We have lost Michael and now we have lost Prince, so who is the greatest living legend now?

[Ms. BlueGangsta]

You guys must have been sleeping until now. Beyoncé's a songwriter, producer, dancer, actress and just released a visual album celebrating blackness and femininity.

I'm not saying she isn't a legend, but she isn't on the same level as MJ, Prince, or anyone else in this thread.
She's caught stealing from other lesser known artist on a constant, and I highly doubt her songwriting abilities.
I think it's great that she released a visual album celebrating blackness and femininity, but that still doesn't mean she's on the same level as anyone else in this thread.

I honestly think it's disrespectful to artist like MJ and Prince to say she's on their level when she hasn't done half as much.
There's already enough people saying so and so is next MJ, and I'm not cosigning the nonsense. :no:

I like other artist, but I'm here for MJ first, and if anyone thinks an artist like Beyonce is on or anywhere near his level (or Prince's for that matter) they're reaching.

 

[Psychoniff]

Feel silly now, Stevie Wonder is very worthy. He is very talented and his songs are legendary. Paul McCartney, less so, his post Beatles output is generally quite anodyne. I find wings pleasant but not genius like. Also like Richard most of them have not had hits or made much music in years.

I am still sticking with Little Richard, solely for his creational skills alone, and while I am mentioning him, how about Chuck Berry, another early rock n roll artist, and his first truly Rock Song - Maybelline hit the charts in July 1955, 3 months before Tutti Frutti. Berry also gave us Johnny B Goode and Brown eyed handsome man, two classic songs. Maybelline was important too, as it set up the recurring car and love motif in early rock songs. You begin to wonder is Maybelline the name of a girl he is chasing or his cadillac!

As for Beyonce, not even close, only been around since late 90s (Very late 90s like 1999) and all her music is the same weak r and b semi rappique bling bling rubbish. Same with Rhianna, and Kanye West. To me modern rap is not music, its just sex, violence and swearing to a drum machine beat. Her songs show only the most basic construction and her instrumental skills are non existent. They are not legends, but the 14 year old mouth breeders who have never listened to anything other than chart rap, urban soul, boy bands and Bieber would say they are legends.

At least no one has said Justin Bieber! Thank God.

I agree with first two paragraphs, the last one is a bit off though.

 

[HIStory]

Not a big fan of hers but probably Madonna. But then it depends on your definition of a legend. Is Stevie Wonder a greater musician than her? IMO yes, but if the definition includes global popularity, reach etc. then I think Madonna is probably the greatest living legend now. I think only her death will stir the same emotions in people as MJ, Prince and Whitney.

As far as today's popular acts - I think the jury is still out on them. Beyoncé is very popular NOW, but how she will be remembered in 20 years from now when she is her 50s that remains to be seen.

 

[Ms. BlueGangsta]

Not a big fan of hers but probably Madonna. But then it depends on your definition of a legend. Is Stevie Wonder a greater musician than her? IMO yes, but if the definition includes global popularity, reach etc. then I think Madonna is probably the greatest living legend now. I think only her death will stir the same emotions in people as MJ, Prince and Whitney.

As far as today's popular acts - I think the jury is still out on them. Beyoncé is very popular NOW, but how she will be remembered in 20 years from now when she is her 50s that remains to be seen.

My main problem with Beyonce being called a legend isn't related to her music at all really (even though it's not the best).
My question is what has she done that's so special that's she deserves MJ, or Beatles legend status?

She hasn't done anything new or groundbreaking, and she hasn't changed the music industry in any way (despite what some of her delusional fans may think).

Beyonce herself is still following Michael's blueprint (as is everyone else), and to a certain extent she's just Tina Turner 2.0.

She's extremely successful and popular, and will never be forgotten, but the same thing can be said for Rihanna, Adele, Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, etc.

Nothing against Beyonce (she's a fellow MJ fan), but shes not on the same level as Madonna, Whitney, Stevie Wonder, or Prince, and she's definitely not on or anywhere near the same level as MJ or the Beatles.

 

[HIStoric]

As for Beyonce, not even close, only been around since late 90s (Very late 90s like 1999) and all her music is the same weak r and b semi rappique bling bling rubbish. Same with Rhianna, and Kanye West. To me modern rap is not music, its just sex, violence and swearing to a drum machine beat.

