Evan Sale, Campus Carrier Sports Editor
Music is something that is constantly changing and evolving into new styles and sounds. I remember being a little boy and growing up listening to the music that my parents would play in the car. Their music range was all over the place. My mom listened to the radio hits of the early 2000s, while my dad threw it back to the 80s, playing some tunes that sound like they were out of an indie movie.
From a young age I’ve always connected with music, and it is something that I have found a burning passion for as long as I can remember. I’ve always had an open ear to listen to new music, and I am constantly designing playlists from a variety of different genres, but I have a list of musicians who are the most influential of all time to me.
To start off the list, there are multiple musicians that are near and dear to me for specific reasons, but I wouldn’t call them the most influential. This list consists of artists that I believe that have changed music as we know it.
Someone who has undoubtedly made his mark in the music industry is the late, great Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix started playing guitar in bands at a young age and as soon as he moved to London, he became a star. He created multiple hits and his guitar playing was so unorthodox, yet so clean, that it lands him on the list as someone who came in and changed music as we know it.
On this list from the same era is Jim Morrison, frontman of The Doors. Morrison created a sound that was eerie and dark, yet light and poetic at the same time. Known for his incredible poetic lyrics and his wild stage antics, Morrison has gone down in history as one of the greatest frontmen in rock history. His music can make you want to go sleep, or it can make you want to go run a marathon.
A woman who has been a huge contributor to music and women everywhere is Aretha Franklin. I may be slightly biased because she hails from my hometown of Detroit, Mich., but there is no denying her effect in the world of music. The Queen of Motown was someone who overcame adversity and released music for people of all races during a time of hatred and racism in America.
To conclude my list, the most influential musician of all time, in my opinion, is Bob Dylan. Between his music and his words, Dylan has done so much for music. He has been known as a vigilante, an outlaw and most notably a poet. He received the Nobel Prize in literature in 2016. He changed the face of music by venturing in multiple different genres. From folk to country to rock, Dylan is a man who can do it all. Even in his old age he is still touring and continuing to change and warp music.
There are plenty of people who I left off this list, but I believe that that these people are the ones who have created a sound, changed a sound, made a sound unique and paved the way for a variety of different musicians.