Who is the current alltime greatest living music icon today?

[DaHeezy]

I've been wondering this since MJ died. Who is the greatest international music icon today?

I was thinking Prince but it just doesn't seem right putting him at the top spot.
Who you got?

[Akrazotile]

I've been wondering this since MJ died. Who is the greatest international music icon today?

I was thinking Prince but it just doesn't seem right putting him at the top spot.
Who you got?


Stevie Wonder or Elton John probs

[Sarcastic]

Madonna, Paul McCartney, Elton John, or Mick Jagger.

[Norcaliblunt]

Esham.

[DeuceWallaces]

Madonna, Paul McCartney, Elton John, or Mick Jagger.

One of these and it's not even close.

[Smook A.]

I gotta say Stevie Wonder (obviously there's more). The guy is a musical prophet.

[Smook A.]

One of these and it's not even close.
Paul McCartney

[Akrazotile]

Paul McCartney

No, it's Madonna he's likely referring to.

McCartney himself is not very iconic, his band was. Same with Mick altho he's more iconic individually than Paul.

Madonna is probably the answer to OP's question, sadly.

[hateraid]

Paul McCartney

IDK, I'm a Beatles fan and I would go with Mick Jagger

Stones have a great case over the Beatles and Much was clearly the front man. Lot's would still say Lennon over McCartney

[fsvr54]

Esham.

:roll:

[Bay Area Baller]

It was going to be Taylor Swift then Kayne went up on stage and swooped her iconic moment so now I don't know who it is. But I know eets not those has beens that you guys are saying.

[ScalsFan21]

Kinda surprised no mentions of Bob Dylan. Individually he's probably better all-time than any single Beatle.

[KNOW1EDGE]

That's a great question.

IMO it has to be a legit stand-alone artist like Elton John, Eminem, Stevie Wonder, Cher or Madonna.

Not somebody who was in a group.

[Norcaliblunt]

Kool Keith

[Lebron23]

Chuck Berry

[ThePhantomCreep]

Bob Dylan or Stevie Wonder. I'd give it to Dylan--he had mondo cultural impact.

Madonna is the most famous living music icon (maybe the most famous living celebrity period), but not the greatest.

[Nick Young]

Bruce Springsteen
John Cale
The RZA
Elton John
Mark Knopfler
Peter Green
Prince
Yeezus
Paul McCartney
Aretha Franklin
Chuck Berry
Trent Reznor
Hans Zimmer
Ennio Morricone

[FillJackson]

Chuck Berry
+1

[rufuspaul]

No mention of Brian Wilson? :no:

[hateraid]

Chuck Berry

I wouldn't say that. I woild go with artists who are still active and relevant today. Plus his career span wasn't all that long

[hateraid]

No mention of Brian Wilson? :no:

There's quite a few not mentioned.

Phil Collins
Bono
Mariah Carey
Janet Jackson

I guess I'm on the criteria of still being relevant today and could still sellout out stadiums on the regular combined with a long historical career. Also international acclaim.

[Wiltside]

Madonna, Paul McCartney, Elton John, or Mick Jagger.
It has to be Paul.

[andgar923]

The most iconic is the former member of the most iconic group ever.

Even Michsel Jackson wanted to be in his light.

[Thorpesaurous]

I would go McCartney, Jagger, then probably Stevie Wonder.

Personally I'm a Stones guy, but the footprint of The Beatles is still too big. I'd probably also put Springsteen higher than most.



We were having a conversation at work the other day about who the perfect Super Bowl halftime performer would've been this year. Being the 50th anniversary of what's really a US Holiday, it feels like it should've been someone American, and more maintstream than Coldplay, who I like more than most.
They've gotta be young enough to appeal to the younger audience, but omnipresent enough in the culture to mean something to even people approaching 75. My friend's father for example would be fine if every halftime show was just a Sinatra Hologram.

