Hear Dion and Paul Simon’s ‘Song for Sam Cooke (Here in America)’
by Corey IrwinDion has unveiled his new collaboration with Paul Simon, “Song for Sam Cooke (Here in America).”
“At first, I just had the melody and the refrain ‘Here in America,’” Dion explained in a conversation with American Songwriter. “A friend suggested I use an episode from my memoir about walking southern streets with Sam Cooke in 1962. It’s a good story, a true story."
Dion’s lyrics tell of his experience with Cooke during a visit to the South. “Sam and I went to see James Brown in 1962,” the singer explained. “People were getting on my case. Sam brought me to some soul dive, a nightclub in the hood. And he told people, `Dion’s with me. Cool out.’"
The experience stuck with Dion for decades. “He stood up for me. He was a good guy. I miss him,” the singer recalled of Cooke, who was shot and killed in 1964.
After initially finishing the song many years ago, Dion put it on the shelf, deeming the subject too personal for public release. The singer revisited the track in 2019 after being inspired by an Academy Award winning film.
“I saw the movie Green Book and after that, I couldn’t shake the song. I thought, `Hey, they almost wrote a movie about my song.’ I loved the movie so much that I thought I’d better take that song out to see it if works. And it did. It actually did.”
Dion then sought the input of his friend and regular collaborator, Simon.
“When I first played it for Paul, he saw it like I saw it,” Dion noted. “He didn’t see it as a song which is purely about racism in America. He saw it as a song of brotherhood and understanding. Because I was telling him that Sam Cooke took care of me in the South. Paul said he wanted to record what he was hearing on the tune.”
The result is an earnest song about race relations and personal strength. “I think Paul really helped it,” Dion confessed. “He embellished it beautifully. He elevated it and made it something sublime.”
Listen to “Song for Sam Cooke (Here in America)” below.
Dion’s new album, Blues with Friends, will be released June 5. In addition to his collaboration with Simon, the LP features Dion joining forces with such vaunted artists as Bruce Springsteen, Billy Gibbons, Van Morrison and Jeff Beck.
Top 100 Classic Rock Artists
100: Scorpions
Scorpions built toward success for more than a decade, switching members until they finally found the right hard-rock mix on hits like "No One Like You," "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and "Wind of Change." Later, after their chart run slowed, Scorpions considered retirement. But they ultimately decided to keep going and quickly notched another Top 40 U.K. hit with 2015's 'Return to Forever.'
99: Ronnie James Dio
Early stints in roots bands led to Elf, which in turn led to Rainbow and ultimately got Ronnie James Dio a gig with Black Sabbath. He didn't step out on his own until 1983. A quick pair of platinum releases followed, as did later reunions with Black Sabbath, before Dio succumbed to stomach cancer in 2010.
98: Billy Idol
No one this side of Duran Duran benefited more from the iconography of MTV, but Billy Idol was actually from a previous generation, having formed the punk band Generation X back in 1976. Still, Idol knew how to leverage the new medium by expanding upon those punk roots with hooky pop, Steve Stevens' scorching guitar and some souped-up dance beats. Million-selling albums like 'Rebel Yell' and 'Whiplash Smile' quickly followed.
97: Jeff Beck
Though Jeff Beck possessed the talent to equal any of the other guitar gods that emerged from the '60s, he didn't have the attention span. That made for eye-popping left turns as Beck swerved from jazz and fusion to metal and pop rock. He found mainstream success with Rod Stewart early on, then again with a pair of mid-'70s projects, before scoring his second-highest U.K. chart position ever with 2010's 'Emotion & Commotion.' In between was a brilliantly idiosyncratic smorgasbord.
96: Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stevie Ray Vaughan's nexus-point style of playing – part Jimi Hendrix, part jazz, part Albert King – would have made him a star in any era. Coming of age as he did in the '80s, however, put him in a unique position. He was able to revive interest in the blues as he reacquainted synth-focused early MTV-era music fans with the depth and power of the electric guitar.
95: Blue Oyster Cult
Perhaps the most literary of hard rock groups, Blue Oyster Cult were co-founded by future rock critics Sandy Pearlman and Richard Meltzer. Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser, Eric Bloom and Allen Lanier helped shape their sound, which ran to brain-melting jams, heavy riffs and fantasy/sci-fi lyrics on favorites like "(Don't Fear) The Reaper," "Godzilla" and "Burnin' for You." Lanier left in 2007 and died in 2013.
94: Traffic
Traffic began as a highly collaborative group, with soon-to-depart Dave Mason as a songwriting centerpiece. The band then basically became a vehicle for Steve Winwood as they blended rock and jazz in exciting new ways.
93: Thin Lizzy
Led by the charismatic, working-class poet Phil Lynott, Thin Lizzy scored a timeless hit with "The Boys Are Back in Town" but remained largely underappreciated for their other work. Dig deeper, and there are hard-rocking salvos that aspire to – and usually achieve – the storytelling genius of inspirations like Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.
