I swear, all of your collective parents are all waaaay old. That’s my 96 yo grandmother’s era! My 73 and 74 yo parents had front row seats at Rolling Stones concerts just a few years back, and are certainly conversant with Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, etc.
I note no one has brought up Elvis yet but maybe he is just in an uber-category with the Beatles - kind of untouchable iconic status.
Thoughts on Johnny Mathis? Rod Stewart? Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons?
I have a pretty eclectic taste in music and I’ve only heard of two of the people you mentioned
The Revivalists are also interesting and have been around a bit longer (3 years longer? lol)
i dislike the Grateful Dead but I can’t argue their legendary status. Which begs the q … What is the intersection of popular and legendary. The only “hit” song I remember from the GD is that “Truckin’” (which makes me want to murder somebody).
Has anyone mentioned Eric Clapton? Is there a subcategory for technical proficiency on an instrument?
Let’s not forget Rihanna (who I love) and Eminem (who I don’t).
@greenwitch I like him and I’d put him in the folk-rock genre.
Eminem?
Very definitely yes to David Byrne / Talking Heads. May be my all-time favorite musician, so I’m biased. I even love his little book about bicycling around New York.
I think the Sex Pistols, Ramones and the Clash also qualify for legend status. It is the music of my childhood and was quite defining to me, so again I may be biased. The Ramones and the Clash are definitely bands I introduced my daughter to, and still listen to from time to time. I have Sheena is a Punk Rocker on my phone right now. I can’t imagine putting on a Sex Pistol’s record but they were so influential that they too arise to legends in my mind. I personally would pick Malcolm McLaren who essentially invented the Sex Pistols (he was their manager) but that’s a bit in the weeds.
The Cure to me is one step down, maybe because I was in college by then and bands meant a lot less to me. The Goth stuff kind of scared me.
This whole conversation reminds me of my 8th and 9th grade classes dividing sharply into punk/ new wave kids versus the disco pop/ kids. I wouldn’t remember this if I hadn’t been firmly in the punk/ new wave camp, as much as an 8th grader could be. Then Blondie came out with Heart of Glass and sent everyone into an existential crisis. By senior year of high school everyone was dancing to both Talking Heads and Prince (the 1999 album had just come out). The categories were less important by then.
I second Jack White and add Joe Bonamassa and Robert Cray. Kanye? Is that a joke?
Love that era, and the New Wave that followed. The '70’s really had it all. Even the first hip hop song came out in 1979.
Who is Joe Bonamassa?? Am I completely out of it?
Ok, I’m going to throw 2 names out and I want you to seriously consider them, their longevity, musicality and popularity before you laugh hysterically at me. The Bee Gees and Barry Manilow.
I suspect if Amy Winehouse had lived, she might have one day achieved legendary status.
We are going into easy listening but I have to throw in Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand. I think there will be a big upsurge in and lots of tributes to BS when she passes.
OK, @Pizzagirl, maybe we didn’t listen to all the same music. 
That’s the stuff my husband listened to in his teens when I was listening to The Talking Heads, Bowie, and the Clash. We didn’t know each other then.
My kids say I’m the one who had the good taste back then that has stood the test of time.
Saw Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats at Coachella, they were fantastic.
I’ve never been able to get into Ed Sheehan. People rave but his music just doesn’t work for me. My favorite songwriters currently are Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys and The Last Shadow Puppets), Matt Berninger (The National), Florence Welch (Florence and the Machine).
Jack White is great. I’ve love just about everything he’s done.
In the rock world a guy who doesn’t get enough attention is Josh Homme. He’s the lead singer of Queens of the Stone Age who are a monster live, also sang for Them Crooked Vultures (with Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones), and is currently playing with Iggy Pop.
ETA. Kanye isn’t a joke as a musician. He’s an arrogant a-hole but also has made some brilliant albums. He is also a great producer.
If you like or don’t like Ed Sheeran, give a listen to Ben Howard. He’s sooo much better IMO.
My eighth grade self cannot dignify that with a response. The Bee Gees were public enemy number 1!
Though my adult self could potentially be persuaded. I have no affection for Barry Manilow and see no reason to add him to the cannon.
But on the earnest scale, I’d say James Taylor is an unqualified legend. And Cat Stevens. I cry over Cat Stevens’s songs. And Joni Mitchell.
Here’s a hard case: the Carpenters. We all know all their songs by heart but seriously, when was the last time anyone here actually listened to a Carpenter’s song? It is the production values, not the song writing or certainly not Karen Carpenter’s voice, which is gorgeous, that make the songs unappealing to today’s ears.
@Pizzagirl Joe Bonamassa is one of the finest guitar players(mostly blues) of all time. Try some songs at https://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/joe-bonamassa You might not like him–he is not in the same crowd as Bee Gees, Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond, etc. but talented nonetheless. The variety listed here is so interesting.
Ooo, so what qualifies as the first hip hop song? I’m familiar with examples from around 1981, but not 1979 that I can think of!
After watching all those reruns of Glee, I was surprised to learn that Journey was not in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. A legendary group IMO.
These guys are already a legend, IMO. Neil still sounds great! 