7 The 100 Most Influential Musicians of All Time 7in the mid-1950s, Aretha Franklin has used her unprece-
dented vocal talent to stir deep emotions in audiences at
venues as varied and far-reaching as Detroit churches,
Fillmore West in San Francisco, and the 2009 presidential
inauguration of Barack Obama in Washington, D.C.
Millions have bought her albums; millions more have not
only heard but felt the energy of her voice. With songs
such as “Respect,” which she borrowed from Otis Redding
in 1967 and then made her own, she instantly defined the
women’s rights movement, the Civil Rights movement,
and the right of one performer to shout out her soul. A
passionate, perennial performer, it is no wonder that
she has more Top 40 singles than any other female singer.
The great Irish rock band U2 all but defines what it
means to be influential. Bono, the band’s lead singer, is also
cofounder of the grassroots advocacy organization ONE
and a regular contributor to newspapers. Through ONE,
Bono has brought together millions of people committed
to fighting extreme poverty and disease, especially in
Africa. But it is the band’s rock music, which Bono and a
tight-knit group of friends (including David “the Edge”
Evans; Larry Mullen, Jr.; and Adam Clayton) started in
1977, that has the most influence. Beginning with their
first breakthrough album, War, in 1983, and continuing
through How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb in 2004 and No
Line on the Horizon in 2009, U2 has over the years created
music that is so instantly recognizable as theirs, yet also so
innovative and so technologically cutting-edge, that you
are practically compelled to listen. Influential? Certainly.
How so? That is hard to say. In that they have reduced
hunger? In that they have inspired teenagers to pick up
an instrument? Or in the music that has followed their
lead, from one new band to the next, and which clearly
demonstrates a reverence for this celebrity group of
post-punk rock stars.