92: The James Gang
A tough American power trio in the mold of Cream, the James Gang might have had a far higher profile if they could have kept a lineup together. A stunning 15 different versions of the band existed between 1966-77 – with Joe Walsh and Tommy Bolin stopping by along the way. Both guitarists went on to wider fame, but only after joining the Eagles and Deep Purple, respectively.
91: Chicago
Long before they were one of the '80s' best-known group of balladeers, Chicago dashed to the forefront of a turn-of-the-'70s movement that blended jazz freedoms with rock's attitude. And they were wildly prolific, issuing multi-disc sets for each of their first four albums. By their 10th, however, Peter Cetera had scored an easy-listening No. 1 hit with 1976's "If You Leave Me Now," and the band moved into a new direction.
90: Peter Frampton
Former Humble Pie standout Peter Frampton's fame has remained centered on his breakout 1976 concert recording 'Frampton Comes Alive,' an eight-times platinum juggernaut that spun off his first trio of solo Top 20 hits. But he also had two gold-sellers and another platinum studio effort during the same period, making him one of the mid-'70s' biggest stars. Sadly, Frampton never again reached those commercial plateaus, though he continued to put out overlooked gems like 2006's 'Fingerprints,' which stalled at No. 129 but earned a well-deserved Grammy.
89: Motorhead
Lemmy Kilmister was Motorhead, a fact made obvious by their disbandment upon his sudden death in 2015. Lineups changed, but they all revolved around him. Just as consistent as Kilmister was Motorhead's commitment to lightning-fast, punky metal – a new variant on an ageless theme that helped spark entire new genres like thrash in the decade after the band's birth.
88: The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues were another in a long line of R&B-influenced British pop groups when they hit upon the idea of combining classical and rock styles. 'Days of Future Passed,' boasting the hit "Nights in White Satin," helped to establish a new art-rock genre. Later, after a lengthy hiatus, they emerged on the leading edge of the prog-pop movement of the early '80s.
87: Emerson, Lake and Palmer
In an era of out-sized progressive-rock ambition, no band was more out-sized than Emerson, Lake and Palmer. That gutsy bombast matched the emerging sound of heavy metal stride for stride, and this multi-talented supergroup began filling similarly sized venues. But as interest in prog faded into the late '70s, so did ELP. A few reunions followed, but they hadn't played together in almost six years when Keith Emerson died in 2016.
86: Ted Nugent
One of rock's most iconoclastic figures, Ted Nugent has often been more famous for his personal and political views than his music in recent years. But he remains a signature arena-rock composer, and a dynamic onstage performer – to say nothing of his long-acclaimed guitar-slinging talents.
85: John Fogerty
Creedence Clearwater Revival seemed to burn too brightly, falling apart after a sudden burst of brilliance. The fact that leader John Fogerty's solo career took so long to gain altitude only bolstered that shooting-star argument. Turns out he was ensnared in a difficult legal fight and, once he got free, Fogerty began reeling off music that showed he'd lost none of the roots-rocking gumption associated with his old band.
84: Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Bachman-Turner Overdrive, founded by Fred Turner and ex-Guess Who member Randy Bachman, were at the peak of their powers for only a short while in the early '70s. Still, they made quite the impression with 'Bachman-Turner Overdrive II' (featuring "Takin' Care of Business") and 'Not Fragile' (highlighted by "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet"). Bachman left after 1977's 'Freeways,' and later returned, as the band continued in various configurations without the same chart success. Later, BTO's principal members worked simply as Bachman & Turner.
83: Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr's former Beatles bandmate George Harrison got lots of attention for a fast solo start, but the drummer wasn't too shabby either. He'd already scored four top U.K. singles before 1973. By the next year, he added a gold album to the 1973's platinum-selling 'Ringo.' Starr's commercial fortunes faded for a while, but by the late '80s he'd rebounded with his well-received ongoing tours as leader of the All-Starr Band.
82: Don Henley
Don Henley spent the '80s building a solo career that made good on his legacy-building hits with the Eagles. He debuted with the Top 10 1982 hit "Dirty Laundry," then saw subsequent albums go triple platinum (1984's 'Building the Perfect Beast') and six-times platinum (1989's 'End of the Innocence'). An Eagles reunion kept Henley busy until he returned with the million-selling 2000 release 'Inside Job' and, much later, a 2015 return to country music titled 'Cass County,' named after the area where he grew up in Texas.
81: Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi's overnight success with 1986's pop-metal classic 'Slippery When Wet' had actually taken a few years. They had a Top 40 hit from a self-titled debut two years before, then released a gold-selling sophomore project, '7800° Fahrenheit.' Everything clicked on that next album, though, and Bon Jovi stayed true to that formula with the blockbuster follow-up 'New Jersey.' Bon Jovi lost a few faces along the way, but still saw albums like 2000's 'Crush' go multi-platinum.
80: Faces
The short-lived Faces initially found balance between the gruff howl of Rod Stewart and the steady eclecticism of Ronnie Lane. Eventually, however, the Faces simply fell by the wayside as Stewart's star rose. Lane left, after just four deeply influential, fantastically sloppy roots-rocking albums, sending the rest of the Faces scattering to the Rolling Stones, the Who and solo work.
