# Which musical acts are most universally respected and liked among their peers in their genre?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-acts-are-most-universally-respected-and-liked-among-their-peers-in-their-genre/532564
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [March 15, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-acts-are-most-universally-respected-and-liked-among-their-peers-in-their-genre/532564 "2010-03-15T18:16:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-acts-are-most-universally-respected-and-liked-among-their-peers-in-their-genre/532564/1 "2010-03-15T18:16:05Z")
No musician or band is loved and respected by EVERYONE. I’m sure even the Beatles have their detractors. So, my question:
Which music artists and bands are nearly unanimously liked and respected by the other musicians and fans of their genre? I’m talking about artists where you would find it darn near impossible to find a detractor.
Here’s a couple I think qualify:
Country: Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline (self-explanatory)
Metal: Motorhead (I have never heard anyone in metal say anything bad about them or about Lemmy - probably because Lemmy is the coolest person in rock).
Jazz: Lots, but let’s go with Wes Montgomery for starters.
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### Author:  [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-acts-are-most-universally-respected-and-liked-among-their-peers-in-their-genre/532564/2 "2010-03-15T19:22:30Z")
The first band that comes to mind is Pink Floyd.
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### Author:  [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-acts-are-most-universally-respected-and-liked-among-their-peers-in-their-genre/532564/3 "2010-03-15T19:23:23Z")
Queen
Prince
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### Author:  [@kingbighair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingbighair)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-acts-are-most-universally-respected-and-liked-among-their-peers-in-their-genre/532564/4 "2010-03-15T19:37:54Z")
Radiohead. Wu-Tang. Aphex Twin
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-acts-are-most-universally-respected-and-liked-among-their-peers-in-their-genre/532564/5 "2010-03-15T19:45:50Z")
Prince is not much liked by many people. Respected, yes.
I came in here to post about Motörhead and Lemmy, but **INRS!** used him the OP. Lemmy is a great guy. He’s exactly who and what you think he is: a blue collar beer & whiskey drinking hard rocking hard living motherfucker who doesn’t give or take a lot of shit. He has been living the dream for about 40 years now, and I hope he gets at least 40 more.
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### Author:  [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-acts-are-most-universally-respected-and-liked-among-their-peers-in-their-genre/532564/6 "2010-03-15T20:02:18Z")
> [@GESancMan](#):
>
> The first band that comes to mind is Pink Floyd.
“Pink Floyd sucks!” – Johnny Rotten
“Who’s Johnny Rotten?” --Pink Floyd
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### Author:  [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-acts-are-most-universally-respected-and-liked-among-their-peers-in-their-genre/532564/7 "2010-03-15T20:25:52Z")
I’m going to go with Jeff Beck. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a guitarist talk about not liking Beck, and most heap him with praise. Deservedly so.
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### Author:  [@poornormajeane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poornormajeane)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-acts-are-most-universally-respected-and-liked-among-their-peers-in-their-genre/532564/8 "2010-03-15T20:32:10Z")
While Faith no More is very “underground” to many (They did a lot of stuff WAY better than 1989’s, ‘Epic’), but I’ve read lots of interviews of bands in the rock genre who cite them as a great influence.
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### Author:  [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-acts-are-most-universally-respected-and-liked-among-their-peers-in-their-genre/532564/9 "2010-03-15T22:25:45Z")
I’d say Kate Bush is the definitive answer.
[Interviewed after she won a Brit Award](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1BvKSddTto), Annie Lennox said “I thought Kate Bush would win it, because she’s phenomenal, and I really admire her…she’s on her own, she’s innovative…”.
She was discovered by [Dave Gilmour of Pink Floyd](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vl9OKddQBRg) and [loved equally by John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPqslmNknoQ), being the point of connection between the two. [Prince](http://gaffa.org/moments/2_2j.html) called her “My favorite woman” (dragging praise out of Prince is an accomplishment). She’s loved by artists as different as [Big Boi of Outkast](http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/story/big-boi-wants-kate-bush-to-produce-new-outkast-album) and [Nigel Kennedy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grbPubIQr_g) who said “I think she’s one of the greatest composers of the century”.
One would be hard pressed to find any songwriter or performer who doesn’t, at the very least, respect her.
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### Author:  [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-acts-are-most-universally-respected-and-liked-among-their-peers-in-their-genre/532564/10 "2010-03-15T22:56:46Z")
Yeah, **Kate Bush** , definitely. **Peter Gabriel** too. Has anyone worth oxygen ever had a bad word to say about Kate and Peter as artists, musicians and human beings? No.
