The 50 Most Influential Musicians That Never Blew Up

Influenced: Sonic Youth, Animal Collective, punk

Reportedly described as “deliberate underachievers,” X-Ray Spex were important as a punk band less for their music and more for their attitude and what they represented. In a movement that touted anarchist ideals, that’s the rule that seemed to govern the behavior and output of this young English band in the late ‘70s. They released music at random, and not much of it, and added the unusual sound of the saxophone to their lineup. That saxophone and their debut album Germfree Adolescents were their sonic calling cards, the latter still existing as something of a classic punk rock record.

Influenced: Country, Folk, Lyle Lovett, Emmylou Harris, My Morning Jacket, Willie Nelson

Townes Van Zandt was mostly unknown until after his death. He made country/folk music, but not like most. His style was referred to outlaw country, and he lived a reclusive lifestyle in a Tennessee cabin during the '70s, drinking heavily and making music until he died in 1997. Although his fan base was small during his life, other artists have taken a liking to his songs, and he's been covered by everyone from Bob Dylan to Norah Jones.

Influenced: Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Sonic Youth, The Breeders, grunge, indie rock

As an all-female, feminist post-punk band in the late ‘70s, The Raincoats were truly the first of their kind. The band had gone through several incarnations before finalizing its lineup, but the band has been made up of only women since 1978. Although that is something that sets The Raincoats apart from the crows, it’s not purely why they’re influential. Their brand of music incorporated the violin and a rotating cast of high-profile guest musicians. Up to today, the band has retained cultural significance. Kurt Cobain’s liner notes for Nirvana’s “Incesticide” album detail meeting Raincoats member Ana da Silva, and Jeff Mangum recently picked the band to perform their debut at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in England that he curated.

Influenced: Large Professor, East Coast hip-hop

Paul C was a visionary New York hip-hop producer in the late ‘80s, making the jump to working with rappers when his pop-rock band, Mandonlindley Road Show, broke up. He is best known for his production credit on Ultramagnetic MC’s “Give The Drummer Some,” but is accredited by his peers at the time that he shaped the sound of the entire, critically acclaimed Critical Beatdown album. He also worked with a host of other notable hip-hop acts in New York at the time, discovering and producing for Organized Konfusion and mentoring Large Professor in his brand of beatmaking.

Tragically, Paul C was murdered in Queens at just 24. The shooting crime has yet to be solved, but a talented visionary for hip-hop was lost without ever reaching the heights he was on track to occupy.

Influenced: Rock, hard rock, power pop

Not many bands on this list have a Rolling Stone cover to their name, but MC5 had a promising and influential start in the mid-1960s and covered RS before releasing their debut album and eventually fading out of the national consciousness. A rock band that gathered in influences from all across the board—they incorporated blues, rock’n’roll, and garage rock into their sound—they had the most impact on the punk scene that gained traction in their wake. Their influence was most tangible in their straightforward and often extreme political views that were embedded in the music. The left-leaning and anti-establishment stances the band took through their music was an early indicator of the social impact punk had as a musical and cultural movement.

Taking their name from a character in an 1896 absurdist French play, Pere Ubu launched a hugely influential underground rock career in the mid-1970s that’s stretched all the way to the present, albeit with a short hiatus from 1982-1987. The band, led by lead singer David Thomas, has amassed a cult following for an almost expressionistic approach to New Wave and experimental rock. They call themselves avant-garde rather than compare themselves to any single genre, and the name fits, although they’ve served as an influence for everything from post-punk to garage rock.

A band vehemently opposed to gaining any sort of commercial success or self-promoting and, as a result, never made it to any sort of mainstream popularity. Though that is both part of the point and the appeal of the music, it cements their place on this list.

Influenced: Psychedelic rock, Janis Joplin, ZZ Top

Born Roger Kynard Erickson, Roky is a psychadelic rock innovator who got his start in the mid-1960s as a founding member of the influential 13th Floor Elevators, the band that coined the term “psychedelic rock.”