79: Bad Company
Bad Company made good on the promise of combining members of Free, Mott the Hoople and King Crimson. That original lineup didn't last a decade, but they had plenty of quick success – selling more than 14 million albums in the U.S alone. Stints with singers Brian Howe and Robert Hart followed before Bad Company later reunited with original singer Paul Rodgers.
78: Phil Collins
Phil Collins' huge solo success belies his humble beginnings as a frontman, when Genesis turned to their drummer only after auditioning a series of others to replace Peter Gabriel. Six years later, Collins began a concurrent solo career that got underway with five straight platinum-selling smash albums. They found him moving far from his initial prog-focused work with Genesis, though Collins' main group later became more pop-oriented too.
77: Sammy Hagar
Sammy Hagar carved out his solo career among celebrated stints in Montrose, HSAS, Van Halen and Chickenfoot. He'd already scored two platinum albums before ever hooking up with Eddie Van Halen. He added another gold-selling solo album while still with Van Halen, and three more Top 40 LPs since. His best-known solo songs include "Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy," "I Can't Drive 55" and "Give to Live."
76: Motley Crue
Motley Crue took Kiss' out-sized theatrics and retooled them for a new era, blending pop hooks and over-the-top raunchiness to create the decade's most popular hard-rock sound. MTV did the rest, as Motley Crue took excess to new levels into the '90s. A couple of lineup changes later, the reunited group bid farewell to the road in 2015 with an enormous final tour.
75: Joe Walsh
One of the more surprising developments of the '70s found Joe Walsh – the funny firebrand of the James Gang – joining the country-rocking Eagles just before 1976's 'Hotel California.' Fans needn't have worried, however, as he scuffed up their sound while continuing to issue party-rock records like "Rocky Mountain Way," a Top 40 hit single in 1973.
74: Electric Light Orchestra
An early mantra to "pick up where 'I Am the Walrus' left off" led the Electric Light Orchestra to a tasty combination of ornate pop and classical styles. Jeff Lynne ultimately emerged from a core group of co-founders, leading the band to 15 Top 20 songs during their heyday. He later became a sought-after producer, while overseeing the occasional new ELO project.
73: Dire Straits
Dire Straits were the embodiment of quitting while you're ahead. Blessed with an affinity for both pub and prog rock, and a melancholy bard in Mark Knopfler, the band had put out four albums before releasing 1985's nine-times platinum 'Brothers in Arms' and breaking up. Some six years later, they got together for one more platinum album, then called it quits for good.
72: Buffalo Springfield
Active for a matter of months between 1967-68, Buffalo Sprinfield made the most of it – essentially creating the California sound that blended country, folk and rock. Bursting with talent, they released three albums, and a breakout hit single in "For What It's Worth," before breaking apart into several great bands including Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Loggins and Messina, Poco and various solo acts.
71: Foreigner
For a period between 1977-87, Foreigner could do almost no musical wrong. They reeled off nine Top 10 singles, and six straight platinum albums. After that, singer Lou Gramm began and on-again, off-again relationship with the band, and Foreigner struggled to regain their footing. It wasn't until the Kelly Hansen-fronted edition released 2009's 'Can't Slow Down' that Foreigner finally returned to the Top 40.
70: Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull emerged with their own quirky brand of prog rock in a period that saw much competition. Leader Ian Anderson's impish literary sensibility combined with his flights of fancy on the flute to give Tull a singularly folk-inspired feel. But there was always more to the group -- from the blues-tinged early sides to a turn to harder-rock sounds after the '70s peak.
69: Lou Reed
Lou Reed had almost as many personas as David Bowie, shifting from glam to junkie rocker to the avant-garde to kinky poet seemingly at will. His attention to detail made him a favorite among the literary types; his brutal honesty drew in those who would later create a framework for punk. A list of his collaborators (which include everyone from former Velvet Underground bandmate John Cale to Bowie to members of Alice Cooper's band to Metallica) tells the tale of his sweeping vision, and his sweeping influence.
68: The Doobie Brothers
Whether it's Tom Johnston's early boogie rock or Michael McDonald's later soulful pop, the Doobie Brothers owned part of the '70s. They fashioned eight Top 20 Billboard hits, including two No. 1s, in that decade alone. A split followed, but they've since reformed with a focus on the Doobie Brothers' original sound with Johnston.
67: Robert Plant
Though he's occasionally touched on what came before, Robert Plant more often has ventured well away from the hard-rock glories that hurtled him to fame with Led Zeppelin. That's made for one of the most interesting solo careers, as Plant veered into synth-pop, classic oldies, bluegrass and world music, among others.
66: Peter Gabriel
How else could the idiosyncratic Peter Gabriel begin his solo career away from Genesis than with four straight self-titled albums? Each one was hardly a repeat of what came before, and by the time Gabriel released the smash 'So' in 1986, he'd emerged as one of pop's most distinctive voices.
