My very incomplete list of seminal or near seminal artists (glaring omissions and questionable inclusions as well):
James Brown, Elvis Costello, Miles Davis, Brian Eno, Marvin Gaye, Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, Kraftwerk, Led Zeppelin, Bob Marley, Toots & the Maytals, Skatalites, Lee Perry, Thelonious Monk, Parliament/ Funkadelics, Prince, Tito Puente, Machito, Max Roach, Santana, U2, Charlie Mingus, Clifford Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Throbbing Gristle, Edgar Varése, Charles Ives, Harry Partch, Moondog, Sun Ra, Captain Beefheart, Wu-Tang Clan, Public Enemy, NWA, Run-DMC, Rakim, KRS-One, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Blue Oyster Cult, The Kinks, Beach Boys, The Byrds, Neil Young, Pearl Jam, Donna Summer, Sylvester, Giorgio Moroder, K.C. and The Sunshine Band, Nine Inch Nails, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Cream, Blondie, Patti Smith, Sam Cooke, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bauhaus, The Cure, Siouxie and The Banshees, Public Image Ltd., Sonic Youth, Lenny Bruce, Last Poets, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, John Coltrane, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Velvet Underground, Roxy Music, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Van Morrison, Nirvana, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holliday, Sarah Vaughan, Cole Porter, Noel Coward, Love, Moby Grape, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Cheap Trick, Raspberries, Flaming Groovies, Jonathan Richman, Mission of Burma, Replacements, Big Black, New York Dolls, Otis Redding, PJ Harvey, Alanis Morrisette, Minutemen, Black Flag, Jesus Lizard, Butthole Surfers, Fugazi, Minor Threat, Einsturzende Neubauten, The Birthday Party/Nick Cave, Cabaret Voltaire, Hüsker Dü, Can, Tangerine Dream, Hawkwind, Ravi Shankar, Youssou NDour, Fela Kuti, Ali Akbar Khan, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, The Stooges, MC5, Todd Rundgren, Stereolab, Luna, Mercury Rev, My Bloody Valentine, Julian Cope, They Might Be Giants, John Martyn, Leo Kotke, John Fahey, Sandy Bull, Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake, Woody Guthrie, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, B. B. King, Elmore James, Art Tatum, Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner, Django Reinhardt, Oscar Peterson, Erroll Garner, Gil Evans, Metallica, John Prine, Tim Buckley, Dar Williams, Christine Lavin, Iris DeMent, Lucinda Williams, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Leadbelly, Bessie Smith, Dr. John, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, Neville Brothers, Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, Klezmatics, Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly, Rogers & Hart (or) Hammerstein, Kander & Ebb, Carole King, Phil Spector, Leonard Cohen, Henry Miller, Charles Bukowski, Arnold Schoenberg, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Stravinsky ,John Cage, Ludwig Van Beethoven, The Rolling Stones, John Lennon, Pearl Jam, J.S. Bach, Don Drummond, Burt Bacharach, Paquito D'Rivera, Johnny Ventura, Juan Luis Guerra, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Gil Scott Heron, Cheb Khaled, Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd, Doc Watson, Monroe Brothers, Flatt and Scruggs, Erik Satie, Alban Berg, Art Ensemble of Chicago, World Saxophone Quartet, Rova Saxophone Quartet, Kronos Quartet, Leonard Bernstein, Townes Van Zandt, Fred Neil, Jimmy Webb, John Zorn, Eugene Chadbourne, Fred Firth, Robert Fripp and King Crimson, Henry Kaiser, Adrian Belew, Ry Cooder, Irakere, Beastie Boys, Skeleton Key, Soul Coughing, Ray Lema, Salif Keita, Manu Dibango, Lee Morgan, Baaba Maal, Papa Wemba, Tabu Ley Rochereau, Hugh Masakela, Miriam Makeba, Astor Piazzolla, Paco DeLucia, Ketama, Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Joao Gilberto, Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethania, Cesaria Evora, Susanna Baca, Oum Khalsoum, Simon Shaheen, Rachid Taha, Kaasav, Boukmans Eksperiens, Incredible String Band, Richard Thompson, Pentangle, Eurythmics, Bill Laswell & Material, Arto Lindsay, John McLaughlin, Allan Holdsworth, Fadela, Bill Frissell, Iannis Xenakis, Nikos Theodorakis, Phil Ochs, Nina Simone, King Sunny Ade, The Specials, The Police, Peter Gabriel, The Band, David Byrne/Talking Heads, Jeff Beck, The Yardbirds, Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Benny Goodman, The Allman Brothers, Soundgarden, Underworld, Banco De Gaia, Chemical Brothers, Fat Boy Slim, Tori Amos, Indigo Girls, REM, Live, Ramones, Television, Killing Joke, Henryk Gorecki, Arvo Part, Phllip Glass, Steve Reich, LaMonte Young, John Cale, Terry Riley, Sapho, Loreena McKennitt, Clifford Brown, Nat King Cole, Kate Bush, Joy Division, Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss, Maurice Ravel, Chopin, Liszt, Brahms, the Gyuto Tibetan Buddhist Monks, Joujouka Pan Pipers, The Doors, Cheap Trick, Bud Powell, Primus, The Clash, Glenn Miller Orchestra, Elliot Murphy, Edith Piaf, Serge Gainsbourg, Jacques Brel, Louis Armstrong, Tony Bennett, The Yardbirds, Peter Gabriel, Sam Cooke, Smoky Robinson & The Miracles, The Supremes and The Jackson 5
