Favorite band or artist of all time?

Grateful Dead. 

For those folk who think Jimi Hendrix wasn't a good lyricist or a great guitar player or?..and his Strat didn't sound good! All I can say was he was a genius in all areas of music...period. IMHO...and apparently in most others as well!

Will NEVER be surpassed !

https://youtu.be/z92gnN0lDx8?t=2

Impossible question, but it has to be Joni Mitchell. She got me through my teenage angst, just, with "Blue", my all time favourite LP and I'm 71 now. That's an awful lot of years.

So many great artists. Hard to pin down even the top ten, I do think that Chuck Berry deserves to be very high on the list. Mostly overlooked, for some unknown reason.

johnto. The Beatles definitely changed the landscape of Rock&Roll! Probably wouldn't have been the same without them. GENIUS 😎
Talk about Influenciaal!!!

Gustav Mahler.  David Bowie. 

Ihasaguy -- Sorry to report but I walked out of the Allman Bros Band/Duane Allman concert they put on in Santa Barbara in '71, during the same tour you certainly saw.  It got to the point where I decided that if I hear Duane do that whoop-dee-doodle-do guitar lick one more time, I'd leave.  About ten seconds later, he did it again.

"There can be only one"

crap. well, OK.

based on the idea I'd be listening to just this group forever without  any other musicians I'd opt for The Beatles.

Huge catalog. varied presentations and styles.  definitely an easy listen.

A good argument could be made for the 'Stones' & Sir Elton on that note as well.

"the Beatles Changed The World"- Netflix Documentary. I wholeheartedly agree,
but unfortunately they were unable to stay together.
The Rolling Stones OTOH just kept on rolling, and any band that could write a great song like "Sympathy for the Devil" and so many others too numerous to mention deserve a ton of credit. I have never given them the credit they deserve. "Sticky Fingers" is one of my personal favorites
but that doesn't fully express my point- I just get lost in it.

I'm not a rabid Beatles fan, but I realized the other day that, when they finished recording "Abbey Road", their last recording, the oldest of them, Ringo, was 29.
Harrison was only 26.

And just 6 1/2 years had passed since their first album.

Decry them all you want, but I can't think of anyone else in 20th century contemporary music who accomplished so much musically and culturally in so short a time.

I have to put in a vote for Mozart in the classical realm.  And while I am adding to my list that began with Duane Allman, the best female  singer for me (apologies to Janis who I saw and loved) is Eva Cassidy.  Her voice touches me every time I hear her sing.

Am I Inside - Alice in Chains
Dead Girl-Acid Bath

No fair schubert. Everyone pales in comparison with JSB ;-) .

+90 for J.S. Bach

+1 Elizabeth re: our dear ole Ludwig Van.

Loved Little Feat when Lowell George was alive. 
I don't have one favorite at this point, over the years, I was very attached to one particular band for a period of time, from LZ1 or early Tull, to The Band or Allmans from the Duane era. Now, I love 'em all! :)

Little Feat with Lowell George. After Lowell left so did my interest.

Aaron
Tull. What can you say. So much great music and lyrics.   Missed them in their hey day, but have attended two recent performances at the Palace theatres in Greensburg Pa. Great venue.
I cannot select one favorite, but JT is right up there.  Why are they not in the R&R Hall of fame?

Root Boy Slim and The Sex Change Band

Eyeless in Gaza

Favorite? Captain Fantastic. Oh and his lyricist the Brown Dirt Cowboy.

Stevie Wonder

All great choices! No one is right or wrong.
Queen would probably be a close second for me (especially old Queen) -1st 5 or 6 albums😎

Steve, the story Eric tells (in The Last Waltz, I believe) is that his reaction upon hearing Music From Big Pink was "Music had been heading in the wrong direction for a long time. When I heard MFBP, I thought, well, someone has finally got it right." He told Ginger and Jack Cream was over, and headed to West Saugerties (the upstate New York hamlet in which the Big Pink house is located) to hang with The Band, waiting, he says, to get up the nerve to ask them to join. He then says it finally dawned on him---they neither required nor desired his services!

