10 fantastic artists that no one can hate

Weird Al Yankovic

The mark of any good musician is being aware of how to take a joke. As much as artists like the idea of playing themselves up like God’s gift to musicians everywhere, it’s sometimes funnier to watch a movie like This is Spinal Tap and see how truly pretentious the best artists can come off like at times. And while some rock bands can get insecure about that kind of stuff, there’s hardly any reason to find too much wrong with someone like Weird Al Yankovic.

Because, really, Al is the kind of person that almost feels more like a cartoon character than a musician these days. There are people that might have some reservations about their music being made fun of, but whenever the Hawaiian shirt-clad genius even touches a song that captures the spirit of the times, you can tell that it’s done out of love for any particular artist, whether that’s turning a Nirvana classic into absolute nonsense or transforming Michael Jackson’s greatest songs into food puns.

Not all of the jokes will land with everyone, and some of them can be a little better appreciated by a younger audience, but whenever someone like Yankovic comes along to parody a song, it’s not out of spite. If anything, artists that have had their tunes undergo the ‘Weird’ treatment can practically wear that as a badge of honour today.

Freddie Mercury

The rock and roll fandom can be known to be a fairly strict crowd. Many people have come out of the woodwork to constitute what is good and bad in the name of rock and roll purity, but the biggest names in music are the ones that defy convention when presented with the opportunity. And whereas everyone considered Robert Plant the ultimate rock and roll frontman, there’s a reason why Freddie Mercury blew everyone out of the water.

And that something was pure power. Listening to any one of Queen’s hits, it’s virtually impossible to sing them with the same kind of gusto that Mercury does, especially when he’s singing in his higher register. Once that translated to the live stage, seeing him devour every single second of Live Aid is a sight to behold, whether that’s messing with the cameraman during ‘Hammer to Fall’ or playing the crowd like an orchestra halfway through the set with the greatest vocal runs that anyone has ever undergone.

Considering what the rock world looked like, Mercury has also always been a classic example of an artist virtually unafraid to be himself at every opportunity. For a rock and roll scene that was all about jeans, T-shirts, and heavy-ass riffs, the fact that Mercury could prance around the stage in frilly clothes and have nearly everyone in middle America raising their fists in the air is the kind of strange power that only few are able to wield.

David Bowie

However, Mercury was far from the first person to bring a little bit of flamboyance to rock and roll. Little Richard had been making that his calling card since the dawn of the genre, and it’s not like David Bowie was taking cues from either of them specifically. He was his own unique entity who made it his life’s goal to keep people guessing, and judging by his reputation, everyone was more than happy to go along for the ride.

Although Bowie changed styles more often than most artists have changed managers over the years, it’s shocking to think that one person could manage to pull off every single genre so well. From kraut rock to glam rock to drum and bass to avant-garde jazz, there wasn’t anything off the table for Bowie up until the final years of his life, and even if everyone didn’t love it, it was easy to at least find one song in his catalogue that could stand with the best in its genre.

And even if he didn’t like the idea of staying in one place for too long, Bowie should be commended for giving us the rulebook for where artists could go. The Beatles showed everyone the basis for what a popular musician could be, but Bowie made sure every rockstar realised that there was more to life than the guitar, bass and drums setup. Music was a blank canvas, and you could do anything you wanted with it.

Billy Joel

Billy Joel never got the credentials for being the coolest artist in the world. While he’s written some terrific songs, there’s hardly any room for him to stretch in his career without coming off a tiny bit corny with the public. But if you look beyond the more goofy sides of his discography, the reason why the melodies work so well is because they have been crafted by a songwriting master.

Joel never claimed to have the same kind of melodic framework that The Beatles had by any stretch, but he is probably the closest thing to Bach or Beethoven that rock and roll has from a pure sonic standpoint. The Fab Four had George Martin to help translate some of their finest work, but the strange chords that Joel throws into every one of his songs is always keeping the audience on their toes whenever they’re listening, whether it’s changing keys in the middle of ‘Uptown Girl’ or the strange jazz chords that appear in everything from ‘Vienna’ to ‘Zanzibar’.

The classics can easily get overplayed, and it’s hard to escape ‘Piano Man’ if you tried, but looking through his catalogue, there’s hardly a dud track amongst all of them. The singles are the heavyhitters for a reason, but the reason why Joel considered songwriting to be the hardest part of his job seemed to have more to do with the massive standards he set for himself every time he went in the studio.

Chance the Rapper

It’s hard to judge any rapper in terms of mass appeal. There are many people that get the seal of approval purely based on nostalgia’s sake like Public Enemy and Beastie Boys, but the modern age of hip-hop will always be divisive, if only for the people that can’t let go of their love for their favourites from the past. But while Chance the Rapper may not have the best track record of any rapper that ever lived, it’s hard to deny that he always kept his heart in the right place.

Because if there’s one thing that every artist knows, it’s the importance of hustling to get what you want, and Chance always managed to do right by his friends and his community whenever he made a record. Despite the fact that he has still yet to release any of his major albums on a label, the money that would normally be going into an executive’s pocket is going directly to him, but instead of counting his stacks of money, the Chicago rapper has made sure music never loses its importance in modern culture.

