# The Greatest Rock Star of All Time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 28, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677 "2010-10-28T16:48:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/41 "2010-10-28T19:27:53Z")
The answer is Elvis Presley. The criteria appear to have been written specifically to exclude him. It’s like saying “Hey, let’s vote on the best hockey player of all time but you can’t vote for Gretzky,” or “Let’s have a vote on the most famous movie of all time about a killer shark, but you can’t vote for Jaws.” ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/42 "2010-10-28T19:31:50Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The answer is Elvis Presley. The criteria appear to have been written specifically to exclude him. > > It’s like saying “Hey, let’s vote on the best hockey player of all time but you can’t vote for Gretzky,” or “Let’s have a vote on the most famous movie of all time about a killer shark, but you can’t vote for Jaws.” I’m curious, though. The phrase “rock star” (not “rock n’ roll” or “rock music”)seems to post-date Elvis (as a non-jumpsuit-wearing-fat-man) ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/43 "2010-10-28T19:35:11Z")
Based soley on the criteria of the OP and the list available, I went with Springsteen. Writes his own stuff. Plays a very good guitar (and harmonica.) Outside of Jagger, probably the best showman on the list. Lasting legacy, check. Chicks seem to dig him. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/44 "2010-10-28T19:37:36Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The answer is Elvis Presley. The criteria appear to have been written specifically to exclude him. > > It’s like saying “Hey, let’s vote on the best hockey player of all time but you can’t vote for Gretzky,” or “Let’s have a vote on the most famous movie of all time about a killer shark, but you can’t vote for Jaws.” What he said. The poll needs to be retitled “The Greatest Non-Elvis Rock Star.” I did not vote – and won’t. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/45 "2010-10-28T20:33:33Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > It’s Elvis. I don’t agree with the criterion that they have to be their own writers (even though I personally greatly prefer the ones that are). Elvis is the excption there. He is still the gold standard. He literally invented rock stardom, and no one has ever touched him in terms of stage presence, showmanship, talent, legacy and all the rest (sex appeal I’m in no position to judge for any of them, don’t care, and don’t see how it has anything to do with music). I’m straight but can recognise that Elvis was an incredibly sexy and attractive man back in the day. Parts of the [68 Comeback Special](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibo3Sw6bq70&t=2m12s) are incredible. ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/46 "2010-10-28T20:38:21Z")
Voted for Springsteen based on the criteria, but my favorite of the bunch is Mercury. My problem with voting for him based on the criteria is that he would not have been all that great without the rest of Queen, particularly Brian May, sharing the musical and songwriting load. I don’t know why you would disqualify Elvis based on the songwriting criterion. He’s written the vast majority of his hits from “Alison” and “Watching the Detectives” onward. I’m not too sure about the sex appeal thing though. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/47 "2010-10-28T20:42:48Z")
Freddie Mercury had it all. He is the greatest. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/48 "2010-10-28T20:43:40Z")
Where’s James Brown? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/49 "2010-10-28T20:49:13Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > I don’t care about the criteria, the answer’s Elvis. My thoughts exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/50 "2010-10-28T20:51:25Z")
Being cool is far more important than being sexy for a true rock star, and it’s even slightly more important than showmanship. Therefore, Keith Richards is the answer, followed closely by Slash. If you are willing to accept someone with little actual talent, but so much cool he makes up for it, Jim Morrisson would win hands down. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/51 "2010-10-28T21:17:10Z")
I think Jimi Hendrix out-cools all of them. He’s my personal favorite muscian of all time, by the way, but I can’t quite put him above Elvis or Mick as a rock star. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/52 "2010-10-28T21:57:10Z")
Michael Jackson closely followed by Madonna would be my choice, but with the two of them being my all-time favourite artists that isn’t really much of a surprise. If I wasn’t choosing from the poll and you said to me “besides those two, who would you choose?” I’d say Elvis Presley, and from the poll I’d say Freddie Mercury. ---