65: John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp made a name for himself long before he decided to drop "Cougar" – a moniker he'd been saddled with by management. He seemed to come into his own in that period, shedding pop for more Americana sounds and turning to subjects far more serious than Jack's exploits with Diane. That continued into a new century, as Mellencamp reeled off a series of Top 20 albums featuring some of his most darkly intriguing music yet.
64: Styx
Styx evolved from early prog rock to one of the prototypical arena rock bands before lineup changes overtook them in the wake of the lightly regarded rock opera 'Kilroy Was Here.' A core group featuring Tommy Shaw and James "J.Y." Young continues today, largely focusing on the rock side of their multi-faceted history.
63: Steve Miller
Steve Miller began as a blues rocker who later added touches of psychedelia in bands alongside longtime friend Boz Scaggs. Their eventual split proved to be a smart career move, as Miller scored a string of more mainstream rock songs in the late '70s and early '80s.
62: Stevie Nicks
Stevie Nicks was already a multi-million-selling artist as a member of Fleetwood Mac when she began a parallel solo career in the early '80s – and that streak continued. She released four platinum projects on her own through 1989, even as her main band soldiered on. Solo albums became more sporadic over the years, but she still regularly earns Top 10 successes.
61: Alice Cooper
In the beginning, there was a band called Alice Cooper, though eventually their frontman – Vincent Furnier – took the name for himself. Their music was overtly theatrical, just like their stage show, combining everything from garage rock and show tunes to metal and vaudeville. Cooper, the solo artist, kept the on-stage effects, but narrowed the music toward metal once his original cohorts exited. By then, however, the legend of Alice Cooper (the band and the man) were already cemented in rock history.
60: Boston
Boston began their career with four straight platinum or multi-platinum albums – but it took them 18 years to release them. Twice over that span, Boston went eight years between studio projects. What they lacked in productivity they more than made up for in power (both from Tom Scholz's guitar and Brad Delp's voice) and in sales. Their blockbuster self-titled debut boasts more than 10 million in sales among U.S. fans alone.
59: Ozzy Osbourne
Expectations were decidedly low as Ozzy Osbourne began his solo career. A bad ending with Black Sabbath ensured that. But he proved doubters wrong with a series of albums that pushed further into metal's possibilities - in particular the early music with Randy Rhoads. Osbourne eventually recovered from the talented guitarist's too-early death to post five straight platinum studio efforts.
58: George Harrison
Anyone paying attention as the Beatles notched a No. 1 single in 1969 with "Something" probably surmised that George Harrison was coming into his own. But who knew Harrison had a triple album in him? That project, 'All Things Must Pass,' shot to No. 1, as did his next album. By 1975, he'd notched five Top 20 singles, including two more chart-topping songs. Harrison later was part of the all-star Traveling Wilburys before dying of cancer in 2001.
57: Santana
Santana's Woodstock-era emergence was keyed by a collaborative mixture of Latin-tinged rock styles. Later, Santana's core members scattered as the band's namesake guitarist took things in a jazzier direction. Carlos Santana then made a huge, guest-packed comeback in the late '90s, before getting together with most of the early '70s lineup for a long-hoped-for reunion album and tour in 2016.
56: Iron Maiden
A distinct lack of mainstream radio airplay never stopped Iron Maiden, who built on their influential status as leaders of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal via a string of four straight '80s-era Billboard-certified platinum albums. Adrian Smith and Bruce Dickinson both left and returned, infusing new life into band in the new millennium. 'Book of Souls' from 2015 matched their highest U.S. chart performance ever.
55: Judas Priest
Judas Priest entered the late '70s as a group more admired than celebrated. They helped inspire the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, but had little in the way of sales to show for it. The live album 'Unleashed in the East' finally brought them to a broader audience, and Judas Priest secured their legend over the next few years with smash studio efforts like 'British Steel' and "Screaming for Vengeance.'
54: Jefferson Airplane
The Grateful Dead lasted long enough to ultimately become more famous, but no band so completely personified San Francisco's hippie aesthetic like Jefferson Airplane. Guided by the shared vocals of Marty Balin and Grace Slick, and powered by the scalding guitar of Jorma Kaukonen, they cranked out seven studio records, a string of hit songs and signature appearances at festivals including Monterey, Woodstock and Altamont in the tight span between 1965-72. After that, they morphed into the offshoot bands Hot Tuna and Jefferson Starship before briefly reuniting in 1989.
53: Def Leppard
Though they emerged as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Def Leppard's interest in glam and pop ultimately helped them become one of the '80s' most popular bands. They combined with producer Mutt Lange to crossover with 1983's smash 'Pyromania,' then shined even brighter on 1987's pop-metal blockbuster 'Hysteria.' The '90s brought changing musical tastes and the death of guitarist Steve Clark, but Def Leppard stayed largely true to their best-known sound. Studio efforts in 2008 and 2015 both reached the U.S. Top 10.