We came up with Taylor Swift. I was tossing around people from the 90s, but so much of the rock from that era is so anti-establishment it just doesn't lend itself to the job. McCartney came up too though because we did think he's probably the closest thing to The Icon at the moment, even though he isn't American.

[Akrazotile]

There's quite a few not mentioned.

Phil Collins
Bono
Mariah Carey
Janet Jackson

I guess I'm on the criteria of still being relevant today and could still sellout out stadiums on the regular combined with a long historical career. Also international acclaim.


IMO the word "iconic" implies more emphasis on image. Sure there's a lot of very famous and successful musicians that especially us music lovers respect, but in terms of global, recognizable image where people picture something as soon as they hear the name, I think guys like Phil Collins are gonna be on a lower tier. I also think most people associated with iconic bands arent themselves typically as fitting as individual acts.

Iconic would be Ray Charles. If you have a pictre of him in your home, people around the world will recognize who it is. Same with Elvis. Same with MJ. Same with Stevie Wonder in his braids and glasses. A picture of Madonna in that cone bra definitely has worldwide recognizability. Her unique name, too, helps create iconography. And she had an era in which she individually took the popular music world by storm.

Paul McCartney represents a part of the most famous band ever, but "Paul McCartney" the individual is not really an icon as a global image. There was not a time where everything was about Paul McCartney. In terms of true iconography, Bieber is more befitting of the definition IMO.

[Derka]

On a worldwide scale, probably Madonna. How long has she been around and her albums continue to actually get her new fans? Its crazy.

People hear McCartney, their brains immediately go to the Beatles...not him individually.

[outbreak]

Kinda surprised no mentions of Bob Dylan. Individually he's probably better all-time than any single Beatle.
Was going to say this. He still releases solid records too. I don't think he fits most of the ish demographic though. Springsteen is still iconic too

[Nick Young]

I would go McCartney, Jagger, then probably Stevie Wonder.

Personally I'm a Stones guy, but the footprint of The Beatles is still too big. I'd probably also put Springsteen higher than most.



We were having a conversation at work the other day about who the perfect Super Bowl halftime performer would've been this year. Being the 50th anniversary of what's really a US Holiday, it feels like it should've been someone American, and more maintstream than Coldplay, who I like more than most.
They've gotta be young enough to appeal to the younger audience, but omnipresent enough in the culture to mean something to even people approaching 75. My friend's father for example would be fine if every halftime show was just a Sinatra Hologram.

We came up with Taylor Swift. I was tossing around people from the 90s, but so much of the rock from that era is so anti-establishment it just doesn't lend itself to the job. McCartney came up too though because we did think he's probably the closest thing to The Icon at the moment, even though he isn't American.
Pearl Jam would have been a good super bowl show, they'd probably turn it down though.

Honestly it should just be Springsteen every year until he dies.

[rufuspaul]

Pearl Jam would have been a good super bowl show, they'd probably turn it down though.

Honestly it should just be Springsteen every year until he dies.


Bruce, U2, Prince, McCartney all did excellent halftime shows. I was really looking forward to the Stones and The Who and was really, really disappointed.

[Bosnian Sajo]

Madonna is CRAZY popular in Europe to this day.

[pinhead]

McCartney
Dylan
Springsteen
Morrissey

[Akrazotile]

Also, iconography of the individual and iconography of the music is different.

"Like A Rolling Stone" is more iconic as a song than anything Justin Bieber has done, but Bieber the individual is far more iconic globally than Dylan. Dylan, even if he looked like he did at the peak of his popularity, could go to a lot of places in America and around the world and not be recognized. Bieber will be recognized in every corner of the globe everywhere.

So it all depends how you interpret this question. Which living musician has the most iconic music, or who is the most iconic person? Different things.

[rufuspaul]

McCartney
Dylan
Springsteen
Morrissey


:lol I'm a fan of The Smiths, but no.