Erickson is often remembered more for his mental health issues than his music, he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia relatively soon after launching his career and was hospitalized for the condition. He attempted to escape on several occassions and received electro-compulsive therapy as part of his treatment. Later he developed an obsession with mail that led to his arrest for stealing neighbors’ mail and taping it to his wall. He also reportedly believed himself to be a Martian inhabiting a human’s body, and believed that he was being attacked psychically by humans for his otherness.

The colorful and troubled life story aside, Erickson was a pioneer for the American psychadelic movement at a young age, and continued to make music throughout his life, even now. He performed at Coachella in 2007 and has toured as recently as last year. Many influential artists in the psychedelic genre have cited his prodigious talents as an influence through his work with the 13th Floor Elevators and the subsequent projects he launched. It’s hard not to think that, had Erickson not suffered so many setbacks to his career, he might be a more household name for the genre-defining work he seemed able to make.

There’s been a documentary on Roky Erickson made that chronicles his rise in the psychadelic movement, his struggles with mental health and descent into poverty and his late career resurgence. It’s called You’re Gonna Miss Me, and is something to check out if his story piques your interest.

Influences: R.E.M., '80s NYC underground scene, indie rock

Taking their name from Aldous Huxley’s dystopian masterpiece Brave New World, The Feelies made a name for them for creating an insular sound that was purely their own. The New Jersey band made layered, guitar-laden compositions that compressed themselves into concise cuts that often feel like they could be hits if they were released today, albeit in the Internet-indie world. The bands impact on the New York underground scene was expansive, due in part to their prolific gigging throughout the late ‘70s and ‘80s.

Influence: Sex Pistols, punk

Richard Hell is one of the figureheads and pioneers of punk itself, from the fashion and attitude to the music. The spiked hair, the ripped clothes, the safety pins were all a part of his calling card, and while he was an active musician and poet it was being incorporated into an entire cultural movement. His influence was a foundation for punk bands like the Sex Pistols, and it extended from his iconic appearance to his music. His contributing postitions to the first wave of punk bands reads like a laundry list of important voices in the movement: Television, The Neon Boys, The Heartbreakers and his own Voidoids. He was a pioneer for what might have been the last great subculture.

Influenced: Punk, pop punk, Green Day, DIY movement

A Manchester punk band only active from 1976-1981 (although they have since reunited), Buzzcocks were a huge influence on their Northern England scene, as well as early pioneers of the independent record label. Leaving an imprint on punk and, later, power pop and pop punk, Buzzcocks were inspired themselves by the Sex Pistols and launched themselves into the punk scene, opening for the Pistols themselves at their second Manchester gig. While the rest of the punk movement were making bold social claims predicated on anti-establishment and anarchist values, Buzzcocks turned their eye to human sexuality and the subculture’s refusal to explore and examine it. A single they released, “Orgasm Addict,” stood out for its stark and rare bluntness that addressed singer Pete Shelley’s bisexuality. They also elevated punk music by incorporating catchy, near-pop hooks. That, along with their definitively more detailed and sophisticated lyrics, was why they became an influence on punk by pushing the boundaries of the genre itself.

Influenced: Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, Pavement

Swell Maps were starting to play post-punk before post-punk existed. Part of that comes with the timing; they were pushing past the genre constraints of punk while the movement was still happening. Hence, post-punk. Their six-member ensemble separated themselves from the other punk acts they were playing with in the late 1970s, and crafted strongly structured songs beneath a haze of complex distortion and lo-fi grit. The group were starting to crest in terms of mainstream popularity, but the band itself was crumbling. They disbanded after just two albums.