**Author:** ![Galileo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Galileo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galileo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/53 "2010-10-28T22:13:39Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > The writing qualification really scrubbed the list bigtime. Was that the main reason for adding it to the criteria? When I saw the thread title, I had three immediate choices: 1. Mick Jagger 2. Freddie Mercury 3. Paul McCartney And, then a hazy image that turned out to be a combination of Jim Morrison, Robert Plant and Roger Daltrey. I didn’t think of Elvis, mainly because of this: > [@whole bean](#): > > The phrase “rock star” (not “rock n’ roll” or “rock music”) seems to post-date Elvis (as a non-jumpsuit-wearing-fat-man) So, even though I think that Elvis was the biggest musical star since Caruso, I gotta go with Jagger as the greatest rock star. BTW, I don’t associate “writing music” with being a rock star. Freddie Mercury would still have been a great rock star even if all of Queen’s songs had been written by John Deacon and Brian May. Wondering about something, though. In 1980, after Queen had released _Bohemian Rhapsody_, _You’re My Best Friend_, _Somebody to Love_, _We Will Rock You_, _We Are the Champions_, _Another One Bites the Dust_, and _Crazy Little Thing Called Love_, how many people knew who Freddie Mercury was, compared to how many knew Elvis, Jagger, or McCartney? I could be wrong but it seems to me that he became really famous after 1990 when word got out that he had AIDS. Am I way off base here? Hmmm … well, I can see that “famous” isn’t the same as “great”. Just thinking of **Stoid** ’s comment: “By definition a rock star is a bigass star that most people are familiar with.” In any case, Freddie Mercury is famous, and he’s definitely in the running as greatest rock star. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/54 "2010-10-28T22:29:41Z")
Just now, glancing at the thread title made me think, “The greatest rock star of **all time**? Hmmm… what if he (or she) isn’t even born yet?” What (if any) are the chances of a genuine Rock Star, coming along who will be a greater rock star, as such, than anyone so far mentioned in this thread? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/55 "2010-10-28T22:33:37Z")
There is only answer. James Marshall Hendrix had more talent in his left hand than all the people you mentioned combined, Stoid. To omit his name from your list and include a no-talent slut like Madonna and vastly overrated bozos like Jim Morrison and Steve Tyler is an insult to all guitarists, anyone who knows music, black America, and the '60’s. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/56 "2010-10-28T23:36:19Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > Being cool is far more important than being sexy for a true rock star, and it’s even slightly more important than showmanship. Therefore, Keith Richards is the answer, followed closely by Slash. > If you are willing to accept someone with little actual talent, but so much cool he makes up for it, Jim Morrisson would win hands down. I agree. Mick Jagger and Steven Tyler are ugly as hell, but they are both definitely rock stars. I can’t choose, in part because I don’t know which of these guys has sex appeal. Springsteen? I think he comes closest because he writes all his stuff, plays guitar and is undoubtably a rock star. Chrissy Hynde is a rock star, Madonna is a pop star. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/57 "2010-10-28T23:57:45Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > 1. Must have written a significant portion of the greatest music they are known for. This automatically disqualifies Elvis, for instance. Yet Roger Daltrey is on the list. (As for Ozzy, well, he’s _credited_ with writing his songs, but one of his band members once remarked, “Ozzy can’t write his _name_, how could he write a song?”) And while Madonna and Michael Jackson may fit all the criteria, they aren’t really **rock** stars, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/58 "2010-10-29T00:06:45Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > And while Madonna and Michael Jackson may fit all the criteria, they aren’t really **rock** stars, IMHO. Depends on the definition of “rock”, I suppose, and whether you take it to mean the rock and roll era or the literal genre of rock music. While both Michael and Madonna have sung rock songs in their career despite it not being their main genre, if we’re going by the latter definition I agree with you that they are not rock stars. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/59 "2010-10-29T00:32:16Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I went with Springsteen, as I consider being nice to people and not using your celebrity to be an jerk as sexy. I went with Springsteen because I can attest that he’s a great showman in concert, a fantastic writer, a musician certain to have a lasting legacy, and I don’t care if he’s sixty years old now, I would jump his bones in less time than it takes to strike the opening chord of _Born to Run_. BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE! (Obligatory.) He’s also a nice guy and down-to-earth, from all I’ve read. Not a perfect man, but he’s no classic rock star ego-trip asshat. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/60 "2010-10-29T00:33:33Z")
The discussion begins and ends with Jagger. The _real_ question is “who is the second-greatest rock star of all time?” mmm [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677.md?page=4)