[Thorpesaurous]

Pearl Jam would have been a good super bowl show, they'd probably turn it down though.

Honestly it should just be Springsteen every year until he dies.

I love PJ, seen them live, and they came up in our conversation. However once they disappeared from the video scene I think they became probably too underground to pull off the image I'm thinking of. If feels like 20 years is the right distance from the past because it represents the heart of the demographic, but also recent enough for the younger audience to recognize them.

The Hip Hop genre just doesn't seem to lend itself to the medium. It feels like it changes too fast. Kanye is obviously Iconic at this point, but he's way to counterculture to do something that runs this mainstream. Puffy would hit my age demographic, and his stuff was about as pop as the genre ever was, but I'm afraid the audience has changed too much for something like that to be viable.

[Norcaliblunt]

marilyn manson

[rufuspaul]

Puffy would hit my age demographic, and his stuff was about as pop as the genre ever was,


He was part of the 2004 halftime show, the last time the Panthers were playing. I remember he was wearing a Julius Peppers jersey. That show also featured Kid Rock, Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson's famous wardrobe malfunction.

[Bosnian Sajo]

Also, iconography of the individual and iconography of the music is different.

"Like A Rolling Stone" is more iconic as a song than anything Justin Bieber has done, but Bieber the individual is far more iconic globally than Dylan. Dylan, even if he looked like he did at the peak of his popularity, could go to a lot of places in America and around the world and not be recognized. Bieber will be recognized in every corner of the globe everywhere.

So it all depends how you interpret this question. Which living musician has the most iconic music, or who is the most iconic person? Different things.


Honestly? I've never heard "like a rolling stone" until I just searched it up. And there's nothing wrong with that, because rock is a dead genre and is not relevant anymore. Not saying there aren't good rock songs or bands, plenty of rock songs I ****s with, but it just isn't relative anymore and that's a fact.

An Iconic song would be Bieber's "sorry", which has got 759m views in 3 months. His song "baby" took 5 years to reach 1.3B views. Not saying you have to like the song, but to say rolling stones is more iconic than JB is pretty dumb, especially when it seems like Bieber is at his peak.

[Akrazotile]

Honestly? I've never heard "like a rolling stone" until I just searched it up. And there's nothing wrong with that, because rock is a dead genre and is not relevant anymore. Not saying there aren't good rock songs or bands, plenty of rock songs I ****s with, but it just isn't relative anymore and that's a fact.

An Iconic song would be Bieber's "sorry", which has got 759m views in 3 months. His song "baby" took 5 years to reach 1.3B views. Not saying you have to like the song, but to say rolling stones is more iconic than JB is pretty dumb, especially when it seems like Bieber is at his peak.


Those views are from a very specific crowd that watches them over and over. It's not 1.3 billion different people.

Tons of people who recognize Bieber's name and image couldnt actually recognize a single song by him, myself included. Whereas I think just about every white person over 30 who listens to music recognizes "Like A Rolling Stone." But who knows. Also if you go by the "Would my mom recognize this" test, for most people here Dylan's iconic song would be much more recognizable to our mothers. I mean pretty much the entire demographic from 30-70 is gonna know Dylan's song, whereas "Baby" will be maybe 14-30, in terms of EVERYONE those ages knowing it. Some 40 year olds will recognize Bieber music but not many.


Overall I guess it's just hard to say really. Could argue either way.

[ThePhantomCreep]

Honestly? I've never heard "like a rolling stone" until I just searched it up. And there's nothing wrong with that, because rock is a dead genre and is not relevant anymore. Not saying there aren't good rock songs or bands, plenty of rock songs I ****s with, but it just isn't relative anymore and that's a fact.

An Iconic song would be Bieber's "sorry", which has got 759m views in 3 months. His song "baby" took 5 years to reach 1.3B views. Not saying you have to like the song, but to say rolling stones is more iconic than JB is pretty dumb, especially when it seems like Bieber is at his peak.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/9912d9b88aea67d8da13988a23c5108c/tumblr_mylw1xf7jd1shf0d0o1_400.gif

[Bosnian Sajo]

Again, it's not what you and me prefer, it's what the masses prefer. I'm sorry mane, it is what it is.

