks!

fantastic list, enjoyed this a lot!

Okay. You included the band I'd have made sure to include. Props.

Very well done.

We agree on four of them that should be in the top 10: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Led Zeppelin, and we agree The Beatles are #1. Some of the others I might have included somewhere on my list would be: Pink Floyd, The Doors, Traffic, The Police, Yes, and Talking Heads. - From a 66 year old in the States.

Great show Andy very well formulated and expressed

Great video

LZ, Sabbath, The Stones, The Ramones, The Who, The Beatles, Metallica, Judas Priest, Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix

This has been just incredible! I really have to hand it to you. So well said, so insightful and just about 100% spot on! BRAVO and thanks so much Andy Edwards

Wonderful, insightful,entertaining and your sterling intellect … as always !!

The Beatles influenced everything!! How people looked, how they dressed, the way they wore their hair, the way they viewed politics, the way they viewed drug use, the way they viewed racial equality, the way they viewed war, and the way they viewed Mother Earth. Peace ☮️ and Love ❤️

I humbly add: Public Enemy - their impact on the lives of so many people over the past 40 years throughout the world is incalculable. I've had interactions with people from Asia, Eastern Europe, South America, Africa as well as Western Europe and North America who have pointed to Public Enemy as a key catalyst in their lives, especially their social and political awakening. Oh, and they're still active.

Greetings from ATL GA USA, enjoying your opinions & rationales. Rock ON

As someone who’s old enough to have seen live nearly every one of the bands in your list (except the Beatles) I can appreciate your nearly excellent and somewhat radical perspective. Bravo!

All popular music before the Beatles is in the Beatles and the Beatles are in all popular music that came after them. I am a musician, just imagine to be in a Band that changed the world, amazing.

Strange to put Led Zep in better rank than the Who... But happy to see the Who in the ranking, this band is so often forgotten. The Who is the most underrated band of this era. Tommy, Live at Leeds, Who''s Next, the Monterey Woodstock Isle of Woght festivals made the Who one of the most popular and spectacular band on stage. Townshend Entwistle created new way of playing their guitars, helped Marshall to made the famous Marshall stack to give a great volume during concerts. Moon is just a UFO in the rock music... The guy who almost plays solo from start to the end of a concert. Won't Get Fooled Again !

Really enjoyed this … as you might expect I didn’t agree with all your choices but then you have a wider knowledge than me … and I know what I grew up through and I’m now 70 - thank you!

Love this guy's enthusiasm. Very interesting and entertaining.

So good to see Cream near the top of your list. I agree that they were the forerunners of Prog and Fusion. I also agree with you that Clapton was the most important rock guitarist in the world in 1965/1966, before the emergence of Jimi Hendrix. Eric was the archetypal lead guitarist at that time simply put.

I knew this list would suck and just tuned it to see you implode. You didn’t disappoint.

Amazing job mate, I tell ya, you did so great with the Beatles synopsis.

I listened to your new album yesterday. I thought it was brilliant. I wasn’t expecting the lovely strangeness. I’ll be listening to some of your other stuff on band-camp. Nice one.

I stumbled on this channel a couple of days ago (I’m quite elderly and stumble quite a lot these days!) and have been watching your content, which is uniformly excellent, since then. I have much catching up to do! But fantastic throughout. The Beatles? I was there and if you weren’t maybe it’s hard to grasp their colossal impact. When younger folk ask me about them I ask ‘who is your favourite band’. When they tell me, whatever band/artiste they mention , I always say “if it wasn’t for The Beatles, they wouldn’t exist. The Beatles were that important”. And I usually advise that they check where they started with Love Me Do and where they finished with Abbey Road - its mind blowing and the more so when you see what they did in between. Oh yeah, and I’ve subbed!

A very respectable list. Pretty much spot on.

I have to give credit to the guy for his bravery…forging ahead all the while knowing there would be a rush to his throat.

I’d have “The Animals”and “The Doors” to that list! Also for Psychedelic Rock I would have The Moody Blues in Days of Future Passed!

Beach boys?

#1 checks every box you could possibly check. Pop sensation like no other. Changed music more than any other band. Great writers, great performers. Brought more instruments into pop and rock music than any other group. What more can you say?

Very interesting! You say you're not an academic, but you're definitely a great art history teacher.

Greetings and blessings from Bangladesh Dear Andy.... Nice to see you after a long time from here ☺️🙏❤🎉 Superb❤️

Re: Cream, there is a clip of Jimi Hendrix playing on a tv show and starts with Hey Joe and suddenly switches to Sunshine of your love as an acknowledgement of it's power

So very interesting.

