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About.com Top 40 Pop Artists of All time
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Any serious pop music collection begins here. These are the 40 most essential pop music artists to know. The list is based on commercial success as well as quality and timelessness of the artist's music. Suggested tracks are included to get you started. These performers are the bedrock of popular music.
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40. Everly Brothers
39. Barry Manilow
38. Sam Cooke
37. Pet Shop Boys
36. Beyonce
35. Simon and Garfunkel
34. Dusty Springfield
33. The Carpenters
32. Donna Summer
31. Robbie Williams
30. Fleetwood Mac
29. Sly and the Family Stone
28. Eagles
27. David Bowie
26. Queen
25. Jay-Z
24. Marvin Gaye
23. Duran Duran
22. U2
21. Rod Stewart
20. Aretha Franklin
19. Whitney Houston
18. Bruce Springsteen
17. Billy Joel
16. Prince
15. Bee Gees
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Through the massive runaway success of Saturday Night Fever and its accompanying soundtrack, the Bee Gees became disco icons although it doesn't seem that was their aim. Their career has resulted in a significant number of additional hits in a sort of baroque pop style and later R&B influenced material. Barry Gibb, one of the three brothers who made up the group, has also been a very successful producer of pop hits by other artists ranging from brother Andy to Barbra Streisand. Maurice Gibb passed away in 2003 at the age of 53.
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14. ABBA
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From 1974 through 1982 ABBA were the bestselling pop music act in the world. Although their success was a bit more muted in the US, they were international superstars and some consider their highly melodic, catchy songs to be the gold standard in pop music. The musical Mamma Mia based on ABBA songs has returned the group to massive sales around the world in recent years.
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13. The Beach Boys
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The Beach Boys were the top group recording early 1960s surf music with big hits like "Surfin' USA." Later in the decade under the leadership of the band's songwriter and producer Brian Wilson, the group explored innovative approaches to studio pop with the landmark album Pet Sounds and pop masterpiece "Good Vibrations." Unfortunately, Brian Wilson's battles with mental illness and drugs hampered the group's ability to reach its creative ambitions. However, the Beach Boys remain one of the most successful and influential pop groups of all time.
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12. Britney Spears
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Britney Spears was the biggest of the teen pop stars to emerge in the late 1990s. However, by the middle of the following decade it seemed her musical career may have drowned in a mass of bad publicity and personal difficulties. Britney Spears then put together one of the most phenomenal comebacks in pop music history and is more commercially and critically successful than ever before. In the past decade she has released 16 top 40 pop singles, five #1 albums and is, at the age of 28, a pop icon.
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11. Janet Jackson
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At a number of points in her career, Janet Jackson has threatened to surpass the achievements of her brother Michael Jackson in chart and sales success. Few artists have been more influential than Janet Jackson in the dance choreography that has accompanied many of her biggest hits. In addition to her music, Janet Jackson is also an accomplished actor.
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10. Mariah Carey
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With 18 under her belt, Mariah Carey is the only currently recording artist in striking distance of reaching the Beatles' all-time record of 20 #1 pop singles in the US. Her collaboration with Boyz II Men on "One Sweet Day" spent 16 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 which remains a record. Mariah Carey's vocal range and melismatic approach are trademarks that have influenced countless other female vocalists in the past two decades.
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9. Stevie Wonder
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Stevie Wonder emerged in the early 1960s as a precocious child star with one of the most infectious live hits ever recorded, "Fingertips - Pt. 2." Through the rest of the decade and early 1970s he matured as an artist until he took full artistic control as singer, musician, producer and songwriter. His music ranged across styles, but usually remained rooted in highly rhythmic textures. The songs are noted for their positive outlook even when dealing with difficult social issues. After over 45 years Stevie Wonder continues to record for his original label Motown.
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8. Micheal Jackson
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Michael Jackson, with the possible exception of Elvis Presley, was the epitome of larger than life pop music figures. He hit the pop spotlight as a child of 11 in 1969 with his brothers in the group Jackson 5. At the end of the next decade he emerged as a young adult recording artist. Michael Jackson recorded Thriller, the bestselling album of all time, and was the world's biggest pop star in the late 1980s. His career became mired in tabloid rumors and criminal investigations. However, his star still shone brightly when he died suddenly at age 50 in 2009.
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7. The Rolling Stones
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Originally many saw the Rolling Stones as sort of a scruffy, explicit anti-Beatles. However, through the decades to come the group developed their own distinctive status as "the world's greatest rock and roll band." They have been responsible for bringing strong influences of American blues into the pop mainstream and remain one of the world's top live bands.
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6. Barbra Streisand
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Barbra Streisand is the bestselling female album artist of all time in the US. She is also a pioneer among women in filmmaking having become a successful director as well as actor. Her success is particularly notable, because her primary vocal style remains outside of the pop mainstream yet she has released five #1 pop singles.
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5. Frank Sinatra
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Frank Sinatra is the most successful pop artist at transcending the era of swing and pop standards to remain a recording star after the advent of rock 'n roll. He first hit Billboard singles charts in 1939. His last significant chart hit, "Theme from New York, New York," appeared over 40 years later in 1980 when he was 64. Frank Sinatra is the recipient of 11 Grammy Awards as well as an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in From Here to Eternity. Frank Sinatra died in 1998 at the age of 82.
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4. Madonna
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Madonna has released 37 top 10 pop hits in the US, more than any other artist. She also ranks as the top dance artist of all time. Seven of her albums have debuted at #1 in the US. She is a member of the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame.
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3. Elton John
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Elton John is the foremost piano player in pop music history. He has released over 50 top 40 singles including a phenomenal 38 consecutive top 40 singles from 1972 through 1986. His music could be considered definitive of mainstream pop in the 1970s. In recent years Elton John has toured frequently with a fellow successful piano playing pop musician, Billy Joel.
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2. Elvis Presley
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Without Elvis Presley, its hard to imagine how much of what came after in pop and rock music could have happened. He brought rock 'n roll into American living rooms. Elvis Presley became a larger than life cultural icon. He recorded over 100 pop top 40 hits. Elvis Presley died in 1977 at the age of 42.
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1. The Beatles
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The Beatles are the pop band by which nearly everything else in pop music is matched and measured. Their influence on pop artists that followed their phenomenal single decade career from 1960 to 1970 is unmeasurable. They continue to hold the record for the most #1 pop singles in the US at 20 and are widely considered to be the bestselling album artists of all time. Their influence is still felt so strongly they will rank as one of the top selling album recording act of the decade of the 2000's.
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http://top40.about.com/od/top10lists...stsalltime.htm
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