Welcome to Just About’s very own rock’n’roll hall of fame! Our community has done the impossible: chosen the greatest rock acts of all time, ranging from hard-rock bands to pop-punk heroes and pioneering solo artists. You’ll find the classics here, but you’ll also encounter some surprises. Read on! 

Jimi Hendrix

Was Jimi always going to be on this list? You bet. Few need an introduction to James Marshall ‘Jimi’ Hendrix, who over only a four-year professional career changed the face of rock forever. Instead, we’ll leave you with Stella's words and one of Jimi’s greatest performances: Woodstock 1969.   

“One of the best guitarists of all time. This is a no brainer.”

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Second on our list are the alternative funk-rock gods, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, as nominated by EveOnlineTutorials and Jenna . Their countless albums include influences from punk to psychedelia to hip hop, and yet there’s no mistaking their iconic sound. Here’s what Jenna had to say:  

“One of my favourites! How could you not love them? Every song they’ve ever made is such a vibe.”

Muse 

Combining the melancholic with the falsetto, British rock band Muse has been a bastion of the rock scene since 1994. Never ones to do the same thing twice, each of their albums has a distinctive sound. For Retro Stu, you can’t beat the early stuff: 

“I’m a first-four-album Muse fan, with a particular love for the first two. They were such a big part of my musical upbringing. Showbiz is one of those albums that I credit with saving my life. Then the jump up in complexity to Origin of Symmetry was simply stunning.”

Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd also took pride of place in our greatest rock albums list following a heartfelt nomination from Stella. But it was avrona who argued for their inclusion here, and it’s hard to blame them:

“For me, it has to be Pink Floyd. Every track takes you on a musical journey that I’ve never seen another rock band match. Everything is of such high quality that it feels weird that it was crafted by mere mortal hands.”  

Linkin Park

Nu-metal trailblazers Linkin Park also featured in that list. By bringing together rock and hip hop, they expanded the musical horizons of a generation. Damien Mason is a member of that generation and looks back fondly at their heyday:

“From a legacy standpoint, none have influenced my life more than Linkin Park. It was my gateway into rock. The group was the one band that any clique in high school had in common, bridging otherwise insurmountable differences. I reckon this was mostly thanks to their commercial sound, which was more chart-friendly than the likes of Korn, Limp Bizkit, or even early Papa Roach.”

Bring Me The Horizon

Talking of expanding horizons, Damien Mason submitted another great account of how BMTH evolved to earn their place in rock history: 

“I really couldn’t stand their early deathcore stuff. In fact, I celebrated when they had to pull out of my local show during Kerrang! Tour 2009. As time went on, their style evolved into metalcore (There Is a Hell…), post-hardcore and alternative metal (Sempiternal), alt and pop rock (That’s the Spirit), Electronic rock (Amo), and Nu Metal (Post-Human: Survival Horror). There’s absolutely something for everyone in their portfolio, and they’ve already earned themselves the title of a modern classic with such a monumental impact on the rock scene.

“Parasite Eve is the lead song from Survival Horror, starting with a Bulgarian choir and containing lyrics about the pandemic. What’s more impressive is that this song landed in June 2020, just a few months after everything kicked off. It encapsulates my feelings about that time perfectly and is a great showcase of the band’s experimental style.”

David Bowie

Few artists are held in such high regard for their personalities as well as their art as the late, great David Bowie, hero of the downtrodden and the outcast. Whether it was his attitude to gender norms or the space-age sounds of any number of his timeless hits, Bowie was ahead of his time like no other. Here’s Stella: 

“Bowie created a whole new sound and a whole new expression that encapsulated glam rock.”

Hole 

Often overlooked, Hole’s LA punk-influenced alt rock sold millions of records, making them one of the most successful-ever rock bands fronted by a woman. Their lyrics took no prisoners, dealing with issues of body image, abuse, and sexual exploitation with storming grit and righteous anger. Here’s Stella:

“Despite Courtney Love being a very questionable figure, Hole made so much iconic music while paving the way for [underground feminist punk movement] Riot grrrl.”