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### Author:  [@vdgg81](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vdgg81)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2010, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-acts-are-most-universally-respected-and-liked-among-their-peers-in-their-genre/532564/11 "2010-03-16T04:09:37Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#):
>
> Jazz: Lots, but let’s go with Wes Montgomery for starters.
I got the impression that Montgomery took a lot of flack when he started recording pop songs late in his career (and arguably for good reason). I think maybe Duke Ellington would be a better choice. I’d say Louis Armstrong, but I know that he too came under heavy criticism for a time, in his case for a perceived lack of sensibility to racial issues.
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### Author:  [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2010, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-acts-are-most-universally-respected-and-liked-among-their-peers-in-their-genre/532564/12 "2010-03-16T07:02:23Z")
Stevie Wonder. Who’s going to diss Stevie, huh?
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### Author:  [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2010, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-acts-are-most-universally-respected-and-liked-among-their-peers-in-their-genre/532564/13 "2010-03-16T07:40:20Z")
I’ll posit Eric Clapton. I’ve never heard or read anything negative about him as a musician or person. (Although he admittedly has had difficult periods in his life regarding drugs and women…but then who hasn’t? :D)
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### Author:  [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2010, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-acts-are-most-universally-respected-and-liked-among-their-peers-in-their-genre/532564/14 "2010-03-16T08:00:03Z")
Which musical acts are most universally respected and liked among their peers in their genre?
The OP specified _In their genre_. I think most replies so far have missed the point. I would offer that in the genre of bluegrass, Allison Krauss and union station are held in high regard for instance.
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### Author:  [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2010, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-acts-are-most-universally-respected-and-liked-among-their-peers-in-their-genre/532564/15 "2010-03-16T08:03:15Z")
> [@Claude\_Remains](#):
>
> The OP specified _In their genre_. I think most replies so far have missed the point. I would offer that in the genre of bluegrass, Allison Krauss and union station are held in high regard for instance.
Very true.
But it’s even more surprising when an artist is respected far outside their genre.
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### Author:  [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2010, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-acts-are-most-universally-respected-and-liked-among-their-peers-in-their-genre/532564/16 "2010-03-16T08:04:18Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#):
>
> I’ll posit Eric Clapton. I’ve never heard or read anything negative about him as a musician or person. (Although he admittedly has had difficult periods in his life regarding drugs and women…but then who hasn’t? :D)
George Harrison might have had a thing or two to say.
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### Author:  [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2010, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-acts-are-most-universally-respected-and-liked-among-their-peers-in-their-genre/532564/17 "2010-03-16T08:57:09Z")
Tori Amos. She’s well-regarded among pianists, I hear.
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### Author:  [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2010, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-acts-are-most-universally-respected-and-liked-among-their-peers-in-their-genre/532564/18 "2010-03-16T09:24:40Z")
Yeah, I can’t think of any bad things said about Tori Amos as a person, nor as a musician once you forget that her first album exists.
> [@gaffa](#):
>
> But it’s even more surprising when an artist is respected far outside their genre.
Yep. To use Kate Bush as a prime example, she’s praised unreservedly by people as diverse as the already-mentioned John Lydon (Johnny Rotten), plus Tricky, Goldfrapp, Placebo, Natalie Cole, Coldplay, Utah Saints and Trio Bulgarka, just to name a handful of very different artists. Hell, Tupac Shakur was a huge fan, which pretty much floored me when I found out.
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### Author:  [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2010, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-acts-are-most-universally-respected-and-liked-among-their-peers-in-their-genre/532564/19 "2010-03-16T09:30:51Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#):
>
> “Pink Floyd sucks!” – Johnny Rotten
>
> “Who’s Johnny Rotten?” --Pink Floyd
[http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/story/rotten-i-love-pink-floyd](http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/story/rotten-i-love-pink-floyd)
> [@](#):
>
> Rotten, real name JOHN LYDON says, "I never hated Pink Floyd. I was having a laugh.
> [@](#):
>
> “I’ve run into DAVID GILMOUR several times over the years, and he thinks it’s hilarious. He’s a great bloke.”
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### Author:  [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2010, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-musical-acts-are-most-universally-respected-and-liked-among-their-peers-in-their-genre/532564/20 "2010-03-16T09:42:06Z")
The Ramones.
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