I don't actually listen to much modern rap, but I'll act like I know what I'm talking about anyway: A story by mjprince1976.

As far as today's popular acts - I think the jury is still out on them. Beyoncé is very popular NOW, but how she will be remembered in 20 years from now when she is her 50s that remains to be seen.

I think she will be well remembered in the 2030s. She's been consistently huge since the end of the 90s, so that's a good ~17 years or so already of being huge, with many of those years being at the forefront of popular culture. I don't know how you could be so big for that long and not be remembered well in 20 years time.

I do expect her popularity to wane somewhat by then (given that's the typical arc for almost every artist) but going by her success so far, I definitely think she'll be remembered well in her 50s.

She's done quite well in revolutionising the release process of albums over the past 3 years. The idea of suddenly releasing an album without any warning was essentially unheard of until she pulled it off at the end of 2013 to incredible success. I remember everyone going crazy over that; fast forward to 2016 and many other artists have tried to pull off that idea as well with few coming near her success for it - both commercially and virally. The concept has become associated with her, I've seen people call the surprise release idea "pulling a Beyoncé" countless times.

Then you have the video album. Was she the first to pull off such the specific concept? I genuinely don't know, googling "visual album" comes up with nothing but Beyoncé related results for the first few pages (and honestly, I'm surprised Michael didn't do the idea first, given he is the King of Music Videos). However, I feel she's definitely beginning to make it a concept that's associated with her now, given the huge success of her two most recent visual albums. I didn't watch the visual album for Beyoncé in 2013, but I watched Lemonade a few days ago and it's really good. Really digging the new album too, there's some really good stuff on there (and her vocals on Sandcastles, holy shit).

Can you imagine if Michael did a visual album? I wish he did something like that, it would've be so fascinating.

 

[Ms. BlueGangsta]

Can you imagine if Michael did a visual album? I wish he did something like that, it would've be so fascinating.

So we're just going to pretend that Moonwalker by MJ and Purple Rain by Prince don't exist?
The only thing that Beyonce has done that hasn't been done before is the suprise album drop, which was pretty cool, but still isn't enough to put her on the same level as people that created the music industry as we know it.

 

[HIStoric]

So we're just going to pretend the Moonwalker and Purple Rain don't exist?

Those aren't visual albums.

There is no "Moonwalker" album. The beginning was essentially a retrospect, followed by kids dancing to Bad, two unrelated music videos (unrelated as in to the theme of the whole film, though Speed Demon and Leave Me Alone's music videos do share similar themes with each other in regards to the media/press), then you have the Smooth Criminal segment where you have an incredible 10 minute music video in the middle, topped off 20-30 minutes later with a performance of Come Together.

That's not a visual album. Neither is Purple Rain. While the album does share the name as the film, most of the songs performed are just Prince performing on stage. I also don't think most of the songs themselves have much to do with the theme of the film either? I can't speak on that behalf, I literally only watched it recently once. They're more in line with the "musical" concept I suppose.

Compare this to Lemonade, where there isn't much story-line in between the songs. Every single song on the album is represented in the same order as the visual album. Each song has it's own distinct music video and they all coherently explore similar/overarching themes. It's essentially an album, but well, visual.

 

[Ms. BlueGangsta]

Those aren't visual albums.

There is no "Moonwalker" album. The beginning was essentially a retrospect, followed by kids dancing to Bad, two unrelated music videos (unrelated as in to the theme of the whole film, though Speed Demon and Leave Me Alone's music videos do share similar themes with each other in regards to the media/press), then you have the Smooth Criminal segment where you have an incredible 10 minute music video in the middle, topped off 20-30 minutes later with a performance of Come Together.

That's not a visual album. Neither is Purple Rain. While the album does share the name as the film, most of the songs performed are just Prince performing on stage. I also don't think most of the songs themselves have much to do with the theme of the film either? I can't speak on that behalf, I literally only watched it recently once. They're more in line with the "musical" concept I suppose.

Compare this to Lemonade, where there isn't much story-line in between the songs. Every single song on the album is represented in the same order as the visual album. Each song has it's own distinct music video and they all coherently explore similar/overarching themes. It's essentially an album, but well, visual.

K.
If that's what you want to think.

I suppose that you and I have different criteria for a "visual album".

Beyonce is great, but if you think anythings she's done outside of the suprise album drop is new and groundbreaking then you're pretending that Madonnna, Tina Turner, Janet Jackson, Prince, MJ and many others never existed.

 

[HIStoric]

K.
If that's what you want to think.

And then on top of this, I suppose other films such as Purple Rain, A Hard Day's Night, Help! etc (where musical films share the soundtrack with the album) are films where the artists music tends to help tie together some sort of storyline. You often start off with a song, have an extended period where the artist is acting in the role as if it's your typical film, then cue another song and repeat. You could consider it music videos separated by segments of story and other elements I suppose.

A visual album, on the other hand, has more of a focus on the visual representation of just the music itself (and the themes represented thereof). It's essentially just song after song after song with much less room for said aforementioned other segments that aren't always related to the music. It's an album of music videos essentially - hence visual album. Yeah.

Like I said, I'm not sure if Beyoncé is the first to do such a concept - not that I can think of another example of similar structure. No, it also isn't an entirely unique concept, just like the idea of the "music video" essentially wasn't because, ya know, musicals had already been invented and popularised. However, the specific structure of the visual work in itself is enough for me to distinguish it from the more typical "musicals" we've seen artists like Elvis, Prince, and The Beatles do. That's essentially what it is for me.

Let's say Moonwalker, for example, ended up continuing the concept of music video after music video after Leave Me Alone (rather than abruptly changing focus half way through). These music videos perhaps continued exploring similar overarching themes (not a strict requirement, hence "perhaps"), as well as shared the same name/track layout of it's corresponding album... then yeah I'd consider that a visual album too. Because the visual work would essentially be like "an album of music videos" so to speak.

 

[Smooth72]

Marshall Mathers! Lol! There just isn't really anyone on that level any longer Mj and Prince are once in a lifetime artist or in this case twice! Garth Brooks is up there. I seen him in concert last yr and will see him again in 2 weeks. Fantastic live performer fantastic!

 

[HIStory]

She's done quite well in revolutionising the release process of albums over the past 3 years. The idea of suddenly releasing an album without any warning was essentially unheard of until she pulled it off at the end of 2013 to incredible success. I remember everyone going crazy over that; fast forward to 2016 and many other artists have tried to pull off that idea as well with few coming near her success for it - both commercially and virally. The concept has become associated with her, I've seen people call the surprise release idea "pulling a Beyoncé" countless times.

I keep hearing people bringing this up as Beyonce's main achievement but that's a marketing strategy not an artistic achievement. I am not really getting artistically impressed by how an album is dropped. Not even if Beyoncé herself contributed to the idea (I don't know if she did, it might be the brainchild of her marketing team).But even if she was involved in the idea at best that would make her a marketing genius, not an artistic one.

The "visual album" it seems to me simply means that you sell your music videos together with the album. Once again it seems to be more about the channel through which your music and videos are brought to the public, not about the content itself. With a video album you are not putting them on a seperately released DVD (eg. Dangerous - The Short Films) but you sell them together with the album upon release of the album. That's the main difference - again seems more like a marketing issue to me, than artistic.

 

[HIStory]

Like I said, I'm not sure if Beyoncé is the first to do such a concept - not that I can think of another example of similar structure.

Pink Floyd - The Wall.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Floyd_–_The_Wall

 

[PoP]

Little Richard
Paul McCartney
Stevie Wonder
Ringo Starr (to me he's a legendary drummer)
Mariah Carey
Celine Dion

 

[LindavG]

I keep hearing people bringing this up as Beyonce's main achievement but that's a marketing strategy not an artistic achievement. I am not really getting artistically impressed by how an album is dropped. Not even if Beyoncé herself contributed to the idea (I don't know if she did, it might be the brainchild of her marketing team).But even if she was involved in the idea at best that would make her a marketing genius, not an artistic one.

True but that doesn't mean she can't be(come) a legend I would argue that Madonna is more of a marketing genius than an artistic genius too.