Chris Cornell

While we could easily have included Soundgarden or Audioslave on this list, instead we’re going to include their mastermind, vocalist, and rhythm guitarist. Here’s Retro Stu on why everything Chris touched turned to gold: 

“Take literally anything that man did; you can’t go wrong. It took his passing for me to really deep dive into his solo stuff, and wow had I been missing out! An outrageously underappreciated vocalist capable of both high-energy and balladesque tracks. Just a superb musician, through and through.”

Joe Strummer 

Retro Stu also nominated Joe Strummer, another undeniable rock great, known both for his solo albums and his unforgettable work in the two British rock bands The Clash and The Mescaleros.

“He was a huge influence on me for his lyrical and political stylings. You can’t not hear the likes of London Calling, Guns of Brixton, and Rock the Casbah and not want to sing along.”

Rammstein

Berlin-based industrial rockers Rammstein reached their lofty zenith in the ‘00s, but they’ve been creating tracks since 1995 and released their most recent album Zeit in 2022. The last track on that album was called Adieu, leading many to believe that they’ve finally hung up their black leather boots, but there are countless fans like Lanah Tyra hoping that the world has not heard the last of their German Neue Deutsche Härte sound. 

“Rammstein are possibly the only rock band with non-English language songs who made it truly big on the international stage. I love the energy of their songs, and their concerts always bring something special, for example: ‘cooking’ one of the band members in a huge cauldron or crowd surfing in a giant inflatable boat.”

Metallica

Also coming in on the heavier side of the rock scene is Metallica, as nominated by lifelong fan FUN INC for whom no other band screams to his soul in the same way: 

“They've voiced the soundtrack of my life for the best part of the last 35 years. I’ve seen them 40-odd times, followed them around Europe, and met them. They are without a shadow of a doubt the band that means the most to me. Hell, I even played their songs at my wedding - although granted it was a string quartet version. 

“They have been the one constant in my life for as long as I can remember. They deliver on every level, and I can always rely on them to help me through a tough day, help me relax, or excite me.”

Breaking Benjamin

Pennsylvanian rock band Breaking Benjamin are another example of a band that’s difficult to tie to a single subgenre. Their songs have touched on genres as diverse as hip hop and country. Damien Mason argues that they’ve more than earned their place in rock canon. 

“While not quite as impactful as Foo Fighters, these lads pushed post-grunge into a more melodic era. Benjamin Burnley’s voice flits between angelic and harsh in a similar way to Maynard James Keenan (specifically in A Perfect Circle). It’s a band I can’t help but sing along to, preferably completely alone because I don’t have the pipes to pull it off.”

Nickelback

Some gatekeepers of rock might scoff at Nickelback’s inclusion in any ‘best of’ list, but you can’t deny their commercial success, their influence (for better or worse) or, if you’re being totally honest with yourself, their ability to write irresistibly catchy radio-friendly rock songs. As proof, they were one of the most-nominated acts in our original bounty, with EveOnlineTutorials, Jenna, and Lanah all making strong cases for shutting down the haters and embracing Nickelback’s singable, anthemic catalogue. First up, here’s Jenna: 

“They’re a really great band! You can’t tell me you’ve never jammed out to a Nickelback song!”

And here’s Lanah: 

“I never understood the hate. They have some bangers, and all their live shows I’ve been to have been great!”

Finally, over to EveOnlineTutorials: 

“Number one on my list is Nickelback. I love these guys, and their success speaks for itself. My personal favourite is How You Remind Me.”

Evanescence

Evanescence’s music combines the defiant with the fragile. They’ve never been afraid to wear their hearts on their sleeves, with vocals and lyrics that portray vulnerability while raging against misogyny and the world’s inadequacies. Amy Lee’s high tones matured to warmer timbres in the band’s later years yet never lost their instantly identifiable sound. Over to Jenna:

“Evanescence is on the heavier side of rock, but they rock nonetheless. Vocalist Amy Lee is one of few female rock artists that everyone loves.”

Blink-182

Another noughties band starring in our best rock albums article, pop-punk titans Blink-182 had eighties and nineties kids na-na-na-na-ing from the skate park to the rock show with their selection of beloved earworms. Whether or not they inspired Just About’s feed filters, we’ll leave you to decide...