The story goes that Clapton offered his services to The Band and their response was something like, no thanks, we already have a guitarist.

Beyond ALL doubt the greatest American musician of all time, the one who was the only man who could express the very heart and soul of our great nation was Tiny Tim !Even our great president can’t make us great again after we lost him.Of course making "tip-toe through the tulips " what it should be, our national anthem, would be a step forward .

I feel your pain, Steve. I too was enthralled with Ginger's playing, until I wised up ;-) . Buddy Rich referred to him as a clown. I didn't yet know Clapton had disbanded (heh) Cream after and a result of hearing The Band's debut album, but was still surprised to see him so soon again playing with Ginger in Blind Faith. Eric more than made up for that by enlisting Jim Gordon, a fantastic drummer (and all-around musician. Jim and Eric wrote "Layla", and Jim plays the piano part in the middle section of the song) in Derek & The Dominoes. But many disagree with we and Buddy, considering Ginger one of the all-time greatest. Different strokes for different folks!

Pink Floyd

Traffic.

I was absorbed with Cream when Sunshine Of Your Love/Disaraeli Gears hit the airwaves and record stores in Boston in late 1967. And then Wheels Of Fire came out and I begged my folks to give me advance on my allowance so that I could purchase it. And then, a couple of years later, I realised what a troglodyte of a drummer Ginger Baker was. Compared to other drummers that soon after came to the fore, he sounded relatively plodding, and that horrible tom-tom cacaphony soon drive me nuts. I mean, where was the snare? At least Moon could swing.

R A D I O H E A D

Without a doubt it is Jethro Tull.  Not only do I enjoy the music but I find the lyrics and subject matter that Ian Anderson touches upon over the years to really hit many chords with me in my own life.  

Stand Up alone has some treasures:

We Used to Know always reminds me of the cycle of life, it’s ups and downs, and the people I have lost along the way.

For a Thousand Mothers reminds me a lot of my relationship with my own parents.  Just like in the song, my parents were always telling me I wasn’t capable of being what I had already become.  

And then there is Reasons for Waiting which is virtually a description of my early relationship with my wife.  “Came a thousand miles just to see you smile.”  We had a long distance relationship for four years—we were about 800 miles apart.  It was tough as hell, but there was no one in the world I loved more and to this day the only people whom I have loved even more are the two beautiful children she has given me.

I could delve into Tull’s work endlessly, like how most people have badly misinterpreted
Aqualung, but I will save that for another time.  Suffice to say that Jethro Tull is head and shoulders above everyone else my favorite.

-Aaron

By far, The Cure.  I listen(ed) to them so much, i got sick of them, but keep coming back for more. 

Beatles, Zep and Dead. Some days, it's easier to choose than on others.

Jeff Beck is definitely one of the most interesting guitarists and musicians and he's also my favourite artist. Heard recently him on a private party (organized with a help of https://bstars.eu/ ) Totally blew my mind. His picking ability sounds more fresh than some other guitarists... Always sounds delicious.

It is my heart Iris Dement effects, to the point of feeling it will burst. I swear, an Angel sent down from Heaven.

@bdp24 -

iris Dement? very Interesting choice. I met her after one of her shows a long time ago, really sweet lady, made her laugh when I said 'that was a blinding gig', she did not know what i meant. 

My go to artist  of all time is Sopor Aeternus. 

Queen for me. Since the first time I heard them at 8 years old.

Roxy Music
Led Zep
Rush
Jeff Beck (in all his many phases)

I would also throw Richard Thompson into the mix!

Obviously everyone has their favorites, but, really? I’m surprised at the lack of musical diversity. Thank goodness someone mentioned Duke Ellington. Has anyone heard of Miles Davis? 

Ella singing Rodgers and Hart. And I'm a big classical buff. Although the deluxe cd remastering of a few years ago was a disaster. 

Though I'm curious to know where you find current greatness in classical music. I simply stopped going I was so bored. To paraphrase Mark Twain it's better than people today can make it sound. But I'm genuinely interested in knowing what artists you find can compare with the past greats. I'll give them a listen. 

Tower of Power

Pearl Jam