[Norcaliblunt]

Lord Jamar

[Bosnian Sajo]

Those views are from a very specific crowd that watches them over and over. It's not 1.3 billion different people.

Tons of people who recognize Bieber's name and image couldnt actually recognize a single song by him, myself included. Whereas I think just about every white person over 30 who listens to music recognizes "Like A Rolling Stone." But who knows. Also if you go by the "Would my mom recognize this" test, for most people here Dylan's iconic song would be much more recognizable to our mothers. I mean pretty much the entire demographic from 30-70 is gonna know Dylan's song, whereas "Baby" will be maybe 14-30, in terms of EVERYONE those ages knowing it. Some 40 year olds will recognize Bieber music but not many.


Overall I guess it's just hard to say really. Could argue either way.

I see where you're coming from, but I'm shocked you couldn't recognize a Bieber song when it comes on. Radio, commercials, clubs, commercials, I've heard his shit everywhere.

[Norcaliblunt]

Radio Warewolf

[BoutPractice]

Purely in terms of being an icon, Bob Dylan.

The man is a quasi historical character as well as a musician - you can't write a history of the 1960s without mentioning Bob Dylan. You'd also mention "the Beatles" but not Paul McCartney specifically.

The 60s counterculture has been an important historical force, and Bob Dylan, for better or worse, is considered the most representative figure of that moment.

[Norcaliblunt]

Andrew Dorf

[ThePhantomCreep]

Again, it's not what you and me prefer, it's what the masses prefer. I'm sorry mane, it is what it is.

Berber is a current artist--it makes sense that he'd get more headlines and youtube hits than a 50-year old band like The Rolling Stones. That doesn't make him or his music more iconic.

The Backstreet Boys' first three albums sold 35 million copies in the United States alone. Where are they now?

[Bosnian Sajo]

Berber is a current artist--it makes sense that he'd get more headlines and youtube hits than a 50-year old band like The Rolling Stones. That doesn't make him or his music more iconic.

The Backstreet Boys' first three albums sold 35 million copies in the United States alone. Where are they now?

It's definitely iconic when you have billions upon billion of views on your songs, stop being a hater. You don't gotta like his music, but you have to recognize that he is huge.


The backstreet boys was a pop group, 5 people. Biebs is 1 person. There's a difference.



Just like Nsync isn't relevant at all anymore, but JT still on his game.

[ThePhantomCreep]

It's definitely iconic when you have billions upon billion of views on your songs, stop being a hater. You don't gotta like his music, but you have to recognize that he is huge.


The backstreet boys was a pop group, 5 people. Biebs is 1 person. There's a difference.



Just like Nsync isn't relevant at all anymore, but JT still on his game.

Not really. The Gangham Style guy has 2.5 billion views, yet he's a cultural footnote, like the "Macarena" guys.

With the exception of Beiber, the top 10 most viewed videos were all released from 2012-present, so clearly it's getting easier to rack up millions of views.

[Bosnian Sajo]

Not really. The Gangham Style guy has 2.5 billion views, yet he's a cultural footnote, like the "Macarena" guys.

With the exception of Beiber, the top 10 most viewed videos were all released from 2012-present, so clearly it's getting easier to rack up millions of views.


Psy is huge in Korea, bruh. Huge.

[9erempiree]

These guys because they are still making hits. Their music evolved greatly. Slight change but very consistent style. The Edge:bowdown: .
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/01/03/article-2532735-1A66C6A400000578-313_634x286.jpg


There are other legends like Jagger and McCartney who don't make music anymore or at least nothing worthy of listening to. Madonna has some decent records but she changed her genre. Prince is the man but what has he put out?

