Well, Zamfir is the Master of the pan flute!
Chuck Berry
It’s all about Tom Waits.
Shouldn’t a living legend still be making music of a decent quality? I would disqualify Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis because they only seem to capitalize on what they did 50 years ago.
Guys like Nelson, King, Dylan, Waits and some of the others mentioned are still making music, and to me that counts for a lot.
Bob Dylan or Robert Plant
Absolutely Willie Nelson. I shook his hand once.
Also, my fiancee and I are in total agreement that at our wedding this coming August, our first dance will be to his “Hand’s On the Wheel.”
I was under the impression that George Jones was dead, too. However, a quick Google revealed that he’s alive and touring. In fact, he’s playing at Fan Fair in Nashville tonight.
I think Dylan is a national treasure, although more for his lyrics than his music. Not that his music is bad, it’s just that his words are so great.
My other vote would be for Vanilla Ice.
Yes!!!
I would love to nominate John Denver. Sadly, I can’t.
Tom Waits.
Bruce Springsteen.
Bob Dylan.
Leonard Cohen.
C.C. DeVille.
I’m a tenor sax player myself, and I was lucky enough to see Sonny Rollins perform live (for free!) at an outdoor show in 1998. As if that wasn’t cool enough, John Scofield opened for him! The man is a living legend, one of the great sax players and jazz musicians of all time, without a doubt.
I also saw Bo Diddley about 2 years ago. Absolutely, positively, THE BEST CONCERT I’ve ever seen.
He’s a living legend.
- Peter Wiggen
Yanni
I’ll nominate Emmylou Harris in that category.
Her first album came out in 1970; she carries out the legacy of Gram Parsons; she’s done fabulously collaborative work with Linda Rondstadt and Dolly Parton, and has appeared on damn near everybody’s albums.
That’s not an exaggeration. Here’s a partial list:
The Band
David Bromberg
Garth Brooks
Glen Campbell
Johnny Cash
Tracy Chapman
The Chieftains
Bruce Cockburn
Sheryl Crow
John Denver
Dixie Chicks
Bob Dylan
Steve Earle
Ramblin’ Jack Elliott
Marianne Faithfull
Dan Fogelberg
Steve Goodman
Nanci Griffith
Waylon Jennings
Flaco Jimenez
George Jones
The Judds
Leo Kottke
Lyle Lovett
Kathy Mattea
Delbert McClinton
Kate & Anna McGarrigle
Willie Nelson
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Buck Owens
Bonnie Raitt
Linda Ronstadt
John Sebastian
Ricky Skaggs
Townes Van Zandt
Lucinda Williams
Tammy Wynette
Trisha Yearwood
Neil Young
Warren Zevon
Seriously, I’ve left out several dozen other appearances. She loves making music with other people.
All Music Guide says about her: “With the exception of Neil Young, no other mainstream star established a similarly large body of work as consistently iconoclastic, eclectic, or daring; even more than three decades into her career, Harris’ latter-day music remained as heartfelt, visionary, and vital as her earliest recordings.”
Rodney Crowell and Ricky Skaggs both started their careers as members of her band — or, rather, bands, as she’s had several different groupings over the decades, to the point of giving them different names: The Hot Band, The Nash Ramblers, Spyboy
Yes, indeed. AND she also was involved heavily in the “Down From the Mountain” show featuring many of the performers from the “O Brother, Where Art Thou” soundtrack.
Nominating “Weird Al” Yankovic here. We need something to cheer us up, given the state of the nation these days.
If we pick Dylan, we’ll probably have to pick someone else very soon.
I’d nominate Springsteen, only because he was born on the same date as Ray Charles (September 23rd) and named his daughter Jessica Rae in honor of Ray. Billy Joel named his daugher Alexa Ray for Ray, but he wasn’t born on the same date. And the way he’s drinking and driving, he might not have too longer either.
I can’t ***believe * ** nobody has mentioned Meatloaf!
Well, okay . . . yes I can.
I think B.B. King is probably right. He’s 78, and given the fact that his style has influenced about 50 years worth of guitar players so deeply, he may be the biggest legend going now. He’s still performing, too, and (this may be the big thing) I think he’s more of a mainstream figure than Chuck Berry or Bo Diddley. Some have commented that the younger generation (like me) know who Ray Charles is in part because of the Pepsi commercials and the movies and things like that. I think of his duet with Kermit on It’s Not Easy Being Green. B.B. has had the same kind of crossover; he isn’t just an influence, he became a huge star in his own right.
Barry Manilow
Yeah, I said it! What? He’s had a long career and is still putting out albums and touring. I’d say he qualifies. Although, if he died, I don’t think he’d be called a national treasure. He’s too much of a guilty pleasure for most people.
With Lennon and Harrison gone, I’d then have to go with McCartney. Sorry, Ringo. You’re somewhere after the “Byyyyyy Mennen” singers.
It’s one of the following for me:
Brian Wilson
Bob Dylan
Prince
Damn, I just can’t decide.