Influenced: Fugazi, Rage Against The Machine, Bloc Party, Bad Religion, punk, new wave, rock

This Leeds band made post-rock that was characterized by it’s social and political ambitions and commentary. Taking their name from a political faction of Chinese Communist officials who were in power during China’s cultural revolution, Gang of Four honed in on social commentary, but were also gifted instrumentalists that pushed the envelope. They created challenging music that was culturally prescient and critically adored; their debut album Entertainment! is widely considered to be one of the greatest albums of the 1970s. Despite being politically outraged and musically difficult to categorize, it still had moments of beauty and fun, making it a standout example that overt political agendas is always better when delivered with music that can back it up.

Influenced: LCD Soundsystem, dance rock, indie pop

Originally active from just 1980-1983, Liquid Liquid were a post-everything band. Post-punk, post-disco, they took a DIY approach to melding influences to make music for clubs. They built on grooves, mashing genres as wide ranging as punk, reggae and funk. The music had little regard for pop song structure or length, and was mostly released on a series of EPs.

They’re now best known for their song “Cavern,” which is recognizable both as a standalone track and for its illegal appearance as a sample in “White Lines (Don’t Do It),” a signature Grandmaster Melle Mel track. Their lasting influence on music was solidified to some extent when they played as the supporting act at LCD Soundsystem’s farewell MSG performance.

Influenced: Rock, avant-garde, Elvis Costello

Wyatt is an English musician who has been active since the early ‘60s as a multi-instrumentalist and singer. He performed in a few notable projects in his 20s as a drummer and singer for Wilde Flowers, Soft Machine and Matching Mole. He left Matching Mole in 1975 after injuring himself falling from a fourth story window at a party. The fall left Wyatt paralyzed from the waist down and using a wheel chair for mobility. Although he quit the bands, he stayed with music, adjusting his drumming style to a more jazz-oriented one to make for the inability to use his feet.

The solo career he subsequently embarked on was a long and successful one, but it eventually was a depart from the rock he had been playing to more jazz and ambient infused projects. Wyatt went gradually from collaborating with members of Pink Floyd to linking with Brian Eno. He continued a trend of collaborations and guest musicianship, most recently and notably with Bjork. He’s gained a reputation as a vocal impresario and extraordinarily talented musician who has inspired a number of related acts.

“Wyatting” is now a colloquial verb, which refers to the practice of playing strange or disconcerting music off of a jukebox at a bar to surprise, scare away or provide discomfort to everyone else at the bar. Andrew Wyatt’s music is an ideal choice for this practice, and his surname was coined for the activity. He’s been asked about this, and thinks it is very funny.

Influenced: Rock, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Sonic Youth, Pixies, Fugazi

Mission Of Burma formed in 1979. They stopped in 1983 when their lead singer's ears started ringing because of the volume of their live shows. While they were well-received critically, they never saw much success. After they broke up, they became legends mostly because of who talked about them. Everyone from Nirvana to the Pixies were fans of the Boston band. They were punk, but when most punk was straightforward and simple, Mission Of Burma went a more unconventional route.

Influenced: Ambient music, pop, studio as an instrument

Brian Eno is probably best known for producing for Bowie, Talking Heads, and U2, but his solo music has explored more experimental musical styles. It has also been extremely influential, pioneering ambient and generative music, innovating production techniques, and emphasising "theory over practice." He is credited for coining the term ambient music.

Influenced: Jazz, Ray Charles, R&B, rock & roll, jump blues, hip-hop

The leader of Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five was one of the pioneers of jazz and classic R&B, and on top of having introduced and popularized jump blues, which is the hybrid of jazz, blues, gospel, and boogie-woogie, Louis Jordan is often cited as both the father of R&B as well as the grandfather of rock’n’roll. Even though Louis might not go down as a legend, he did achieve mainstream success. His most influential hit was 1946’s “Beware,” which many young people aren't aware of, but maybe they should be—many consider it the first ever rap song.

