Just wait until you stumble across an “oldies” format station, which is playing songs that came out while you were in college, or even later. 
I am Generation Xer and my niece’s 18 year old son said he was learning to play the oldies on his new guitar. I asked “what groups?” and he excitedly said, “Guns 'n Roses and Nirvana!!!” I just had to shake my head quietly.
How about hearing music you used to rock out to played as background miusic at the grocery store?!
How about walking into a senior citizens community center and hearing greatest hits compilations from when you were a teenager. Not the fake Muzak-y stuff, the original recordings. 
In fact, i went out to dinner tonight, at a fairly nice local restaurant, and in the middle of the meal, I realized that Bad Company’s “Rock & Roll Fantasy” was playing in the background.
Wrong thread.
I believe the best representation of the feeling comes from the movie Grosse Pointe Blank (video link):
(Spoilers warning for a movie from 1997, which is (wince) now over 25 years old)
The protagonist pulls up to a location that used to be his childhood home, and it’s replaced by an Ultimart. As he pulls up, we get Guns N’ Roses cover of Live and Let Die, but as he steps inside, it changes to a (quiet) muzak version of the same song in perfect sync.
So, yeah. Eerie.
Beatles, hands down. I was 13 when they first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Shew.
“Classic Rock”, the format/genre? I’ma go with Led Zeppelin. Or maybe Fleetwood Mac.
Classic rock, as in “rock which is classic/timeless”, the Stones. I hear you, Beatles fans, but they’re much too poppy to be the epitome of rock…
12 posts were split to a new topic: I love Fleetwood Mac but I would not call them “classic rock.” (hijack discussion)
To get us back on track, upthread I suggested a (not the only) metric that could/should be considered is covers.
https://www.whosampled.com/most-covered-artists/
Isn’t exactly scholarly, but it gives a ranked list of most covered bands. For those who hate links, I’ll type out the top 10:
The Beatles (11982), Traditional Folk (NA really), Frank Sinatra (2392), Elvis Presley (2042), Stevie Wonder (1645), Michael Jackson (1630), Bing Crosby (1609), Chuck Berry (1491), The Rolling Stones (1423), Bob Dylan (1377)
Of those, my vote remains on The Rolling Stones, only because as I mentioned upthread that I find The Beatles covers just a few too many different styles over time to fall into what I consider Classic Rock.
Again, just one of the many possible ways to judge, and I’m sure there are more detailed/better researched options, but it was a quick link to provide at least some numbers.
Zep is a great choice to the epitome of classic rock. But I will stick with CCR. Definitely different, but depends on what YOU think classic rock is. That’s cool.
As a big Pink Floyd fan, while they are classic for SURE, I’m not sure if I consider them classic rock. They are a genre all to themselves IMHO.
Responding to @parallel lines, and covers, Stone Temple Pilots did a fantastic cover of Zep ‘Dancing Days’ MUCH better than what Zep did.
Moderators, I don’t mind some ‘hi-jacks’, but yes, just discussing one band on and on is a bit of a hi-jack. I just did one I guess re - STP.
And that raises the question of how much, if anything, popularity and/or influence should count for. I could understand people arguing that “classic” implies big and successful and famous; but I could also understand someone naming an obscure band and saying “Their sound epitomizes what I think of as ‘classic rock’.”
Agreed. Of course, our OP @enipla deliberately chose not to give us hard guidelines, and in fact votes for CCR, which I enjoy immensely, but isn’t in my personal category for “rock”.
So everyone can and is free to judge on their personal feelings on the subject.
I’m game. Status Quo (at least, obscure her in the US). They locked into the Classic Rock sound, look, and vibe around 1970 and never changed as far as I know.
If it was phrased more clearly, “Who is the epitome of a classic rock band for you?” then the answer would be the Stones. But the title doesn’t ask quite that. if it is ask which band is the epitome of classic rock, not a classic rock band, so it could be referring to the music alone, or the band’s performances, history, clothes, drug use, and many other properties of a class rock band, in any combination. If the question is about the band in the entirety of it’s existence then it’s definitely the Stones. If focused on the music I lean toward Creedence.
They are classic and they are rock, but I don’t think of them when i hear the term “Classic Rock”.
CCR, the Doors, and David Bowie sit on the pop/rock fault line for me, which counts them out. The Stones and The Beatles started as pop bands, so they’re out too even though both made some unquestionably rock music in their mid to late careers.
Pink Floyd are archetypal Prog Rock, so while I love them dearly, they are out too. Same for Yes and Jethro Tull.
Candidates in my mind are Cream, BOC, Free/Bad Company, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Cold Chisel, Midnight Oil, Golden Earring, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Live, Neil Young, Nirvana, Powderfinger, Queen, Robin Trower, Santana, SRV, Television, and Wishbone Ash.
Phew!
Sorry, what?
Rock bands, sure (alternative for the first 3 , post-punk for Television) but “Classic rock”? Naah. If you’re going to disqualify prog and anything with even a hint of pop, you’re also going to need to disqualify these bands from those even-less-rock-mainstream subgenres.
ive heard guns n roses on Kearth 101 in la… its been an oldies station since the early 80s …if it was on klos id be ok cause they play the harder oldies with new stuff but …