52: Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin's shooting-star career didn't always put her in the best situations. She worked with an only average band for a while, and was sometimes saddled with middling material. Yet she emerged in just a few short years as one of rock's greatest interpreters. A raspy, darkly emotional wonder, her voice could carry almost anything – be that another throwaway psychedelic blues jam with Big Brother and the Holding Company or ageless solo material like "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" and "Me and Bobby McGee." The latter became a posthumous No. 1 single after Joplin's 1970 overdose.
51: Jackson Browne
In a way, Jackson Browne set the singer-songwriter template of the '70s, striking a balance between literate, smart lyrics and simple but hooky melodies. He released a string of great records during the decade, covering everything from a breakup and his wife's death to self-reflection and the weariness of the road. In the '80s, he got more political, and his music rests somewhere between those two worlds today.
50: Rod Stewart
Modern fans of Rod Stewart's smooth songbook recordings might not recognize the tough rock that defined his early work. His solo career began when he was still a member of the Faces, and – at least initially – mirrored his main band's ragged roots rock. But he found far more chart success and soon struck out on his own. Later, Stewart turned to disco and pop sounds, becoming an even bigger star – then looked further back to Tin Pan Alley. One of rock's most distinctive voices tied it all together.
49: Heart
Heart were just another all-male group out of Vancouver when the Wilson sisters joined in the early '70s. A few years later, they were all superstars, mixing galloping Zeppelin-esque rock with delicate folk asides. The exit of several key members set Heart back for a bit, but Ann and Nancy Wilson always fought back – first as pop stars in the '80s and, more recently, a resurgent rockers for a new age.
48: Journey
Journey slowly worked their way up to platinum-selling arena-rock success with singer Steve Perry's 1978 arrival as a catalyst. That helped Journey crank out several Top 40 songs, but then keyboardist Jonathan Cain arrived in 1980 to complete a recipe for superstardom. Journey would sell 17 million copies of the next three albums in the U.S. alone.
47: Bob Seger
Early favorites like "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man" illustrate just how much Bob Seger matured after his early days as a Mitch Ryder-style shouter. By the mid-'70s, Seger had remade himself into a multi-faceted performer who went well beyond those garage-rock roots, stirring in Stones-inflected grooves and hearty R&B as the platinum albums began to stack up.
46: Yes
One of prog's most accessible groups, Yes combined old-fashioned songcraft along with the genre's usual endless noodling for some of the decade's most tuneful 17-minute suites. Turnover since the band's formation in the late '60s has been high, but the classic lineup's peak years in the early '70s (which includes the hit albums 'Fragile' and 'Close to the Edge') were matched almost a decade later by a revamped group that scored with Yes' only No. 1 single, "Owner of a Lonely Heart."
45: Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick were something like Beatles-esque pop, something like punk and something like metal – with a flair for the absurd to link all of those disparate sounds. Ultimately, power pop, alternative rock and some hard rock bands came to count them as an influence. But if not for a rabid following in Japan, where Cheap Trick recorded their seminal concert set 'At Budokan,' who knows if any of that would have happened?
44: Kiss
Kiss' influence ran well beyond their classic-era music, which set the stage for pop metal and arena rock. Their explosive stage shows, savvy marketing and outlandish costumes were also heavily appropriated throughout the decade after Kiss' early '70s founding. The '80s saw lineup changes that left only stalwart co-founders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, but they kept things going even as Kiss' commercial fortunes ebbed and flowed into a new millennium.
43: Genesis
Genesis found success through a series of incarnations that ultimately moved their music from folk-tinged pop to full-on progressive rock to prog pop to the top of the pop charts. Their most weirdly involving music dates back to the Peter Gabriel days; their most successful to his successor Phil Collins' final years. In between, Steve Hackett established his own reputation as a guitar hero.
42: Ramones
The Ramones didn't invent punk, but they did more to spark the revolution than any other band in the mid-'70s. Their three-chord, solo-free songs -- delivered in a whiplash pace that rarely stretched beyond two and a half minutes -- have inspired legions of kids to pick up guitars and bash out songs about girls, alienation and dysfunction. Sadly, the group's four original members have all died, but their music still packs the same power 40 years later.
41: The Cars
The Cars were part of a trend where power pop merged with synths, ultimately falling under the '80s-era umbrella of New Wave – but way before MTV. There was some punk, some rockabilly and art rock in there too. That made for a 1978 debut album that played like a greatest-hits set, and then – after a sleek retooling courtesy of Mutt Lange – a four-times platinum fifth album in 1985 that represented their chart zenith.
40: Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney quickly became the Beatles' most successful solo artist, scoring seven No. 1 U.S. singles and five No. 1 albums with his new band Wings. McCartney returned to solo work in 1980, adding six more Top 10 U.S. singles (including two more chart-toppers), and 10 albums that Billboard certified as gold-selling or better.
39: Deep Purple
Deep Purple changed sounds, and changed plenty of members, on their way to rock immortality. Drummer Ian Paice has been the only constant as Deep Purple moved from classical-influenced rock to prog to metal and then into a muscular amalgam of all three. Along the way, the band also made stars of guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and singers Ian Gillan and David Coverdale.