Beach Boys and Deep Purple are not in this list, but they are ones of the most influential bands ever. The songwriting of Brian Wilson and Deep Purples innovative style are just remarkable.

One of your best Andy.

Man, you've gotta focus on John Paul jones. His musicianship and musicality was the glue that made Led Zeppelin such a solid band.

Thank you. You helped me see just how special we were. Good rebellious energy. 😊

very interesting point of a view...

I was 12 when I saw the global broadcast of All You Need Is Love. Mesmerising. I bloody love The Beatles.

Absolutely correct on the Velvet Underground!

I enjoyed this.

Im glad you said the Pistols. I was worried you were going to say the Clash

I love the Beatles; they are, without a doubt, the GOATs of music. To say nothing of their songwriting and composition - their innovation in music alone would put them on top. Their influence can not be understated.

Nicely done. I always enjoy your perspective, Andy. You provide reasonable premises and draw reasonable conclusions. That's all one can ask, about anything.

Well done 👍 I like that you put the music and bands in a broader context of society, modernisme/postmodernism. I’m surprised that Pink Floyd is not on the list - would be on mine.

I'm a Californian in my 60s, and I grew up with a very different experience of Punk and it's core ethos. Clearly, what's offensive here is Andy's British-centric perspective on how the Pistols plagiarized a uniquely American music culture. Freedom of expression in the "new world" has been the catalyst for many completely original forms of expression, and Punk rock is one of them. With this in mind, I'd like to share a perspective that respects the origins of this music, and its influence on this side of the pond. While the UK quickly moved on to Post Punk, and New Wave, the Punk scene in the US continued developing in relative isolation. From there it splintered into Hard Core, Psychobilly, Seattle Grung, and West Coast Ska Punk. The angst of disillusioned youth is the river that runs through it. Photo-punk ethos in the US stretches back to Social Realism, the Beat Poets, and musicians like Woody Guthrie, Buster Brown, Johny Cash, and Eddie Cochran. In rebellion against the industrialization of blues based rock in the 70s, punk's legitimacy was its authentic underground status, total disregard for capitalist ideals, and fabricated pop culture. In fact, California was extremely protective of their punk scene, and viewed mainstream attention as the enemy. In sharp contrast to this, the attention whore Sex Pistols were responsible for turning this authentically American form of expression into a cheep product for mass consumption. Malcolm McLaren came from a family of wealth. He used his entitlement to finance his Let It Rock fashion business, and political provocateur lifestyle in London. As his public persona, Malcolm adopted Andy Warhol's style of snide condescension to create an air of artistic superiority. Lydon turned it into a cartoon character and Brit's hungry consumers ate it up like it was brilliantly original. To advance his political fashion ideas abroad, Malcolm tried using his fony exclusivity act in NY, and it failed to impressed. After he tanked the NY Dolls career with his provocative fashion statements, he was labeled poser #1, and was cordially invited to go back home. With everything he learned here, the ambitious Mr. Mclaren appropriated the tattered close and raw energy of NY punk to update his business image. Like building a post hippie version of The Monkeys, Mclaren manufactured the Sex Pistols as his antihero boy band, in order to market his new political rock esthetic. If the distinction of an "important band" is making money by imitating the original artists, The Sex Pistols were very important indeed.

Sunshine Of Your Love was on Disraeli Gears, not Fresh Cream.

Another great list. I understand your arguments for Cream, but that is a band that I never think of as important as all the other bands in the list. I really appreciate your take on The Beatles. I always took it for granted that they were the archetypal band because they were so big and came right at the beginning. I realize now that you're right, they are the opposite of that. They are a transcendent band who wholly embody the values of the culture that they ushered in, and nobody else could be like them no matter how they tried. Great job Andy!

This is, without doubt, the most interesting video I've seen in a long time. Seldom does one have the opportunity to see someone who really knows their stuff express it so fluently, and on my favourite subject. Do I agree with everything? No. But it's well argued... A rare treat. Thanks Disclaimer: Pushing 70, a scouser, brought up on the Beatles, Stones, The Who, etc.

I would suggest that The Shadows were probably more important (certainly more influential) than Velvet Underground.

The Beatles went from "Love Me Do" to "Abbey Road" in 7 years!

Sincerely appreciate your passion, your breadth of view and your avoidance of cliches. Well spoken..

Not surprising you’re rocking back and forth!

Great list. I would need The Beach Boys on mine, not just for the adventurous vocals, but Brian's song structure, production, and backing tracks opened things up for The Beatles and everyone else.

