# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/61 "2010-10-29T01:33:40Z")
Ted Nugent in the '70s and '80s. ---
**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 29, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/62 "2010-10-29T01:43:28Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Ted Nugent in the '70s and '80s. That’s a joke, right? ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/63 "2010-10-29T02:01:56Z")
How is Kurt Cobain not on this list? I mean, I don’t think I’d vote for him as #1, but he needs to be in the discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/64 "2010-10-29T02:11:14Z")
> [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](#): > > There is only answer. > > James Marshall Hendrix had more talent in his left hand than all the people you mentioned combined, Stoid. Yup. And disqualifying Elvis from any poll with “star” in it is just plain stealing the election. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/65 "2010-10-29T02:33:48Z")
You cannot include Lennon and not McCartney. And why not Paul Simon? And Joni Mitchell. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/66 "2010-10-29T02:56:34Z")
As far as I’m concerned, if the criteria exclude Elvis, the criteria are fatally flawed. I don’t care that he didn’t write his own material- he remains by FAR the greatest rock star of all time. Nobody else comes close. Practically everybody on the list wanted to be Elvis! ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/67 "2010-10-29T03:05:27Z")
Yeah, it’s interesting; all of the British Invaders came over here to conquer America, and so many of them got their inspiration from The King. ---
**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 29, 2010, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/68 "2010-10-29T04:57:58Z")
I’d take **Prince** over many names on the list. ---
**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 29, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/69 "2010-10-29T17:22:30Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > You cannot include Lennon and not McCartney. > > And why not Paul Simon? > > And Joni Mitchell. Why not Barry Manilowe or Babs Streisand or Frank Sinatra or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? ---
**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 29, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/70 "2010-10-29T17:23:51Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > I’d take **Prince** over many names on the list. If Bowie fits the criteria (he’s really more of a “Pop Star”) then so would Prince. ---
**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 29, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/71 "2010-10-29T17:26:45Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > As far as I’m concerned, if the criteria exclude Elvis, the criteria are fatally flawed. > > I don’t care that he didn’t write his own material- he remains by FAR the greatest rock star of all time. Nobody else comes close. Practically everybody on the list wanted to be Elvis! Because he’s really more of a proto-Rock Star. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/72 "2010-10-29T17:39:17Z")
I know many wouldn’t consider him to have the requisite looks to fit the criteria, but I think (obviously) that Alice Cooper is the greatest rock star of all time. He’s hot to a lot of people (still, at age 62), he writes a ton of his own music and his showmanship is off the charts. So regardless of what others may think, I vote for him. Go team Alice! ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/73 "2010-10-29T18:40:20Z")
Joe Strummer, hands down. Watch any videos of him in action, and you will be convinced. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/74 "2010-10-29T18:53:12Z")
> [@whole\_bean](#): > > If Bowie fits the criteria (he’s really more of a “Pop Star”) then so would Prince. > [@whole\_bean](#): > > I think it’s Jagger then Plant. The problem with Bowie and even moreso with EJ is that neither is really full on rock n’ roll except in the broadest sense. Do the words “rock n’ roll” evoke “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” or “Daniel”? You guys seriously need to expose yourself to more Bowie if you think he is only “pop” and not “rock n’ roll” enough. Try just about every song on “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.” Or his work with Tin Machine in the 90s. Or some of his early blues-influenced stuff like “Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed.” Yeah, he did some pop stuff as well, but so did Mick. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/75 "2010-10-29T19:07:49Z")
It is clearly Elvis, hang the songwriter criterion. Obviously Jagger, Bowie, Hendrix, Plant and Mercury and others are up there, but for sheer worldwide game-changing it’s the lad from Tupelo. ---
**Author:** ![AutumnLeaves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@AutumnLeaves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AutumnLeaves)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/76 "2010-10-29T19:14:50Z")
Elvis, Kurt Cobain, Joe Strummer… I’m seeing these names mentioned and they don’t fit into my classification of a “rock star”. It’s like talking about actors vs. movie stars. Like Paul Simon, really? I know we got the criteria in the first post, but just the words “rock star” conjure up banging supermodels and heavy substance use/abuse and driving cars into swimming pools and the like, along with the talent to cancel out the bad behaviour. Doing lines of cocaine off a prostitute’s… anything, really, then getting knighted the next week. You know, living like a rock star. My vote’s with Mick Jagger - that’s who I think of when I hear the term “rock star”. My initial response might have been vastly different if those words hadn’t been used. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/77 "2010-10-29T19:30:20Z")
I have great respect for Bowie, but my vote goes to Morrison. Bowie is smarter and more versatile, but Morrison had way more emotional depth and charisma. Unlike just about every other successful rock star, it has always seemed to me that Jim actually _believed_ that the apocalypse was upon us. As for Jagger (who seems to be winning)he is really nothing outside of the _Stones_ (who do not pale behind him as _The Doors_ did behind, and after, Morrison), and although he is certainly a great showman, I am not convinced that he is more than a pretty good songwriter (and I rather suspect that most of the best bits of _Stones_ songs owe more to Keith). ETA: Oh, and shouldn’t Johnny Rotten have been on the list? ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/78 "2010-10-29T19:40:49Z")
> [@AutumnLeaves](#): > > My vote’s with Mick Jagger - that’s who I think of when I hear the term “rock star”. My initial response might have been vastly different if those words hadn’t been used. How can you posit Mick as the greatest rock star when he shared a band with a greater one? ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/79 "2010-10-29T19:41:10Z")
Since Elvis is not on the list I’ll have to go with Freddy. ---
**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 29, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677/80 "2010-10-29T19:46:09Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > How can you posit Mick as the greatest rock star when he shared a band with a greater one? Because Charlie wasn’t on the list. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-rock-star-of-all-time/558677.md?page=5)