Influenced: Alternative Rock

A Los Angeles band active throughout the entirety of the 1980s, Dream Syndicate were an early predecessor of indie music and alternative rock by being an integral act in the “Paisley Underground” movement. Most heavily influenced themselves by the Velvet Underground, they also channeled Creedence Clearwater Revival and Television into creating long, improvisational songs that carry over DNA still recognizable in alt-rock through the ‘90s up to today.

Influenced: Hip-Hop, DJing, MCing, Big Daddy Kane, Cory Gunz

Caz was the first rapper to perform both MC and DJing duties. He was part of The Cold Crush Brothers, who never ended up releasing an album, and he was one of the most influential early MCs who never saw the commercial success of his peers like Melle Mel or the Treacherous Three. Oh and you know Big Bank Hank's verse in The Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight?" Yeah, that was reportedly stolen from Caz, and artist that Hank once managed. Caz never got credit for it. Hip-hop's first ghost writer?

Influenced: Industrial, krautrock, post-rock, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Massive Attack

While the band members of Public Image Limited had as much stability as a two-legged stool, with John Lyndon (who served as the lead singer of the Sex Pistols) as its only constant member, the English post-punk band is credited for having influenced the industrial movement with their experimental sound. Public Image is also cited to be one of the first bands to have fused components of krautrock and reggae into their music, though these genres are only two of many more that PiL included in their highly experimental sound.

Influenced: Oddball rap, Earl Sweatshirt, Mos Def, hip-hop

Oddball rappers are commonplace now, but DOOM had it down to a science for years and a lot of MCs have taken plays directly from his book. Ever since he took on the MF DOOM persona, he never appeared without the mask, and his style of rap is something unlike any other. Never polished or flashy, DOOM's smoked out style is cartoonish and dense with a barrage of words, but he's not just saying whatever comes to his mind. He's careful with what words he uses, and in that process, he's created something of a language—or at least a way of tweaking language—unlike any other.

Influenced: punk rock, post-punk, experimental

Wire is often considered to be central to the eventual formation of post-punk, making them one of the most important rock bands to the genre. Things that were characteristic of the band, such as Wire’s sound, lyrical content, and political stance, would ultimately become key components of post-punk. Their experimental ways with song arrangement, which is thought to be a central attribute to the post-punk movement, marks Wire’s permanent and continuous influence on the genre.

Influenced: Hardcore punk, punk rock

One of the original hardcore punk rock bands, Dead Kennedys created much of the American underground punk scene back in the early 80s, with their influence extending into the UK as well. Despite technically being one of the pioneers of the hardcore punk genre with their trademark sound, much of their influence extended beyond the music, as the band created a generation of politically-aware individuals as opposed to nihilistic teens thanks to their satirical, sociopolitically-charged lyrics.

Influenced: De La Soul, Massive Attack, Beck, Kylie Minogue, pop music

Serge Gainsbourg’s influence isn't easy to pinpoint because his musical style is difficult to categorize. Despite this, modern musicians are quick to name the singer, songwriter, and composer as a key influence and he's considered a legend in France. Part of the Parisian's influence is that he experimented with so many genres, from funk, to pop, to jazz, to reggae, calypso, bossa nova, and erotic pop. His wide musical range has influenced an equally large range of artists like Public enemy, to Beck, to Kylie Minogue. Gainsboug died in 1991 of a heart attack.

Influenced: Psychedelic folk, space rock, Pink Floyd

Syd Barrett got replaced as a member of Pink Floyd before they made it big. During the band's early years, he was the lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter, shaping the group's psychedelic sound, but left the group in 1968 when mental illness started to take over his life. He never returned to the spotlight, and died in 2006. He's credited as being a pioneer in psychedelic folk and space rock, but his legacy is one tainted with tragedy, leaving many to speculate whether it was drugs, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or something else that caused Syd to be left behind as Pink Floyd went on to become one of the biggest bands in history.

