Personally? Mercury. Objectively? Jagger.
Most of the answers in this thread have been the lead singers for famous rock bands, but the OP specified solo acts. So that rules out Morrison and Mercury and Bono, and although Mick Jagger has had a solo career that’s not what he’s primarily known for. I think John Lennon had greater success as a solo act that Jagger ever has, but again he’s most famous for being in The Beatles.
In the US I’d say it probably is Springsteen, unless you define “rock star” broadly enough to include Michael Jackson in which case it would be him. In the UK David Bowie or Elton John might qualify as #2, but although both are quite famous in the US I don’t think either is more respected or beloved than Bruce Springsteen. However, either one would make for a better Halloween costume.
I don’t think she’d make even #3, but under a broad definition of “rock” then Madonna would rank quite high in the US. I’d put her well ahead of Bowie and Elton John in terms of popularity and fame, although not as high with regard to respect or musical talent. She is a better dancer, though.
Rock Star is not a title that springs to mind when I think of Michael Jackson either…
Pop sensation or music superstar, fine, but NOT a rock star.
I think he meant to type Barry Manilow.
Mick Jagger pretty much created the image of modern day rock star (You could make a case for Eric Burdon, but he never had Jagger’s charisma). Elvis may be the King, but he’s just part of a long list of singers (you can hear a lot of Bing Crosby and Dean Martin in his delivery). Jagger was something new – more blatantly sexual* and much more the image that most people have of a rock star.
Elvis and Jackson are both bigger, but Jagger was the first actual rock star, and hasn’t be surpassed.
*And, no, they didn’t ban Elvis’s pelvis from Ed Sullivan. His dancing had already been seen on the air, but in the case of the Sullivan show, during rehearsals, Elvis kept putting a beer bottle in his crotch as a joke, even when he was told not to. The producers couldn’t let him do it live, so they shot him above the waist.
I’ve never heard the beer-bottle-in-the-crotch part!
They never listen!
Interestingly, I’ve read somewhere that the band considered themselves more of a pop band than rock. In fact, IIRC some feel they are the inventors of the pop genre. I’d give that honor to Bowie, but I get the point. But because the Beatles were so many things, at times, they were not rock.
I’d say Michael Jackson - he did sing dance music most of the time but he also did songs like ‘Beat It’, ‘Dirty Diana’, ‘Give In To Me’. If a musician who was primarily rock had sung those songs people wouldn’t hesitate to call them rock songs by a rock star.
Having said that I can understand that he did mostly sing pop and so my alternate choice is Freddie Mercury, although he was almost as versatile as Michael when it came to genre.
I’ve gotta go with Elton John for number one, at least in terms of musicality, showmanship and coming up with hit after hit through decades of changing musical styles. The guy’s first seven albums went to number one, he’s had 56 top 40 singles, won five Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe award and a Tony award, and sold over 250 million records. He’s an absolutely brilliant musician, songwriter and performer, and, IIRC, scored a Top 40 hit every year for thirty-five years and even today tours constantly and sells out huge venues all over the world. And he has managed all that with a lot more competition and through many more changes in musical style than Elvis ever faced.
Don’t get me wrong: Elvis was great. He was undoubtedly the first great rock star, and in terms of raw sex appeal I think he was far and away the greatest.
But his hit-making career was rather short-lived - largely fizzling out in less than a decade (helped in no small part by the British Invasion, admittedly), though he did score another hit in 1968 with In The Ghetto - and once he started making movies a fair amount of his music was schlock. His songs, while popular, were no great shakes musicially. In my opinion, by the time he died Elvis’ career as a “rock star” - in any meaningful sense of the word - was long over. And yet by the time Elton was ten years into his career, he was only just beginning to see his work struggle to hit number one.
So I’d have to go with Elton as number one in terms of musicality and showmanship (which to me is what the term “rock star” should mean), but Elvis if we’re going to define greatness as a rock star primarily in terms of sex appeal.
(And I’d disagree that piano guys can’t really be rock stars. Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard pulled it off, and Elton fits right in with those guys. Cite I do agree though that “rock star” is probably not the right term for Billy Joel.)
No love for Billy Joel? Sad.
List of best selling music artists:
- Beatles
- Elvis
- MJ
By Billboard Top 40 charts:
3. Elvis
4. Elton John
(Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra are 1 and 2.)
US Rock chart (ibid):
Bob Dylan and John Fogarty, tied for #1.