Thank you for mentioning Graham Bond. He not only had Baker, Bruce and McLaughlin as co-players (in actual fact he joined a band in which Baker was already a member, and Jack Bruce sort of barged his way into the band). But he also helped in the British transition from jazz to R and B. He also employed Jon Hiseman and Dick Heckstall-Smith who formed Colosseum and employed John Weathers from Gentle Giant. Also, Prog Fans, he featured organ and Mellotron in the band (before the Moody Blues, as I recall.) Into Crowley before Page. It was said that musicians admired Bond in the same way that the public admired the Beatles. One thing about excluding the Mothers and Beefheart-arguably, their biggest influence in the mainstream occurred when they had their original lineup. The Velvet Underground started bleeding members after their first two albums and Doug Yule was leader for their last three albums or so. I also get the distinct impression that a great many bands just name checked the VU to look hip. I could be miles off, BUT I remember the VU being so hyped in the mid 1970s. Velvet Underground not selling a lot is a myth, by the way. They sold 200,000 albums from 1966-1971. That's far more than the low figures often cited. That's what I call creating a fake exclusive club! So you can feel special if you like them...😅 In defense of disco...a lot of the credit you are giving Kraftwerk also belongs to disco, especially EDM.

Thanks for connecting so well rock culture and a society that changes. lib from sicily

I just luv people talking about the Beatles in that way, with so much passion!

I'm sure you have heard that lists are for arguing about. But to some like me that's the fun of it. You make good arguments for all of the bands on the basis of their influence on later music. I don't really like quite a few of these bands, but you really make a good case for each. (Praise comes from retired history teacher. ) Good analysis of music scene's influence on culture. Some of my friends and I have frequent discussions about music; especially about what is the difference between music that musicians like and the music that is widely popular ? You can never stop liking the music of when you were a teenager. But being a musician myself, I tend to favor music that features more complexity and virtuosity. Fortunately for me, I grew up in a time when some artistic music broke into to the world of pop music.

Nice list and mostly I agree, but I’m very very surprised that Pink Floyd are not there! They were and are absolutely more influential of the majority of those bands. Personally I kick out Cream and slide Kraftwerk at number 11 in favor of Pink Floyd and Radiohead

I don't know how you left off The Beach Boys, who were an avant-garde influence on the Beatles themselves. I would have also included Pink Floyd, who created the gold standard of double albums, concept albums, and prog. For a few more honorable mentions, I would say The Ventures, CCR, The Doors, and The Stooges.

10. The Who. They went a long way to advance the standard for rock stage shows. Musically, their influence is pretty pale. 9. Nirvana. Tremendously successful, especially in the US. But their influence was relatively short lived, and musically they were basic. 8. Sex Pistols. They belong near the top of the list. The Sex Pistols were comparable to The Beatles as a cultural phenomenon far beyond reach of their music alone. Nirvana, Green Day, Generation X, Gun N' Roses, Mötley Crüe, and hosts of other bands owed more than a nod to Sex Pistols as did the entire punk/new wave revolution. And, like The Beatles before them, the Pistols almost single-handedly rescued rock from the brink of extinction. 7. Velvet Underground. Interesting. Bohemian. Nuff said. 6. Led Zeppelin. This group played blues-based rock music more audacious and exaggerated than any other band before them. In the hands of lesser talent, this formula would have been a bombastic joke. Instead, Led Zeppelin became a phenomenon. 5. Black Sabbath. The godfathers of metal music more so than any other single band. Judas Priest comes close, but Black Sabbath came first. 4. Kraftwerk. Hmm . . . I remain very skeptical that they belong on this list at all. They barely even registered here in the States. 3. The Rolling Stones. Love them or hate them, there is no denying them. Their influence and popularity dominated the 60s, 70s, and 80s. I wouldn't call the modern geriatric version of the group The Rolling Stones, but the fact that they in their advanced years can still successfully ride the crest of what the original group accomplished so long ago really says something. 2. Cream. Not to take anything away from Ginger Baker nor Jack Bruce, Cream belongs on this list largely due to the lasting influence of Eric Clapton. EC set the standard of blasting blues licks on a Gibson guitar through a Marshall stack, and this standard would hold up for decades; in fact, it has yet to really fade. Until Clapton, nothing else could break the grip of Chuck Berry's licks as a rock guitarist's stylistic template. 1. Of course The Beatles are #1, and most likely they will always occupy #1. The first punk group in their early days, The Beatles not only rescued guitar rock from extinction, they reconstructed it into a conquering empire that influenced countless guitar groups and artists for decades afterward. Not unlike Elvis Presley before them, this group has always elicited an almost religious devotion from their fans that continues to this day. The Beatles' biography has become a narrative that probably half the world knows by heart: theirs is the other Greatest Story Ever Told.