Influenced: Nirvana, indie rock, Belle & Sebastian

Despite the fact that The Vaselines were not well known outside of Scotland, and nor did their career experience longevity, the duo is to thank for some of Nirvana’s most popular songs. After the dissembling of The Vaselines, Nirvana eventually covered three of their songs: “Molly’s Lips,” “Son of a Gun,” and “Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam.” In fact, Kurt Cobain was such a fan of the Vaselines and saw them as such a strong influence that he described the duo as his “most favourite songwriters in the whole world.”

Influenced: Country, rock, alt-country, Wilco, Uncle Tupelo, Ryan Adams, Emmylou Harris, The Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello

Gram Parsons had a very short career, but a huge impact. There probably wouldn't be alternative country as we know it without him, as he blended rock and country like nobody else before him. Parsons died of a drug overdose in 1973 at the age of 26, but his protégé Emmylou Harris (a Country Music Of Famer) carried on his legacy.

Influenced: The break from 19th century, piano, classical

Erik Satie was an eccentric, and like most eccentrics, he was misunderstood. The composer and pianist was embedded in the avant-garde movement of Paris in the early 20th century and his quirky, unconventional music is  cited as changing the direction of 20th century music, especially in France, and offerring one of the first clear breaks from 19th century Romanticism. He received some praise, radical socialist party, moved to Arcueil community where nobody visited his home in 27 years of residence, and took up odd hobbies and heavy drinking. After he died, compositions were found hidden all over his home.

Influenced: Blur, Radiohead, Faith No More

For over four decades, Cardiacs have maintained a cult following and influenced some of the UK's biggest bands. They've also been mostly ignored by the mainstream and received mixed reactions from the media. The band's live performance has the energy of punk rock, but they also incorporate medieval, prog-rock, folk, and heavy metal into their music, leading them to sometimes be credited with inventing the "pronk" (progressive punk) genre. The innovation and eclectic nature has made frontman Tim Smith a crazy genius to some, but may also be the very reason that Cardiacs never made it big.

Influenced: Rock & Roll, R.E.M., The Replacements, indie rock

Big Star's 1972 debut album was ironically titled #1 Record. It got great reviews, but didn't receive a label push or distribution. The lack of success lead to problems in the band. They got into physical fights, had multiple fall-outs, and broke up in 1974. Although the albums never had much mainstream success, a weird thing happened: in the '80s, other popular musicians started citing Big Star as an influence, and the cult status started to take shape. 20 years after they broke up, the band re-formed and played together until frontman Alex Chilton died of a heart attack in 2010.

Influenced: Punk rock, garage rock, goth rock, psychobilly, The White Stripes, The Raveonettes, The Black Lips, Primal Scream

The Cramps came up as an integral part of the NYC punk scene that was centered around the famous CGBG's. They were one of the first garage punk bands and coined the term "psychobilly." Their energetic, gender-bending performances and long-lasting career won them over a dedicated fanbase, but in over three decades as a band, they never broke through on a mainstream level. The band broke up in 2009 when their lead singer Lux Interior died of a heart condition.

Influenced: Reggae, electronic, dub, hip-hop

Ruddock Osbourne (aka King Tubby) was "only" a sound and mixing engineer, but what he achieved behind his customised mixing desk is the stuff of legend, and inspiration to countless reggae, dance and electronic producers. Originally hired to create instrumental edits of existing recording (known as 'dubs') in the late 60's Tubby realised that by manipulating levels behind the mixing desk, and adding effects, he could create totally new versions of songs. As such he helped introduce and popularize the idea of the remix, directly influencing electronic music as we know it, and his untimely shooting in 1989 should only cement his legendary status.

Influenced: David Bowie, Sting, Radiohead, pop music with classical elements

For an artist who had three top 10 UK solo albums in the 60's, the American-British singer, songwriter and producer, who is still active now, is little known beyond his core fans. Scott Walker helped popularise the use of symphonic and orchestral arrangements in pop music during his time as part of the successful Walker Brothers trio, but it was as a solo artist that he furthered this experimentation. Having immersed himself in the study of classical music, his series of self-titled solo albums (Scott 1-4) combine expansive arrangements with ever darker, weirder imagery, which would influence titans such as Bowie and Radiohead, and more recently Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys, with his The Last Shadow Puppets project.