#1 hits (ibid):
3. Mariah Carey
4. Elvis
5. MJ
6. Madonna
- Mariah Carey
- Whitney Houston, Elton John, Mariah Carey
Most weeks in top 10 (ibid):
- Leann Rimes
- Jewel
- Chubby Checkers
Most Hot 100 entries (ibid)
- Elvis
- James Brown
- Aretha Franklin
Imho, #1 and #2 will always be Elvis vs. The Beatles, just like Pulp Fiction. MJ’s songs were built primarily for concerts and dancing, but if we went with male, singles artists only, MJ would be #2 (assuming here that you don’t want your son to dress as Mariah Carey.)
No, I think there’s lots of love for him. He’s just not a rock star. 
I’d rank Jimi Hendrix pretty high, especially when it comes to respect and talent. His name is practically synonymous with “great guitar player”, as in “Sorry dude, but you’re no Hendrix.” Aside from being considered one of the best rock guitarists ever, Hendix is well regarded as a singer and songwriter and was also well-known for his showmanship and style of dress, so that’s high marks in the major rock star subjects.
On the other hand, Hendrix was never as popular as many of the other artists mentioned in this thread. Looking at Wikipedia, I see he had only one Top 40 single in the US (“All Along the Watchtower” went to #20), and although his albums did much better in the charts his biggest seller (Are You Experienced) is “only” certified as 4x platinum in the US. Which is millions more copies than most artists ever sell, but only about 1/4 the sales of Springsteen’s most popular album, Born in the US. Springsteen also had a couple of other albums that outsold Are You Experienced. Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road also outsold Are You Experienced in the US.
As for fame, it’s my impression that although any rock fan would know who Jimi Hendrix was, he’s not all that well-known among people who aren’t rock fans. This isn’t to say that he’s an obscure figure, but it wouldn’t surprise me if a lot of preadolescent kids or adults who only listen to classical music or country or whatever were vague as to exactly who Jimi Hendrix was. I’d expect such people to know who Elvis was, but not Hendrix. I’d guess that in a poll of say Rolling Stone readers Hendrix would rank very high on the list of greatest rock stars, but he’d probably come in lower in a poll of the general public.
I might recognize Hendrix to hear him, but I don’t think I’d recognize a picture of him. His musical talent can’t be denied, but I don’t think he had the same sort of overall showmanship that Elvis did.
Quoth Lamia:
She’s in the same category as Michael Jackson is (and I’ll let others debate whether that’s “rock” or not), but I might even put her ahead of him. Certainly, she stayed relevant for longer than he did, and she tended to generate a lot more buzz for her art than him (Jackson generated plenty of buzz, of course, but it was mostly from his crazy private life).
For this Hallowe’en, dress your son up as Janis Joplin.
That should make the holiday traumatically memorable.
Clapton. For longevity, versatility, instrument virtuosity, singing and songwriting ability, and ability to put asses in seats for several decades.
Interesting, but not completely relevant. The category is Rock Star, which is all about persona – and Jagger wins that category hands down. As someone noted above, he invented the damn category.
I think that’s the problem with this thread. The OP specifically excluded 90% of the candidates. How many ROCK stars are solo acts? Very few. And most of those aren’t that great. The whole genre of rock is geared around bands, not solo acts. It’s silly to insist on a solo performer. That’s why he’ll have to settle for a front man.
- Elvis
- John Lennon
- Mick Jagger (unfortunately)
- Jim Morrison
There, you have the next few Halloweens planned.
Couple points:
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If it is persona first, Elvis wouldn’t be #1. He didn’t go wild until his Las Vegas karate demonstrations, which was the last 10 years of his career. In the first 20 years, he would be considered, by Jaggar standards, a Bee Gee at best, or Gidget at worst.
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The OP also excluded group frontmen, which would exclude Jaggar.
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If it is only about persona, there’s been a number of wrestlers in the WWE/F that would qualify, e.g. the Honky-Tonk Man, Jeff Jarrett, etc.
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I would argue that the acts that defined the “rock star” started in the 50’s, including Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Haley and the Comets, etc.
What I’m noticing in this thread is a clear bias towards 70’s acts, which could reflect the age of the posters. (Interestingly, there is consensus that Elvis is #1.)
WTF, Michael Jackson!? You may as well say Madonna.
Jagger and/or Hendrix, Morrison, Mercury, Clapton all the way and with ease.