38: Steely Dan
It may be hard to believe for anyone who's witnessed Steely Dan's basically nonstop touring schedule since the '90s, but at one point these guys were famous for their unwillingness to leave the studio. This attention to detail gave them a platform to explore interests that took Steely Dan far from the average '70s rock band into jazz, old-school pop and righteous R&B. That in turn led several studio legends, including Skunk Baxter and Jeff Porcaro, to move through their ranks. But in the end, Steely Dan will always be defined by the thrillingly individualistic quirks of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker.
37: The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band had only just set about restructuring rock music in their own freewheeling, deeply talented, even more deeply Southern image, when tragedy struck. Lead guitarist Duane Allman died in a motorcycle crash just as their breakthrough live recording 'At Fillmore East' began to gain traction. Sibling Gregg Allman soldiered on, and though the band never completely recovered. In later years, the Allmans rebuilt with a talented twin-guitar tandem featuring Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks before finally calling it a day in 2014.
36: The Eagles
Emerging from a musical proving ground as Linda Ronstadt's early-'70s backing band, the Eagles found an instant chemistry – in particular principal singer-songwriters Glenn Frey and Don Henley. Others, including Don Felder and Joe Walsh, would have notable impacts along the way, but the Eagles' country-rock legacy was ultimately forged, then personified, by that partnership. After a lengthy breakup that lasted all of the '80s and part of the '90s, the Eagles managed a lengthy reunion that was only halted by Frey's death.
35: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
The concept of the supergroup was still relatively new when members of three key '60s bands – the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and the Hollies – got together in the late '60s for an album that sounded a little like their pasts but more so like a collective future. For their second album, David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash were joined by Stills' old Buffalo Springfield bandmate Neil Young, who brought some bite and edge to the mix. The combustible quartet has been off and on ever since.
34: John Lennon
Cut short by a madman, John Lennon's solo career would ultimately be defined by his opening and closing statements. They couldn't be more different. 'Plastic Ono Band' was a painful howl, a condemnation and cry for help, one of his most brutally honest moments. 'Double Fantasy,' released 10 years later just before Lennon was cut down by an assassin, found him finally celebrating domestic bliss. In between, Lennon issued only five other albums, choosing family over career – the former Beatle took five years off to raise his kid – before his death in 1980.
33: The Grateful Dead
San Francisco's most iconic band of the '60s picked up fans over the decades until they were one of the most popular touring groups of the '90s. The live experience has always been a major part of the Dead's appeal, but classic albums like 'Anthem of the Sun,' 'Workingman's Dead' and 'American Beauty' proved they could work magic in the studio too. The death of leader Jerry Garcia sidelined the members for a while, but they still perform, in one form or another today.
32: Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd shared some key traits with their fellow Southern rock legends in the Allman Brothers Band – not least of which was life-altering tragedy. But their sound, both before and after a plane crash decimated the original lineup, was focused more on rock and jazzy improvisational moments. That gave Skynyrd an elemental danger that remained, even after fate intervened.
31: Rush
Critics didn't always buy in, and there were musical experiments that didn't pan out. But Rush have remained steadfast since the 1974 arrival of lyricist and drummer Neil Peart in presenting thrillingly complex music alongside involving lyrics for some of the most devoted fans in the history of rock. More recently, Rush have said they planned to cut back on touring, but their best albums will always be large-scale treasures.
30: Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton's resume is a long and illustrious one: He's been a member of the Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominos and Delaney & Bonnie, as well as maintaining a successful solo career, over the past 50-plus years. He's one of rock's all-time greatest guitarists, a stylist who favors tone over flash. But that doesn't mean he can't rip when the moment takes him (see those Cream and Derek and the Dominos records for proof).
29: Billy Joel
Billy Joel drew upon a pair of tried-and-true favorites in the Beatles and Tin Pan Alley, creating a new synthesis that made him arguably the best-known singer-songwriter of the late '70s. He continued that winning streak into the next decade while diversifying his sound. Joel could be found recalling favorite genre music of his youth, delving into more topical themes and then leveraging the technology of the day for more modern-sounding pop before suddenly disappearing into a too-soon retirement.
28: ZZ Top
ZZ Top remodeled their music into the '80s, adding synthesizers and glib videos to what had always been a sturdy blues-rock sound. What never changes: A rock-solid lineup of guitarist Billy Gibbons, bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard. Together since 1970, they've glued it all together with a randy sense of humor that was still in place as 2012's 'La Futura' zoomed into the Top 10.
27: Guns N' Roses
At a time when hair metal was polluting radio and ruining hard rock for fans in about a dozen different ways, Guns N' Roses came along in the late '80s and jump-started music, and pretty much kept rock 'n' roll alive, for the next few years. They came with their own problems, best summed up by the fact that only singer Axl Rose from the original classic lineup remained by the mid-'90s. Several key members have gotten back together over the years for shows, but it's GNR's still-explosive debut, 'Appetite for Destruction,' that deserves all the praise.
