The Top 20 British Musicians of All Time
British music has had an extraordinary influence on the world.
From The Beatles and The Rolling Stones to David Bowie, Queen, Black Sabbath, Adele and Amy Winehouse, British musicians have repeatedly changed the direction of popular music. They have shaped rock, pop, heavy metal, punk, electronic music, soul and alternative music, while influencing generations of artists around the world.
But who are the greatest British musicians of all time?
It is an almost impossible question to answer. Musical taste is subjective, and Britain's contribution to music is so extensive that hundreds of artists could make a credible claim for a place in the top 20.
For this Apnin Music list, we have considered musical influence, songwriting, originality, cultural impact, longevity, innovation and the lasting importance of an artist's work.
This isn't simply a list of the biggest-selling artists. It is a celebration of musicians who changed British music — and, in many cases, changed music worldwide.
20. Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard was one of the earliest British artists to establish a major presence in the rock and roll era.
Emerging in the late 1950s, Richard became one of Britain's most successful recording artists, helping demonstrate that British performers could compete with the American stars who had dominated popular music.
His extraordinary longevity is equally impressive. Few artists have maintained such a long career at the highest level of British popular music.
19. Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne's influence on heavy metal is enormous.
As the original singer of Black Sabbath, Osbourne helped establish a darker, heavier form of rock music that would influence generations of metal bands.
Songs including "Paranoid", "War Pigs" and "Iron Man" became landmarks of heavy music.
Osbourne later established a successful solo career, becoming one of the most recognisable figures in rock.
His influence isn't simply about his voice. Ozzy helped define the attitude, imagery and sound of heavy metal.
18. Kate Bush
Kate Bush has always operated on her own terms.
Her music combines art rock, pop, classical influences, theatrical performance and experimental production, producing a catalogue that is difficult to compare with anyone else's.
Songs such as "Wuthering Heights", "Running Up That Hill" and "Cloudbusting" demonstrate her ability to combine unusual songwriting with memorable melodies.
Bush's influence has become particularly apparent among younger generations of artists, making her one of Britain's most important musical innovators.
17. Sting
Sting became internationally famous as the singer and principal songwriter of The Police before establishing an equally successful solo career.
The Police developed a distinctive mixture of rock, reggae, punk and new wave, producing songs that remain staples of radio around the world.
Sting's solo career demonstrated his willingness to explore jazz, world music and other influences while retaining his identity as a songwriter.
His ability to evolve has been one of the defining characteristics of his career.
16. Robert Plant
Robert Plant's voice helped define the sound of British rock.
As the frontman of Led Zeppelin, Plant became one of the most influential rock singers of the 1970s, combining power with blues and folk influences.
Led Zeppelin's music would go on to influence hard rock, heavy metal and countless guitar-driven bands.
Plant's career after Led Zeppelin has also demonstrated his willingness to experiment rather than simply recreate the band's famous sound.
15. Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton is one of Britain's most influential guitarists.
His work with The Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith and Derek and the Dominos established him as a major figure in British blues and rock.
His solo career subsequently introduced his playing to an even wider audience.
Clapton's influence can be heard particularly among generations of guitarists who discovered the blues through British rock.
14. George Harrison
George Harrison's importance to The Beatles goes well beyond his position as the band's lead guitarist.
Harrison developed into an accomplished songwriter, contributing songs including "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun" to The Beatles' catalogue.
He also played an important role in introducing Indian musical influences to Western popular audiences.
Following The Beatles, Harrison enjoyed a successful solo career, including the acclaimed All Things Must Pass.
His contribution to British music deserves to be considered alongside his more famous songwriting partners.
13. Paul Weller
Paul Weller's career is one of British music's great examples of reinvention.
As frontman of The Jam, he became a central figure in the late-1970s and early-1980s British music scene.
The Style Council subsequently took his music in a different direction, while his solo career allowed him to continue evolving.
Weller's influence on British guitar music, mod culture and alternative music has lasted for decades.
12. Morrissey
Few British musicians have generated as much discussion and debate as Morrissey.
As the singer of The Smiths, he developed a distinctive lyrical voice that dealt with loneliness, relationships, alienation and everyday life.
Working with guitarist Johnny Marr, The Smiths created a body of music that became hugely influential on British indie and alternative rock.
Whatever people's opinions of Morrissey himself, the musical legacy of The Smiths remains substantial.
11. Roger Waters
Roger Waters became one of the principal creative forces behind Pink Floyd.
His increasingly conceptual approach to songwriting helped transform albums such as The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall into much more than collections of individual songs.
Waters demonstrated the potential of the album as a complete artistic statement.
His work has influenced progressive rock, concept albums and generations of musicians interested in combining music with narrative and visual presentation.
10. Elton John
Elton John is one of the most successful and recognisable British musicians of all time.
His partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin produced a remarkable catalogue of songs, while his piano playing and flamboyant stage presence helped make him an international superstar.
From "Your Song" and "Rocket Man" to "Tiny Dancer" and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", Elton John's music has crossed generations.
His longevity is a major part of his achievement.
9. Brian May
Brian May's guitar sound is among the most recognisable in rock.