Was waiting for Pink Floyd at number two, Cream was a shoker, anyway, amazing list and well explained, not my favorites or the ones I listen the most but the most influential and of course every record collector needs to have most of what they did on LP or CD. Anyway, my ten favorite bands and artists are: Bjork, David Bowie, Depeche Mode, The Cure The Ramones, Sonic Youth, Ministry, Prince, Radiohead and The Beastie Boys, and I'll do a video like yours explaining why they are the most important artists in history. I think I could do that believe it or not.

people like Paul Weller understood TheWHO. as far as 'Summertime Blues',TheWHO's 'ODDS 'N' SODS re-issue has a killer studio version of it, from '67.

These rankings are always subjective to a degree; Deep Purple and the Jimmy Hendrix Experience are probably equally deserving of a place but overall, but this sounds like a pretty fair assessment to me. Obviously they all drew on previous influences, especially early rock'n'roll and black American blues artists, but if we are strictly talking about bands this as fair a list as any.

The actual top ten is in many ways less important than the discussion of the assessment criteria. Top job 👏

The Band.....hugely influential

Great video Andy! I agree with probably 90% of your observations of these bands!

I would've thought Pink Floyd would've been there. 'Can' are the most important and greatest band of all time though. They too good for the list though I suppose. RIP Damo Suzuki. Damn.

And to think that I saw the Who and Cream at a local Catholic high school in November of 67 and March of 68. It was a wonderful time to be alive.

This video has to be retitled The 10 most INFLUENTIAL ROCK bands in history.Great work as always Mr Edward’s.Be well.

Some points and thoughts: - Yes, Pete Townshend's comments for louder amplification prompted Jim Marshall to move from just 45-watt amps to 100-watts. - Townshend also requested an 8 x 12" speaker cab. This proved unwieldy so was cut in two, thus creating the 4 x 12" cab and the Marshall stack setup. - Worth noting that it was John Entwistle who proposed the idea of roundwound strings to James Howe, of Rotosound. Entwistle wanted piano-style strings for his bass. The band included an ad with the lyric 'Hold your group together with Rotosound Strings' on their 'Sell Out' album. - The Doors were a blues band with a flamenco guitarist who only started on electric just prior to joining the band. Most other west coast bands including the Grateful Dead and Jefferson were folk and bluesgrass players who went electric and got into the blues. - One could argue that punk was the attitude of Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochrane and Vince Taylor combined with early Kinks power chording and Beck-era Yardbirds riffing. - Malcolm McLaren was a genius re: marketing punk via the Sex Pistols. Indeed, many bands benefitted from visionary managers - the Beatles with Brian Epstein, the Stones with Andrew Loog Oldham, Led Zeppelin with Peter Grant.... Other suffered, like the Small Faces with Don Arden, the Move with Tony Secunda, Humble Pie with Dee Anthony. - The Blue Cheer tune was 'Summertime Blues', not 'Something Else'. The Move did a great live version of the latter on their live EP title 'Something Else', which also includes great covers of the Byrds' 'So You Wanna be a Rock 'n' Roll Star' and Spooky Tooth's 'Sunshine Help Me'. - Mention of the Stones' 'Paint It Black' is a reminder that Mick Jagger produced a killer version of that tune by Chris Farlowe, with the band including Jimmy Page, Albert Lee and Carl Palmer. Go listen on RU-vid. - Did Cream influence Hendrix? Absolutely! He loved them (see his impromptu 'Sunshine of Your Love' tribute on the Lulu show clip on RU-vid). Before he settled on the Experience his band was to have been a soul revue with horns. Due to costs that was reduced to a 4-piece with keys. But after seeing Cream, Hendrix and manager Chas Chandler agreed that going with a 3-piece was worth a shot. Fortunately Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding fit the formula. - And yes, the Beatles were every bit as influential with societal transformation as they were with influencing the direction of contemporary music. I think that only those of us who experienced the before and after appreciate just what a rapid and massive change that was. Indeed, we've never seen anything even remotely close to it. Cheers!

Interesting narrative. I was 14 years old, when the Beatles hit the world. They had a huge influence across so many countries and peoples. They and the bands that accompanied them were the sound track of the youth driven cultural revolution.

I saw a Who concert from just a few years ago and it's incredible how formidable they still are live. Not in an agressive way, but just how they lock with each other, how free and spontaneous Pete is onstage and how well he and Roger still sing.