26: Queen
The sheer theatricality of Queen set them apart from their fellow rockers; singer Freddie Mercury made sure they sounded like nobody else. Over the first few albums they evolved into a wall-to-wall rock orchestra, culminating in 1975's epic 'A Night at the Opera' and its breakthrough single "Bohemian Rhapsody." Mercury's death at the dawn of the '90s put an end to the classic lineup.
25: Cream
Cream paved the way for significant chapters in classic rock history. They were one of the first supergroups (even though Eric Clapton came in the star, drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce were highly regarded in the British blues-rock scene), one of the first bands to go this heavy and one of the earliest to spectacularly fall apart after just a handful of albums. They'd go their own separate ways in just a few short years, but Cream's first three albums remain monumental, and influential, rock 'n' roll records.
24: Tom Petty
Combining the ringing folk rock of the Byrds with the Rolling Stones' rock smarts, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers waited a lengthy amount of time before their well-deserved breakthrough with 1979's 'Damn the Torpedos.' Later, Petty began a concurrent solo career with 1989's smash 'Full Moon Fever.' The next Heartbreakers release, 1991's 'Into the Great Wide Open,' went platinum – as did Petty's subsequent solo project 'Wildflowers' in 1994. If they all sounded like they were cut from the same cloth, there's a good reason. Both of those "solo" albums, though released under Petty's name, featured contributions by other Heartbreakers.
23: Fleetwood Mac
The Fleetwood Mac most people know, the lineup that sent a series of albums beginning in 1975 to platinum-selling heights, bore almost no resemblance to the band's early blues-focused years. Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks changed Fleetwood Mac's dynamic and their profile, as a group that had only middling chart successes went on to help define the contours of pop music in the late '70s with monolithic smash hits like 'Rumours' and 'Tusk.'
22: The Band
The Band started as a backing group for rockabilly hero Ronnie Hawkins before taking a similar gig with Bob Dylan, whom they accompanied on his controversial and myth-making 1966 tour. After helping Dylan make the classic 'Basement Tapes,' they released a series of stripped-down and rustic Americana albums that captured the Old South better than almost anyone else, setting a template for country and folk rockers in the years to come. All the more remarkable? They were mostly Canadians.
21: Aerosmith
When Aerosmith blasted out of Boston during the first part of the '70s, they were labeled as an American version of the Rolling Stones. But within a few years -- thanks to rep-securing albums like 'Toys in the Attic' and 'Rocks' -- they carved out their own identity as one of classic rock's most enduring groups. A late-'80s comeback has kept them going to this day.
20: Metallica
Metallica started out in the early '80s as one of the premier thrash metal bands before they evolved into a hard-rock juggernaut a decade later. 'Master of Puppets,' from 1986, is a genre classic, setting into motion many of the hard/fast/loud techniques still used by metal bands today. They tightened their sound with 1991's Black Album, another milestone that made Metallica one of the biggest bands on the planet.
19: The Clash
There was a saying back in the day that the Clash were the only band that mattered. And in a way, it was true. As traditional rock 'n' roll dried out and disco took over the airwaves, punk blew in with brutalizing force. The Clash were one of the few bands that combined that power with brains, songs and a sense of history. They were over before the mid-'80s, but the handful of albums (especially the double-record epic 'London Calling') they left behind remain essential listening.
18: The Police
The Police made only five albums during their brief time together, but they did more for bringing classic rock into a new era than almost any other artist. Mixing jazz, pop, New Wave, punk, reggae and world music into a reliable rock 'n' roll foundation, the trio delivered a rhythmic punch that was as timeless as it was forward-looking.
17: AC/DC
Not too many bands can rebound after losing their singer, let alone charging back bigger and better than ever. But AC/DC is no ordinary band. After Bon Scott died in 1980, the group wasted no time getting back into the studio with new vocalist Brian Johnson to record their masterpiece, 'Back in Black,' which plays like a tribute to the late Scott. Over the past 35 years, AC/DC have soldiered on with some new members, but one thing remains constant: Angus Young's power-guitar riffs and the band's ability to turn three-chord blues into a rock 'n' roll foundation.
16: The Doors
Like many of their contemporaries, the Doors combined old-school blues with trippy psychedelia. The mix made them one of the most popular and enduring bands of the '60s. The original quartet released only six albums before singer Jim Morrison died of heart failure at the age of 27, but the best of them (like 1967's self-titled debut and 1971's 'L.A. Woman') remain classic-rock cornerstones.
15: The Kinks
The Kinks started in the mid-'60s as the British kings of riff-driven guitar rock, but by the end of the decade they had moved into an entirely new direction, slipping into Victorian dress and writing pastel-colored songs about shifting cultural values. Band leader Ray Davies followed this pattern through the '70s and '80s, when they returned to the Top 10 thanks to MTV exposure.
