Mark Ronson’s 99 favourite artists of all time
Music has all Mark Ronson has ever known and occupies his mind constantly. Ronson grew up in a musical family with his father, Laurence Ronson, working as a manager and publisher. Meanwhile, his step-father is Mick Jones, the lead guitarist in Foreigner.
It was clear from early on that he was destined to follow in the family trade and was born to be involved in the music industry. “I was such a big music nerd growing up and I would read Billboard and liner notes from the age eight,” he told The Late Show in 2019. “Jann Wenner, who had Rolling Stone, used to come to the house and I would just pester him incessantly. He was like, ‘Alright, I get it. I’ll give you a job. You can come work at the magazine. So I went and I was a 12 year old whose voice hadn’t broken manning the phones. I can’t even believe they let me do it, but they did.”
One way or another, Ronson would be involved in the music trade. Although he used his links as an advantage as a 12-year-old, Ronson’s DJing talent is what made him become a name. Throughout his time at university, he became a regular fixture at hip-hop nights across New York, and from there, he eventually graduated into producing.
His early production credits include work with Wu-Tang Clan legend Ol’ Dirty Bastard and rapper Saigon. However, his mainstream break came in 2006 when he was at the helm for Amy Winehouse’s sophomore album Back To Black, which made him one of the most in-demand producers around.
Throughout his eclectic career, Ronson has worked with everybody from Paul McCartney to Dua Lipa. Although his background is in hip-hop, his credits span almost every genre across the spectrum, and his list of favourite artists reflects his expansive taste.
In 2008, when Kaiser Chiefs took over The Guardian’s culture section for a special edition, they asked Ronson to name his 100 favourite artists of all time. He duly obliged but deliberately left one blank space and only named 99 musicians, which gave a fascinating insight into his artistry.
He explained: “I don’t know if I still stand behind this, but here we go. And it shouldn’t be listed numerically, as it falsely bestows some sort of order on it.”
Although Ronson made it clear they weren’t ordered, it was telling that The Beatles were the first artist he named. Five years after naming them as his heroes, he worked with Paul McCartney on his album, New, and it was an experience he’ll never forget. “He was going to put acoustic guitar down on this song, ‘Alligator’ [from 2013’s New]. And I said, ‘I had it on mic, so it started playing.’ And he was like, ‘It sounds like an acoustic guitar, but I want it to sound like a record as if you just put the needle down on the dah, dah, dah.’ So we ran it through this other mic and through the fair child and whatever, but that quote has stayed with me more than anything.”
See the full list of Ronson’s favourite artists below.
Mark Ronson’s favourite artists of all time
- The Beatles
- Radiohead
- Guns N’ Roses
- The Band
- Traffic
- David Bowie
- Led Zeppelin
- A Tribe Called Quest
- The Rolling Stones
- The Beach Boys
- The Smiths
- Stevie Wonder
- Beastie Boys
- The Strokes
- Duran Duran
- At The Drive-In
- Average White Band
- Ben Folds Five
- Blondie
- Franz Ferdinand
- Blur
- The Specials
- Brand New Heavies
- Brand Nubian
- Chic
- The Clash
- Coldplay
- Cream
- The White Stripes
- The Cult
- D’Angelo
- Hall and Oates
- De La Soul
- Earth, Wind and Fire
- Snoop Dogg
- Electronic
- Elton John
- Elvis Costello
- EPMD
- Eric B and Rakim
- Fela Kuti
- Franki Valli and the Four Seasons
- Fugazi
- Gang Starr
- Ghostface Killah
- Happy Mondays
- Isley Brothers
- James Brown
- Jamie T
- Jane’s Addiction
- Jay-Z
- Jimi Hendrix
- John Barry
- July
- Kaiser Chiefs
- Kings of Leon
- The Kinks
- Klaxons
- Kool and the Gang
- KRS-One
- LCD Soundsystem
- Life Without Buildings
- Lily Allen
- MOP
- Marvin Gaye
- The Meters
- Mobb Deep
- Neil Young
- Nine Inch Nails
- Notorious BIG
- OutKast
- Pete Rock and CL Smooth
- Prince
- The Pretenders
- Public Enemy
- Queens of the Stone Age
- The Who
- Run DMC
- Scritti Politti
- The Shangri-La’s
- Shuggie Otis
- Sly and the Family Stone
- The Jackson 5
- Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
- The Spencer Davis Group
- Steely Dan
- Stevie Wonder
- The Stone Roses
- Zombies
- T Rex
- Tears For Fears
- The Go! Team
- Todd Rundgren
- Tom Jobim & Elis Regina
- Talking Heads
- Vampire Weekend
- Vince Guaraldi Trio
- Weezer
- The Whatnauts
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