Influenced: Weirdo rap, Wiz Khalifa

Before Max B, weirdo rap was mostly for the underground. But while the Harlem rapper has cult-status in hip-hop, he wasn't some unknown underground MC. He was affiliated with acts like The Diplomats and French Montana, but his personality and music was always decidedly out there. Many people today see the mix of mainstream appeal and weirdo tendencies of guys like Lil B, A$AP Rocky, and countless others as stemming back to Max B, although Max himself believed he was a mix between 2Pac, Biggie, and Jay-Z. In today's music climate, he may have been a star, but we'll never know since he's currently serving a 75-year sentence in prison for armed robbery and involvement with a murder.

Influenced: "Outsider music," Willis Earl Beal

Jandek is the original mystery man. In this age of information, the value of mystery has gone up and so many are trying to replicate what seemed to come so naturally for Jandek. Nobody really knows his full story, but over the span of decades, he released weird, out-of-tune, and very out-of-touch music. The influence of his challenging music is hard to pinpoint, but the influence of his mysterious nature is undeniable.

Influenced: Electronic, Bjork, David Bowie, U2, hip-hop

German band Kraftwerk is one of the first groups to popularize electronic music on a broad scale, and are considered pioneers in their genre. Artists such as Bjork, David Bowie, and Bono have all cited them as influences, and U2 has performed many of their songs live over the years. And their influence can be felt in hip-hop and R&B too. In fact, Afrika Bambaata's classic "Planet Rock" is an interpolation of two of their songs, and their early use of the vocoder to alter their vocals set trends that would eventually affect artists like T-Pain and Kanye West.

Influenced: Artur Rodziński (conductor of New York Philharmonic), Philip Glass, Janis Joplin, Antony & The Johnsons

Moondog's story is the stuff legends are made of. He went blind after a dynamite accident as a teenager, and lived much of his life homeless by choice. He invented instruments, and when he wasn't doing music he was a poet and a cosmologist. He made all his own clothes, and made them in the style of the Norse god Thor. Many probably thought of him as crazy, but in the later part of his life, people started to recognize him as a genius. Determined to challenge the conventional in all aspects of his life, Moondog's music played with unusual rhythms while still keeping things strikingly simple and in harmony with itself.

Influenced: Kurt Cobain, Hole, new wave, post-punk

This three piece band from Wales, with a post-punk brand of synth pop, only released one proper album together, titled Colossal Youth, which they put out in 1980. But some of the greatest musicians of all-time have praised them, including the late Kurt Cobain. In an interview with MTV Brazil in 1993, Cobain said about YMG, "I'm heavily influenced by them. It doesn't sound like it in our music, but just the emotions evoked, the feeling, and the sincerity and all that. Their songwriting is just fantastic, and it's so original too." Cobain's wife Courtney Love was also a fan, and covered the YMG track "Credit In The Straight World" for a Hole b-side.

Influenced: Grunge, Nirvana, Soundgarden, punk rock

The Melvins, an American band with roots in Washington state, were influenced themselves by bands like Black Flag and Kiss, but put their own spin on hard rock and metal. They favored a slower tempo at times, which would influence grunge bands from Seattle like Nirvana and Soundgarden. When the alternative wave hit in the early 90's, Melvins actually landed their first major label deal with Atlantic Records, but never got as big as their contemporaries.

Influenced: Folk, indie rock, R.E.M., The Cure

By now, most people know Nick Drake. When he died in 1974 from an overdose of antidepressants, that wasn't the case. It wasn't until the '80s, when musicians started coming out and citing Drake as an influence, that the interest in him started to grow. Compilations were put together, documentaries were made, songs were used in soundtracks and commercials, and now Nick Drake is somewhat of an icon, despite the fact that he only put out three albums over a span of three years.