14: Black Sabbath
If Black Sabbath didn't invent heavy metal, they certainly were the ones who forged the genre's sound as we know it today. Sludgy rhythms, lyrics that teetered the line between heaven and hell and an aura of devilish mysticism made Sabbath the kings of stoner rock before anyone even thought of the name for it. Various lineup changes over the years following the exit of singer Ozzy Osbourne hasn't diminished the force of the original quartet's essential work.
13: Creedence Clearwater Revival
Led by John Fogerty, Creedence Clearwater Revival didn't sound at all like their Bay Area contemporaries. Twangy, swampy and poppy in ways that made them both commercial and critical favorites, CCR played rock 'n' roll rooted in the past but with a modern edge and message (see the great protest song "Fortunate Son"). By the early '70s, Fogerty moved on to a successful solo career.
12: The Who
Thanks to guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend, the Who got more ambitious than many of their peers when many of them were content to just bash out "Gloria" for the billionth time. They pretty much invented and perfected the rock opera on albums like 'Tommy' and 'Quadrophenia,' and works like 1971's masterful 'Who's Next' prove they could be one of the world's top rock 'n' roll bands too.
11: Neil Young
Getting his start playing twang-influenced folk rock with Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young plowed through the decades with a sense of restlessness that equaled his passion for ferocious guitar solos. He's tried out everything from New Wave and country to big band and R&B, but he's at his best plugged in and tearing away (usually with help from longtime collaborators Crazy Horse) or stripped down to just his shaky voice, harmonica and acoustic guitar (see his only No. 1, 'Harvest').
10: Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen was tagged as a New Dylan on his debut album, but by 1975's 'Born to Run' he had found his own voice as one of music's most dynamic writers and performers. His songs about working-man issues, coupled with marathon live shows that made him a star, elevated Springsteen to hero status among his many fans. A rock 'n' roll savior who shows no signs of slowing down.
9: Elton John
Elton John has one of pop music's longest and most successful careers, starting in 1970 when his second album and its breakthrough single "Your Song" put him on the path to stardom. John pretty much ruled the charts through the '70s -- from his double-LP masterpiece 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' to 'Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy,' the first album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard chart. Since then, he's conquered the stage, screen and pretty much everywhere else music is heard.
8: David Bowie
One of rock's most restless artists, David Bowie never settled in one place. He became a star playing someone else: Ziggy Stardust, an androgynous outer-space rock star with an over-sized ego and a penchant for sex and drugs. Bowie would scrap and rebuild that template -- escaping to R&B, art rock and New Wave -- for the next 45 years, until his death in 2016.
7: Van Halen
During a period when everyone had gone New Wave, Van Halen kept the rock torch burning. They'd already set the good-time template for '80s hard rock before they scored a No. 1 album. By then, early showman David Lee Roth had given way to pop-leaning Sammy Hagar. The thing that underpinned it all was the eruptive guitar of Eddie Van Halen, who combined formal training with a treasure chest of self-taught techniques. Frontman came and went (then came and went again), but that fizzy sound threaded it all together.
6: Pink Floyd
Even if Pink Floyd hadn't made 1973's 'The Dark Side of the Moon,' a classic rock cornerstone, they'd rank as one of rock's most influential bands. In 1967, the original quartet -- led by Syd Barrett, whose mental and drug problems would sideline him for the rest of his life -- released 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,' a psychedelic space trip that can rattle your mind. After years of splintering, the group called it quits in 2014.
5: Bob Dylan
Nobody has done more to cultivate, and then break down, his legend more than Bob Dylan. Launching his career at the start of the '60s as a folksinger, he quickly became the voice of a generation with his protest songs before shoving that aside as one of rock 'n' roll's nastiest and electric performers. Over the years, he's tried everything from country and gospel to blues and standards, enveloping the history of American music along the way.
4: Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix did more for the electric guitar than anyone since Chuck Berry, finding new ways to assault, caress and wring noise out of the instrument that nobody knew was in there. He released only three studio albums in his short lifetime (all three wit his groundbreaking trio the Experience), but his legacy can be heard in anyone who's picked up a guitar since.
3: Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin started out as a blues tribute band from the ashes of the Yardbirds, but they quickly catapulted to the top of the rock world with increasingly more sophisticated and powerful albums. The key was guitarist and producer Jimmy Page, but his three bandmates followed his vision expertly every step of the way -- from their stripped-down third album to the double-album power stomp of 'Physical Graffiti.'
2: The Rolling Stones
Next to the Beatles, no group has done more for the history of classic rock than the Rolling Stones. Dirtier, gutsier and bluesier than their '60s rivals, the Stones hit their peak in the late '60s and early '70s, when they released a string of albums -- starting with 1968's 'Beggars Banquet' and running through 1972's 'Exile on Main St.' -- that stands as one of the greatest runs of all time.
1: The Beatles
Let's just get this out of the way: Without the Beatles, most of the artists on this list wouldn't even exist. Even the group's contemporaries adored, worshiped and were influenced by them. In less than seven short years they released a handful of albums and singles that pretty much shaped almost everything that came after them. From pop and country to psychedelia and hard rock, the Beatles reformulated the way generations think about music.