# Who are the most overrated musical artists? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 10, 2001, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-overrated-musical-artists/71930 "2001-07-10T06:15:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nick112](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@nick112](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nick112)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-overrated-musical-artists/71930/1 "2001-07-10T06:15:36Z")
just the people you dont think are as good as people think they are. ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-overrated-musical-artists/71930/2 "2001-07-10T06:22:48Z")
I’ll just stick to the “classics.” Elvis Grateful Dead Beatles Led Zeppelin Pink Floyd Barbra Streisand Sinatra They all suck. ---
**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:** [July 10, 2001, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-overrated-musical-artists/71930/3 "2001-07-10T06:31:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chas.E \* > \*\*I’ll just stick to the “classics.” > > Elvis > Grateful Dead > Beatles > Led Zeppelin > Pink Floyd > Barbra Streisand > Sinatra > > They all suck. \*\* Jeeze, I have at least one CD or bit of vinyl by every one of these artists. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Linear\_Crack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Linear\_Crack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linear_Crack)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-overrated-musical-artists/71930/4 "2001-07-10T06:37:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chas.E \* > \*\*I’ll just stick to the “classics.” > > Elvis > Grateful Dead > Beatles > Led Zeppelin > Pink Floyd > Barbra Streisand > Sinatra > > They all suck. \*\* Barbra Streisand I can understand, but the Beatles"? No way dude! Take it back! May the Power of Christ compel you! May the Power of Christ compel you! ---
**Author:** ![TitoBenito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2acd7d/32.png) [@TitoBenito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TitoBenito)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-overrated-musical-artists/71930/5 "2001-07-10T06:49:57Z")
Prince. What ever you want to call him he still sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-overrated-musical-artists/71930/6 "2001-07-10T08:18:40Z")
I have never understood the huillabaloo over Jimi Hendrix. Talented but sloppy, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![DarkPrince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@DarkPrince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkPrince)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-overrated-musical-artists/71930/7 "2001-07-10T08:29:16Z")
Eric Clapton has never sounded all that great to me. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-overrated-musical-artists/71930/8 "2001-07-10T12:44:41Z")
> [@](#): > > I have never understood the huillabaloo over Jimi Hendrix. Talented but sloppy, IMHO. Typical ignorant comment (I picked it at random, and there have been plenty more in this thread). There’s a neurotic need on the part of some people to trash older artists, usually because they can’t really understand what they were doing. Hendrix was leading the way on guitar. He sounds “sloppy” because others copied his style and refined it (see Scott McCloud’s “Understanding Comics,” Chapter 6). The true pioneers always get sneered at by the ignorant. ---
**Author:** ![blainer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a698b9/32.png) [@blainer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blainer)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-overrated-musical-artists/71930/9 "2001-07-10T14:19:29Z")
U2 - Haven’t been good since the 80s. Madonna - Look at me! I’m still relevant and controversial! Everclear - All their songs sound exactly the same. And what is up with the critical masturbation over “Magnetic Fields?” It sounds like low-fi Crash Test Dummies to me. ---
**Author:** ![mblackwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5fc32e/32.png) [@mblackwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mblackwell)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-overrated-musical-artists/71930/10 "2001-07-10T14:29:22Z")
Rappers, the whole lot of 'em. If they even qualify. Elvis and the Beatles most certainly do _ **NOT** _ suck! ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-overrated-musical-artists/71930/11 "2001-07-10T14:41:06Z")
Jennifer López Backstreet Boys N’Sync New Kids on the Block Nine Inch Nails Guns and Roses Spice Girls Rolling Stones Ricky Martin- He was good, before he started singing in English…Now his songs suck…a lot. Lots more…just a tiny example. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-overrated-musical-artists/71930/12 "2001-07-10T14:42:45Z")
Hmm…How could I forget **ELVIS**??? Yea…I think he is overrated. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-overrated-musical-artists/71930/13 "2001-07-10T15:20:29Z")
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. For the record, I also disagree with the precept that Elvis, the Dead, the Beatles, Pink Floyd, and Sinatra suck. On the other hand I do agree that Streisand and Led Zeppelin suck. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-overrated-musical-artists/71930/14 "2001-07-10T16:09:25Z")
Stick to the game folks! The Smiths: very good band, just over-rated. As for those who opine that Led Zeppelin suck: fiddle around with the progression for Since I’ve Been Loving You for a while – you’ll forgive a lot of bloat. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-overrated-musical-artists/71930/15 "2001-07-10T16:58:34Z")
John Lennon. WAY over-rated. So is McCartney. But put them TOGETHER… and they live up to the hype. ---
**Author:** ![Kittie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Kittie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kittie)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-overrated-musical-artists/71930/16 "2001-07-10T19:56:56Z")
AHH!I can’t believe no one said Sting! The Police were excellent but Sting? Come on now, he’s just plain bad.I also have to agree with Barbra Streisand and U2. The Joshua Tree was a good CD but everything after that was crap…even their videos are starting to look the same. Also Britney, Christina, Mandy and all the other “Pop Divas” need a good kick in the ass. There are a lot more musical artists who are overrated but I don’t want to keep ranting… ~Kittie ---
**Author:** ![Mielikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Mielikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mielikki)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-overrated-musical-artists/71930/17 "2001-07-10T21:06:24Z")
I never liked Neil Young. I’ll allow that he’s probably a fantastic songwriter, but he can’t sing worth a crap. His voice annoys me. Same for Bob Dylan. If you’re gonna sing your poetry, have a decent voice. Is that so much to ask? ---
**Author:** ![Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c67d28/32.png) [@Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weird_AL_Einstein)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-overrated-musical-artists/71930/18 "2001-07-10T22:07:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kittie \* > \*\*AHH!I can’t believe no one said Sting! The Police were excellent but Sting? \*\* You are way understating the case here. Sting’s departure from The Police was a tragedy of the epic proportions of a classic Greek tragedy. The Police were my favorite band once upon a time…Sting I cannot listen to. I agree with the others who have said Elvis, The Beatles, Streisand, Hendrix, Dylan…basically, for me, all the so-called “legendary” artists and bands from the sixties. I see nothing special about any of them. ---
**Author:** ![WEW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8edcca/32.png) [@WEW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WEW)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-overrated-musical-artists/71930/19 "2001-07-10T23:03:26Z")
All Rap Dave Mathewes Band Bob Dylan… great composer, but let someone else sing your songs. I don’t care what anyone says, Dylan sings like a water buffalo in heat. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-overrated-musical-artists/71930/20 "2001-07-11T00:22:55Z")
Stevie Ray Vaugn. He ain’t no Elmore James. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-overrated-musical-artists/71930.md?page=2)