Bonnie Raitt
Bruce Springsteen
Jimmy Buffett - not for his music but for his empire: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/24/business/media/jimmy-buffetts-margaritaville-is-a-state-of-mind-and-an-empire.html?_r=0
Black Flag is an interesting addition to the conversation. I’m not that into their music per se, but I find Henry Rollins fascinating. And they were certainly influential beyond their popular audience and record sales. A lot of punk artists are that way.
I think Lady Gaga has the potential to be around for a long time doing all kinds of stuff. Like Elvis Costello, who started out new wave and has collaborated with all kinds of people. If she sticks around as long as he has (and I hope he’s around a while too), it could be interesting.
I was about to say I am the least qualified person to answer this, because I am not a music person – but then I realized that a true legend needs to be someone who is known by everyone, even people like me who don’t follow music closely. I haven’t heard of most of the bands mentioned.
Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Adele are all strong possibilities. But Lin Manuel Miranda is the best bet, especially if he writes a few more musicals like Hamilton.
Well the over 50 list is pretty extensive, IMO
Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, Madonna, Elton John, Aretha Franklin, Paul McCartney, Bono, to name but a few.
For the under 50? Beyonce. Jay-Z. Ummmm. That’s all I got.
@skieurope definitely agree with all your over 50.
Bruno Mars - this generation’s James Brown. He is really talented.
I don’t know if there are really any other legends. Katy Perry, Gaga and Taylor Swift are very commercial. Time will tell if they become legendary.
They write (at least some of) their own stuff, so they aren’t like Madonna or Whitney Houston. More like a cross between Cyndi Lauper and Carol King.
Adele could become legendary I suppose – kind of a cross between Bonnie Raitt and Barbra Streisand.
Maroon 5 might well be the soft-rock/pop-rock group with the most staying power. Some good tunes, but not legendary. Yet.
Ariana Grande has the pipes to be the next Mariah Carey. We’ll see if that happens.
I think the Black Eyed Peas are awesome – this generation’s Earth, Wind & Fire maybe.
I do not see a Billy Joel, Elton John. James Taylor, Santana, Eric Clapton, or any great rock bands in this generation. But that’s just me.
And I’m not going to refer to Kanye West or Jay-Z as legends, though they have put out some good hip-hop.
Usher - time will tell.
While I am not a country music fan, I think Willie Nelson is about as legend as they come and I think there will be a huge outpouring of grief when he dies as we saw with Merle Haggard.
I am not a fan of most country music but I do love some of the olderror stuff like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and the like. The Nashville episode of Sonic Highways (the Foo Fighters HBO series) was illuminating for me as it covered the country music I appreciate.
I saw Willie Nelson live a few years back and he was great. I didn’t know he wrote Crazy. What a songwriter. I’m hoping to see Dolly Parton this year.
great points, nottelling. It was only a hypothesis :-).
I think Teri’s Willie Nelson example is a great one. I don’t particularly follow country music but he’s iconic. I wonder if iconic is a subset of legendary? I would say Billy Joel, Elton John and Springsteen are all legends whose music will outlive them but I might suggest that Springsteen is the most iconic of the 3. But maybe I’m wrong. It’s happened 
I would refer to Billy Joel, Elton John and Springsteen as living legends, for sure.
I’m sure today’s kids, in 20 years, will refer to some of today’s pop stars as “legends”. Apart from Mars, I don’t see it yet. But… time does things.
I agree with many that have already been mentioned, but would definitely add both Dave Grohl and Jack White to the list.
Willie Nelson is still a great live show. I don’t much like most country but Willie Nelson transcends genre. Johnny Cash did too.
Springsteen is absolutely a legend. Elton John probably too. Both of them had crazy crowds at NO Jazzfest, that’s for sure–not that crowds alone mean everything. But that Elton day–I couldn’t even take the crowds. Absolutely insane.
I remember when Michael Jackson died, talking about who else’s death would generate that kind of response. I did not even think of Prince. I did think of Madonna.
“There happens to be a lot of interest in the asthetics of early 80s punk rock imagery right now, which is driving a lot of the present-day interest in them).”
I happen to love a lot of late 70s/early 80s punk rock. I know. It surprises a lot of people. I wanna be sedated
Do we consider the Sex Pistols, Ramones legends? The Clash, The Cure? Do we need a word below legend, perhaps?
Going more mainstream, Talking Heads? the Cars? the Police? U2? Sting and/or Bono individually?
David Byrne definitely qualifies and Laurie Anderson too.
Earlier people, even when they died young or didn’t have much output were still very influential. Robert Johnson comes to mind.
And Usher - I had forgotten about him! He can dance do and was in the Broadway production of Chicago for an all too brief time.
I am going to peruse my music library and see if I can find anybody 40 or younger… hahaha.
I was specifically thinking about the Ramones and the Sex Pistols when I mentioned punk bands who are more influential than their record sales alone would suggest. I mean, the fact that you see toddlers walking around in Ramones t-shirts has to mean something, doesn’t it? I was pretty broke in the 80’s and early 90’s and didn’t see a lot of bands that I loved for that reason I"ll always be glad that I did mange to see the Ramones live.
Yes to David Bryne.
@Pizzagirl You and I were listening to the same exact music in our youth - and now. I wonder if we were ever at the same venues.
Ed Sheeran. Best. Songwriter. Alive.
There’s a special slot for people who create a new genre. I think the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, the Clash, Talking Heads . . . they all count.
The Band, too. (T-Bone Burnett did not invent Americana.)
Has anyone mentioned the Eagles, yet? Or Jackson Browne? How about the Temptations? The Supremes? Smokey Robinson? Aretha? Sam Cooke?
(Bruno Mars as James Brown: I see the comparison, sure. But James Brown invented it, taught his musicians to play it, then fired them and made them go out and play it better. Bruno Mars sort of curates and produces it. Not quite the same thing.)
Who are legends from our parents’ generation, or the people they listened to? Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong. Benny Goodman. Duke Ellington, Count Basie. John Coltrane. The Andrews Sisters, maybe. Hank Williams, Bob Willis, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Leadbelly. Harry Belafonte, Edith Piaf. Patsy Cline.
Here’s someone new who is interesting and hard to characterize. A big crowd came to see them too, less than a year after their first album. Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats