Who is the GOAT of all time in music?

[NeonPilot]

Not "your favourite" - the actual greatest. Influence, catalogue, longevity, impact. You can only pick one. No safe answers, no lists

[VB]

There is no GOAT, it depends on genre

[Steady Dylan]

Most people just pick who they grew up with

[BlueFalcon]

Influence matters more than popularity

[Cheeky Kernel]

Cannot disagree with that. People forget that pressure affects players differently and the better sides handle it better.

Cannot wait for the game to settle it

[Inland Aidan]

I tried that and hit a problem at the second stage. Should be fine if you take your time.

[DeepInlet]

Picking one is almost impossible because music has too many different ways to measure greatness. If the criteria are influence, catalogue, longevity and cultural impact, Michael Jackson has one of the strongest cases.

The amount of artists who copied his style, studied his performances or changed their approach because of him is massive.

You do not have to be a fan to recognise the size of that legacy.

[Quiet Depot]

The answer changes depending on what you value most. For songwriting alone, people could argue for Paul McCartney or Bob Dylan.

For innovation, you could bring up David Bowie. For vocal ability, Freddie Mercury enters the conversation very quickly.

The problem with choosing one GOAT is that music has too many different playing fields

[QuantumToken98]

A strong argument can be made for The Beatles. Their influence on popular music is almost impossible to overstate.

They changed how albums were made, how artists wrote songs and how musicians thought about the studio.

Plenty of bands after them were basically standing on their shoulders.

[Phil80]

My vote would go to Stevie Wonder. The combination of songwriting, musicianship and creativity is ridiculous.

He was making groundbreaking records while playing multiple instruments and pushing production ideas forward.

People sometimes forget how much he changed the possibilities of pop music.

[QuantumLeap34]

Michael Jackson probably wins the global impact argument. There are artists who are famous, and then there are artists whose name is known almost everywhere on Earth.

Thriller was not just a successful album, it became a cultural event.

Very few musicians have reached that level.

[Megan95]

Queen deserves a mention because Freddie Mercury had a rare ability to connect with huge audiences.

Lots of singers have great voices, but very few can command a stadium the way he could.

The man could probably walk onto a stage and make a crowd of 100,000 people follow a hand movement

[BookerT_99]

Going with Bob Dylan for me. The voice might be an acquired taste, but the writing changed what popular music could talk about.

A lot of modern artists who focus on lyrics owe something to him.

Sometimes influence is not about sounding like someone, it is about opening a door nobody knew existed.