Influenced: Hardcore, punk, Living Colour, Fishbone, Minor Threat

There was never a band quite like Washington, D.C.'s Bad Brains. They did reggae and jazz funk, but the group of Rastafarians was most known for developing a heavy, fast, intense version of punk rock that came to be known as hardcore. In a young genre, they looked like and sounded like no other, and they ended up having a huge influence on the entire scene.

Influenced: Red Hot Chili Peppers, No Doubt, UGK, the genre-blending of current popular music

Fishbone, an all-black ska/reggae/punk band out of South Central Los Angeles, never really caught the big break they deserved. Their influence can be heard in popular bands Red Hot Chili Peppers and No Doubt, and at the height of their popularity, their band shirts were sported by Tim Robbins' character in Bull Durham and John Cusack's in Say Anything. Bun B of UGK also mentions Fishbone as an influence, mentioning in a recent interview he did with the band that he shouted them out in UGK's Ridin' Dirty liner notes.

Influenced: Indie rock, Kurt Cobain, Eddie Vedder, Jeff Tweedy

Another musician plagued by mental health problems, Daniel Johnston is an outsider who, depending on who you ask, is either crazy or genius. Maybe both. The simplicity of his lyrics are almost child-like, but there are dark undertones that, given his story, convey something deeper. In 1985 he was noticed by MTV and seemed to be on his way to making it big, but the more you got to know about Johnston, the more you realize that mainstream success was never meant to be. The documentary "The Devil and Daniel Johnston" tells that story well.

Influenced: Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, progressive rock, David Byrne, The White Stripes, post punk

The Simpsons creator Matt Groening called Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band "the best band of the 20th century." That's a bold statement about a band that is still so unknown to the mass public, but even The Beatles were admirers of Beefheart, and had tentative plans to sign him to their Zapple label. Beefheart was boys with Frank Zappa, who he both collaborated with and was competitive with. The great Tom Waits wrote about his influence during a tribute after Beefheart's death in 2010, saying, "He was like the scout on a wagon train. He was the one who goes ahead and shows the way."

Influence: Indie rock, psychedelic rock

Since the 1990s,  Anton Newcombe has been the only constant member of the Brian Jonestown Massacre. One reason for that may be Anton's volatile behavior, paranoia, and addiction to heroin (he's now reportedly sober) made him a difficult person to work with for most of his career. But there's a thin line between crazy and genius, and Anton might have a foot on each side. His psychedelic, experimental music recalled classic rock of the '60s, and his obsession with cults ended up doing a weird thing and earning him a cult following of his own.

Thelonious Monk

Influenced: Jazz, piano

NYC bred jazz piano player Thelonious Monk's influence is ubiquitous in the genre. With only about 70 songs written in his lifetime, he clocks in as the second most covered jazz composer, which is particularly impressive considering Duke Ellington is the first and has over 1,000 compositions. Monk's contribution to the jazz standard catalog include "Round Midnight," "Straight, No Chaser," Well You Needn't," and "Blue Monk," all which have been heavily played throughout the last half century by jazz artists across the world. But to hear him play his own songs is to truly experience the greatness of Thelonious Monk. Never has a jazz piano player finessed the keys with such a brilliant, unorthodox style.

Influenced: Modern composers worldwide, electronic, Sonic Youth, Frank Zappa

In modern day music, "composers" don't get much credit outside of their own world. Classical music is, to many, considered a thing of the past, and few bands today look to modern classical as a source of inspiration. But what John Cage did was different than anyone before or since. He set out to challenge the perception of music at its most basic levels, and he took "minimalist" to an extreme with his most famous piece of work, 4'33", a composition that features the musicians doing literally and absolutely nothing. Stupid and silly to some, but it was an absurdly bold move, and it got people thinking.