Here’s EveOnlineTutorials with a point many of us can relate to:

“Blink-182, of course! They’re a link to my college days. An amazing band who will forever be one of my most emotional connections to music.” 

Nightwish

Next up is Nightwish, a symphonic Finnish band that have been rocking keyboard-heavy metal since 1996. They combine gothic opera with emotional power ballads and some of the most hardcore keyboard solos ever to grace the world. Over to Lanah:

“One of the first symphonic metal bands with a female singer - who was trained in opera - Nightwish blazed a trail that many others followed. Despite the band-member changes over the years, Nightwish is still going strong and puts on a spectacular stage show." 

David Ford 

Next up we have a rock great that not everyone will have heard of, something that Retro Stu describes as a “crime”. This is why:  

“Starting off in the late nineties with British indie rock band Easyworld, David moved onto solo stuff after the band’s two albums. What he went on to create is nothing short of spectacular. He became a real troubadour, taking up any instrument he could to work with loop pedals, to weave narratives inspired by the Americana he had grown to love, and to sow tales of love and loss and everything in between. If you want a good starting point you can’t go wrong with State of the Union.”

Starset

Our penultimate rock great also isn’t super well-known. But after reading Damien Mason’s compelling advocacy of them, we suspect a few more people are going to get closely acquainted: 

“Born from the same post-grunge foundations as Breaking Benjamin, Starset thread their style with electronic and sci-fi influences. As they’ve progressed, they’ve evolved a cleaner synth-based sound with a higher production value. Regardless of the album though, they’re my favourite band of all time. They show that there are still plenty of signature sounds left to discover, which is shocking after 70+ years of rock. There’s quite simply no one out there like them.

“Dubbing themselves Science Rock, they’re somewhat the antithesis to Christian Rock. They’ve nothing against their faith-based counterparts, but enjoy preaching about the advancement and potential detriment of technology. Beyond the music, they pioneered the Starset Society, a fictional organisation which talks about real-world issues like the rise of AI and how it can impact us. It also serves as the fictional backstory to each album.

“This bleeds into a lot of lead singer Dustin Bates’ work. When MNQN (pronounced mannequin) debuted in 2019, he claimed it was not his voice behind the work, but that an AI had taken recordings and replicated his likeness. The entire project was glitchy, somewhat inhuman, and fascinated me to no end. At the very least, it was years ahead of its time now that AI is kicking off properly.”

Queen

Last but furthest from least as is possible, we have the band most nominated by our Just About Music community: the indomitable, sensational, unstoppable Queen. Here are a few words from our community members before we leave you with Sturmer's review. 

“It’s what everyone wanted to hear.” - Jenna

“Freddie! What a character, he oozed charisma and had the voice to beat all voices” - Retro Stu

“The whole band created something so different and unique. They created something that I can only describe with the title of one of my favourite songs of theirs: A Kind of Magic.” Lanah Tyra

Now over to Sturmer:

“This iconic singer-songwriter and his band didn’t just perform; they revolutionised rock, bringing it to the masses. The legacy that Queen and Freddie Mercury have left behind is colossal, and even in 2024, we see their songs are constantly used in TV shows and movies, and their tracks are still being remixed for modern parties, which is remarkable considering Freddie has been gone for 32 years.

“Their global reach is such that there is scarcely anyone on the planet who hasn't heard their songs. Freddie Mercury’s dynamic stage presence coupled with Queen’s innovative approach to rock ensured that their music wasn’t just heard; it was experienced. This band didn’t just create songs; they created anthems that transcended generations.

Playlist recommendations

Fancy getting into a few of these brilliant artists but not sure where to start? We ran a follow-up bounty looking for song and playlist recommendations based on the above - your very own personal on-ramp to our list of the 20 greatest rock artists of all time. Check it out next:

And there they are, the 20 greatest rock artists of all time. Or are they? If you’re dissatisfied that Foo Fighters, System of a Down, Zeppelin, Nirvana, or anyone else was left out, share your recommendation in the comments below! Or if you agree with our music community’s take, check out our list of the eight greatest rock albums next instead. 

Some text has been amended for brevity. You can find the original wording at the bounty post. Cover image credit: westphotoandvideo