 

[mjprince1976]

You guys must have been sleeping until now. Beyoncé's a songwriter, producer, dancer, actress and just released a visual album celebrating blackness and femininity.

Yes but she plays one type of music only and her song construction is EXTREMELY simplistic. Most of her songs are about being a angry ho, dumping men, making money, shaking dat ass and partying. Her music is appealing to mostly teenage and 20 something teeny boppers. Also her music LACKS INSTRUMENTS! except looped in, machine pumped bling bling ***** and she only does it because of her husband who got rich off drugs.

I mean - "Single ladies put a ring on it", is NOT high art, neither is "Girls we rule the mfin world"

Plus Beyonce is a very poor role model for African Americans and Girls, which her weave wearing (Hair hats), skin lightening, over made and skimpy clothe wearing ho image, and how many impressionable people have named their kids Beyonce or poorly spelt equivalents like Breonshay and Biyonce.

I am so glad the African American community has given us so many talented legends like Sam Cooke, Little Richard, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Gladys Knight, Patty Labelle, All the Motown acts including Stevie and Marvin, Jackie Wilson, Sly Stone, Michael Jackson, Prince, Tina Turner, Ray parker Jnr and many more, but this current crop of R and B stars and rappers are nowhere near legend status. Seriously could you even compare Beyonce to say Aretha Franklin!

I used to like a few songs, but she just sucks, plus she is part of of the music illuminati and wants us to have a hive mind.

Please just give it up, this thread is for Musical legends, not illuminati hos who have a few big hits with music that sounds the same everytime. Her visual album is more of the same, all her music sounds the same as Crazy in Love and say my name.

 

[Michaels Lover]

Paul McCartney, less so, his post Beatles output is generally quite anodyne. I find wings pleasant but not genius like.

Paul McCartney definitely IS a legend! even if he had never done anything after the Beatles, he would be a legend for that alone. and that goes for all 4 of them, not just him. just because you don't like him, doesn't make him any less of a legend. I don't like every artist that's been mentioned here, but I can't deny that they are legends

 

[mjprince1976]

Not a big fan of hers but probably Madonna. But then it depends on your definition of a legend. Is Stevie Wonder a greater musician than her? IMO yes, but if the definition includes global popularity, reach etc. then I think Madonna is probably the greatest living legend now. I think only her death will stir the same emotions in people as MJ, Prince and Whitney.

As far as today's popular acts - I think the jury is still out on them. Beyoncé is very popular NOW, but how she will be remembered in 20 years from now when she is her 50s that remains to be seen.

I have to agree with you, I loved all of Madonnas 1980s and early 90s output, less crazy about the music since, but there are still songs on every album I love. I originally stopped my collection at 2008's hard candy which has 5 good songs and a lot of filler, but after watching a Rebel Heart concert on youtube (I spent all my money on Prince, so couldn't go to the Rebel Heart show here in Auckland), noticed some of the songs I haven't heard were really good.

So I bought a copy of Rebel Heart and I like most of it. Ghosttown and Iconic are very good. Was put off as B***h I'm Madonna was a very weak song and poor choice for first single.

Agree about Elton John. but his private loopiness can put me off, not because he is gay (I love that fact) but the fact he carries on like a spoilt little brat and he has not really had an epic song or album since 1997's the Big Picture.

I am a Prince fan first, then Michael Jackson of course, then the next group is Madonna/Stevie/Elton and David Bowie pretty much.

 

[Ms. BlueGangsta]

Yes but she plays one type of music only and her song construction is EXTREMELY simplistic. Most of her songs are about being a angry ho, dumping men, making money, shaking dat ass and partying. Her music is appealing to mostly teenage and 20 something teeny boppers. Also her music LACKS INSTRUMENTS! except looped in, machine pumped bling bling ***** and she only does it because of her husband who got rich off drugs.

I mean - "Single ladies put a ring on it", is NOT high art, neither is "Girls we rule the mfin world"

Plus Beyonce is a very poor role model for African Americans and Girls, which her weave wearing (Hair hats), skin lightening, over made and skimpy clothe wearing ho image, and how many impressionable people have named their kids Beyonce or poorly spelt equivalents like Breonshay and Biyonce.