[Draz]

That's a great question.

IMO it has to be a legit stand-alone artist like Elton John, Eminem, Stevie Wonder, Cher or Madonna.

Not somebody who was in a group.

All great selections. Eminem for me.

[outbreak]

These guys because they are still making hits. Their music evolved greatly. Slight change but very consistent style. The Edge:bowdown: .
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/01/03/article-2532735-1A66C6A400000578-313_634x286.jpg


There are other legends like Jagger and McCartney who don't make music anymore or at least nothing worthy of listening to. Madonna has some decent records but she changed her genre. Prince is the man but what has he put out?
U2 have become a walking punchline.....

[Bosnian Sajo]

U2 have become a walking punchline.....


It's 9er, what do you expect?

[Akrazotile]

These guys because they are still making hits. Their music evolved greatly. Slight change but very consistent style. The Edge:bowdown: .
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/01/03/article-2532735-1A66C6A400000578-313_634x286.jpg


There are other legends like Jagger and McCartney who don't make music anymore or at least nothing worthy of listening to. Madonna has some decent records but she changed her genre. Prince is the man but what has he put out?

No they aren't.

They're still making music. They aren't making hits.

[Akrazotile]

All great selections. Eminem for me.


Actually this is also a very worthy mention in terms of pure iconism.

[ArbitraryWater]

Bob Dylan

[Thorpesaurous]

I kind of agree with Ak. Bieber may hit a massive demographic, but he's still only hitting one demographic. I feel like to be an icon, you have to cross demographics, which is probably only doable over time.

[Akrazotile]

I kind of agree with Ak. Bieber may hit a massive demographic, but he's still only hitting one demographic. I feel like to be an icon, you have to cross demographics, which is probably only doable over time.


Yeah, it all depends really on how each person defines 'icon.' Justin Bieber is probably the most iconic person on the planet right now, and technically he's a musician by trade. So is he the most iconic musician? Or do we define icon by legacy in their field? In which case even that gets dissected, because are what are the criteria for legacy? Sales? Influence? Talent?

For instance, Mahalia Jackson was HUGELY influential in the development of modern music. But the vast majority of people wouldn't recognize a picture of her. How do we weigh recognizability versus contribution when determining an icon?

For me personally, there is no doubt that the single most influential man in the history of rock n roll is Little Richard. If you read the bios of Dylan, Bowie, the Beatles, Elton, Rolling Stones, etc. they all point to him as the critical inspiration. "Tutti Frutti" was basically THE song that started rock-n-roll as we know it. But as time has passed the amount of the population that is familiar with Little Richard dwindles. So how do we weight that. He is stil living, btw, so probably deserves a mention here at the least.

But overall it's a very tough question to really pin down to an exact meaning.

[pinhead]

It's definitely iconic when you have billions upon billion of views on your songs, stop being a hater. You don't gotta like his music, but you have to recognize that he is huge.


The backstreet boys was a pop group, 5 people. Biebs is 1 person. There's a difference.



Just like Nsync isn't relevant at all anymore, but JT still on his game.

What the **** are you doing? You are a *****, I honestly think you are a *****.

Who the hell thinks Justin Bieber is more iconic than Bob Dylan needs a ****ing baseball hat hit over his head.

When did youtube views determine if somebody is iconic you ****ing gimp?

YOU STUPID ****ING GIMP.

[Bosnian Sajo]

What the **** are you doing? You are a *****, I honestly think you are a *****.

Who the hell thinks Justin Bieber is more iconic than Bob Dylan needs a ****ing baseball hat hit over his head.

When did youtube views determine if somebody is iconic you ****ing gimp?

YOU STUPID ****ING GIMP.


Biebs is life. Can you call about the newspapers, btw? It seems as if the delivery boy keeps missing your head. The neighbors all got one, I don't see how he could miss.

[outbreak]

http://wtfunda.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Micro-Bob.jpg