As a member of Queen, May combined melodic guitar playing, intricate harmonies and ambitious arrangements to create a style that remains instantly identifiable.
He was also an important songwriter within Queen, contributing songs including "We Will Rock You" and "Who Wants to Live Forever".
His influence extends beyond technical guitar playing. May demonstrated how a guitarist could become an integral part of a band's songwriting identity.
8. Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger helped define what it meant to be a rock frontman.
As the singer of The Rolling Stones, his distinctive voice, stage presence and physical performance became central to the band's identity.
Together with Keith Richards, Jagger formed one of the most important songwriting partnerships in rock.
The Rolling Stones' extraordinary longevity has also allowed Jagger to remain an important figure in popular music across multiple generations.
7. David Bowie
David Bowie was much more than a musician.
He was a songwriter, performer, actor, innovator and cultural figure who continually reinvented himself.
From Ziggy Stardust to the Berlin period and later works, Bowie repeatedly challenged conventional ideas about music, identity and performance.
His willingness to experiment helped connect rock with electronic music, pop, art and fashion.
Few British artists have left such a broad cultural legacy.
6. Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page's influence on rock guitar is enormous.
As the guitarist and producer of Led Zeppelin, Page helped develop some of the most ambitious and influential guitar music of the 1970s.
His playing could move from delicate acoustic passages to enormous distorted riffs, while his work in the studio demonstrated an understanding of production that went beyond simply recording a band.
Page helped establish the guitar as one of the defining instruments of rock music.
5. John Lennon
John Lennon was one of the central creative forces behind The Beatles.
His songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney produced some of the most influential songs in popular music.
But Lennon's influence extended beyond songwriting. His later solo work and outspoken views on peace and politics made him an important cultural figure.
His career was tragically cut short, but his musical and cultural influence has continued for decades.
4. Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury was one of the greatest performers in the history of popular music.
As Queen's lead singer, Mercury combined extraordinary vocal ability with theatricality, confidence and an ability to command enormous audiences.
Songs such as "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Somebody to Love" and "We Are the Champions" became part of the international musical landscape.
His performance at Live Aid in 1985 remains one of the most celebrated moments in rock history.
Mercury's influence can still be seen in the way modern singers approach performance, theatricality and audience interaction.
3. Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney's songwriting achievements are almost impossible to match.
His partnership with John Lennon produced an extraordinary body of Beatles material, while his work with Wings and as a solo artist demonstrated that his creativity continued long after the band's breakup.
McCartney has an exceptional ability to write melodies that are immediately accessible while remaining musically sophisticated.
His influence reaches across generations, genres and continents.
2. Keith Richards
Keith Richards is one of the defining figures in rock guitar.
His partnership with Mick Jagger produced some of The Rolling Stones' most enduring songs, while his approach to rhythm guitar became hugely influential.
Richards understood that great rock guitar wasn't necessarily about playing the most notes. His playing often relied on groove, timing, attitude and the interaction between instruments.
His influence on rock music is immense.
1. The Beatles
At number one, APN Music has chosen The Beatles.
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr didn't simply become one of the biggest bands in history. They fundamentally changed popular music.
Their career developed at extraordinary speed, moving from the early pop and rock of albums such as Please Please Me to increasingly ambitious and experimental records including Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles and Abbey Road.
The Beatles demonstrated that popular music could be commercially successful while also being adventurous, experimental and artistically ambitious.
Their influence can be heard in rock, pop, alternative music, progressive rock, heavy metal and countless other genres.
They also helped put British popular music at the centre of the international music industry.
For those reasons, APN Music considers The Beatles the most important British musical act of all time.
Who Did We Miss?
Of course, any list of Britain's greatest musicians is going to create arguments.
There are dozens of artists who could reasonably have appeared in our Top 20.
David Gilmour, Jeff Beck, Mark Knopfler, Peter Gabriel, George Michael, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Elton John, Thom Yorke, Noel Gallagher, Liam Gallagher, Johnny Marr, Roger Daltrey, Robert Plant and many others have all made enormous contributions to British music.
There is also an important question about whether a list like this should judge artists, bands, songwriters or individual musicians.
Should The Beatles be considered as one entry? Should Lennon and McCartney be ranked separately? Does technical ability matter more than songwriting? Should commercial success influence the ranking?
There are no easy answers.
The British Influence on World Music
What makes Britain's musical history particularly remarkable is the sheer variety of artists it has produced.
British musicians have played a major role in the development of rock and roll, blues rock, heavy metal, punk, new wave, electronic music, indie rock and modern pop.
They have also repeatedly taken influences from elsewhere and transformed them into something new.
That tradition continues today, with British artists still making an impact across the international music industry.
The next generation may eventually force us to rewrite this list entirely.
For now, these 20 represent some of the most significant musicians and musical acts Britain has produced.
Do you agree with our Top 20?
Who should be higher? Who shouldn't be on the list? And, most importantly, who have we left out?
Let us know in the comments and join the debate with Apnin Music.
This is an Apnin Music editorial ranking based on influence, songwriting, innovation, cultural impact and longevity. It is not intended to represent an objective measurement of musical ability.