From helping out music programs in his area to giving back to the Chicago community, Chance represents everything that a musician can hope to be in the eyes of the public. It’s one thing for someone to give to charity organisations once they reach the big time, but Chance knows that there is no better way to serve than to help those in need, and even if he hit the big time, he knew that life at the top wasn’t going to feel nearly as good if he didn’t have his community with him.

Prince

Every generation seems to have those handful of artists that feel like they have been touched by a musical God. The 1960s had Jimi Hendrix to show people what could be done on guitar, and everyone from Elton John to Stevie Wonder found new ways of twisting rock and R&B into unique shapes that no one could have predicted. But then you have people like Prince who have enough musical talent for an entire band packed into one tiny person.

Despite the initial hatred thrown his way by racist pigs at a Rolling Stones concert, ‘The Purple One’ always vowed to be remembered more for his track record than for his image. And looking through everything that he left behind, there isn’t one genre, instrument, or vocal cadence that he couldn’t make his own, to the point where he even managed to put out albums written by him for other artists and those would become massive hits on their own.

And even if his turnover time in between albums could get a little difficult to keep up with, the fact that he would probably still be making classic records to this day had he not passed away in 2016 is still insane. Michael Jackson will forever be heralded as ‘The King of Pop’ for what he brought to music, but even with his immortal status, Prince is the true musical royal that deserves everyone’s undying devotion and respect.

Brian Wilson

The Beach Boys have always driven a wedge right down the rock community based on the members of the group. Depending on the person, they are either one of the greatest soundtracks of summer to ever start a band, or if you’re listening to Mike Love talk about their importance, they could also be viewed as one of the most pretentious acts of all time. But when Brian Wilson was writing all of those classic hits, you would have sworn that there was never a dishonest bone in his body.

Throughout the band’s prime, Wilson seemed to take the makings of rock and roll and turn them into some of the most complex harmonies ever found on a pop song. Even if his sole contribution to rock and roll was Pet Sounds, he would already be solidified in music history, but his bold innovations in the studio on ‘Good Vibrations’ and ‘Surf’s Up’ continued to expand on what pop music could be, whether that meant using strange instruments or finding that one extra heartstring to pull on.

But even if Wilson sounded like he was crying every time he slipped into that falsetto voice, he was never at the risk of making sad music all that often. He seemed to want to give the world something to feel happy about, and when looking through any of the band’s classic records with him at the helm, you can’t help but smile every time that high voice jumps into the stratosphere on songs like ‘I Get Around’ or ‘California Girls’.

Christine McVie

There is usually far too much baggage when talking about anything remotely associated with Fleetwood Mac. Rumours might be a classic, but the fact that they completed the whole thing wanting to strangle the person next to them half the time sounds like torture that no one should have to endure. But compared to every other member of the group, Christine McVie always brought some sophistication to nearly every single thing that she touched when working with the group.

Although Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham have been mythologised a lot more in the band’s story, Christine was always the rock helping steer the group through some of the hardest parts of their career. Not everything she played was the best record ever made or anything, but even when it got incredibly dire, she would always come through with the greatest songs of the bunch, whether that was making beautiful ballads like ‘Songbird’ or the band’s pop hits in the 1980s like ‘Little Lies’.

And although things could get strained in the studio, Christine was always the professional pushing through with the kind of voice that made her feel like the adult in the room whenever she performed. Nicks and Buckingham might have a greater track record of classics, but when put next to her contemporaries, Christine was the one member of the group that never really made a bad or even subpar song.

George Harrison

It was always going to be difficult for fans to process The Beatles’ breakup. There had never been a pop group that had been around for as long as they have, and when they finally called it a day, it was easy to place the blame on any one of the band members. But in between all of the mud-slinging that John Lennon and Paul McCartney traded back and forth, George Harrison was always the wise guru rolling through each part of life with ease.

His debut album was always going to be a spectacle considering how much music he had left over from his Fab days, but throughout every record he made, there was always charm blooming out of everything he did. Even if the album didn’t manage to resonate with audiences that well like Extra Texture, Harrison would always be bluntly honest about how he felt about his work, whether he was being forced into a corner by his label or having the time of his life playing with all of his mates in the Traveling Wilburys.

Although it’s easy to get caught up in the militant songwriting of Lennon or the trademark whimsy of McCartney, Harrison’s greatest strength was how attuned he was with his faith and his need to be unabashedly human. His bandmates may have written the rulebook on how to create the best love songs in history, but whenever Harrison spoke, he always came from a genuine place.

Dolly Parton

A list like this is always going to be at least a little bit debatable. There are many attributes that can make people think that the best artists in the world aren’t the best people, and for every one person that likes you, there’s always going to be someone else that doesn’t like you. But looking at her outlook on the world and the general attitude that she brings across, it’s safe to say that Dolly Parton is one of the few people in the music industry that can’t be outright hated by anyone.

While country music has always been an acquired taste for many music fans, Parton’s music has always been sincere throughout each era of her career. From doing right by her community with her royalties to continuing to record and tour nearly into her 80s at this point is proof that she sincerely loves to be up there performing for whoever she can. And listening to her voice, it’s not like she’s lost anything, either.

Some of the best pieces of her career have always involved that beautiful voice, but regardless of knowing her as the young country superstar, one-third of the Trio supergroup, or the humble grandmother of American music today, Parton will forever be one of the best artists that the US ever produced. And while there are many naysayers out there in the world, it’s time that we all learn one of the basic truths of music: if you despise Dolly Parton with all your heart, the problem is you.