I am so glad the African American community has given us so many talented legends like Sam Cooke, Little Richard, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Gladys Knight, Patty Labelle, All the Motown acts including Stevie and Marvin, Jackie Wilson, Sly Stone, Michael Jackson, Prince, Tina Turner, Ray parker Jnr and many more, but this current crop of R and B stars and rappers are nowhere near legend status. Seriously could you even compare Beyonce to say Aretha Franklin!

I used to like a few songs, but she just sucks, plus she is part of of the music illuminati and wants us to have a hive mind.

Please just give it up, this thread is for Musical legends, not illuminati hos who have a few big hits with music that sounds the same everytime. Her visual album is more of the same, all her music sounds the same as Crazy in Love and say my name.

I don't think she should be called a ho (would you call a man a ho?), and crazily enough Run the world Girls is the ONLY song by her I like.
I also haven't seen people naming their children after her en masse, and even if they did I don't think those names are poorly spelled just different.
Additionally, I don't think that only Beyonce can be blamed for pushing certain ideals when you have people like nicki Minaj for example that do the exact same things you accused Beyonce of.
The ideals of beauty and success being pushed now are a group effort and cannot be promoted by one person alone.

Nonetheless, I still don't think she's on the same level as MJ, the Beatles, Whitney, etc.
I do think she could be gaining on someone like say Madonna though.
Like I said before, I think their are multiple tiers to legend status, and to me Beyonce is already a legend just a low tier one along with Rihanna and Adele.

 

[FullLipsDotNose]

Yes but she plays one type of music only and her song construction is EXTREMELY simplistic. Most of her songs are about being a angry ho, dumping men, making money, shaking dat ass and partying. Her music is appealing to mostly teenage and 20 something teeny boppers. Also her music LACKS INSTRUMENTS! except looped in, machine pumped bling bling ***** and she only does it because of her husband who got rich off drugs.

I mean - "Single ladies put a ring on it", is NOT high art, neither is "Girls we rule the mfin world"

Plus Beyonce is a very poor role model for African Americans and Girls, which her weave wearing (Hair hats), skin lightening, over made and skimpy clothe wearing ho image, and how many impressionable people have named their kids Beyonce or poorly spelt equivalents like Breonshay and Biyonce.

I am so glad the African American community has given us so many talented legends like Sam Cooke, Little Richard, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Gladys Knight, Patty Labelle, All the Motown acts including Stevie and Marvin, Jackie Wilson, Sly Stone, Michael Jackson, Prince, Tina Turner, Ray parker Jnr and many more, but this current crop of R and B stars and rappers are nowhere near legend status. Seriously could you even compare Beyonce to say Aretha Franklin!

I used to like a few songs, but she just sucks, plus she is part of of the music illuminati and wants us to have a hive mind.

Please just give it up, this thread is for Musical legends, not illuminati hos who have a few big hits with music that sounds the same everytime. Her visual album is more of the same, all her music sounds the same as Crazy in Love and say my name.

Girls Rule the World or whatever it is called is a hardcore feminist song.

She can wear whatever she wants, there should be no restrictions. Do we actually have any reliable data that would support that people name children after legends en masse? Michael has been a name popular for decades, the same with James, but I haven't seen many people named Aretha, Prince nor Madonna.

 

[HIStory]

True but that doesn't mean she can't be(come) a legend I would argue that Madonna is more of a marketing genius than an artistic genius too.

Yes, I agree with that. She can become a legend, we will see. My point was simply that this argument about how she dropped her album and even the visual album thing are not good arguments for considering her a legend. Eventually it will have to come down to the music, the dance, the art and whether what she does there will prove memorable on the long term - and not to memorable marketing strategies.

 

[HIStoric]

Pink Floyd - The Wall.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Floyd_–_The_Wall

Thanks! I'm not entirely familiar with their music outside of DSOTM

 

[Michaels Lover]

omg how could we forget Queen hno:

 

[HIStory]

omg how could we forget Queen hno:

Queen as a band might still exist but I don't think it is the same as with Freddie Mercury so I am not really counting them now towards the greatest living legends. Queen were legends with Freddie Mercury who is not alive any more.

 

[Ms. BlueGangsta]

Queen as a band might still exist but I don't think it is the same as with Freddie Mercury so I am not really counting them now towards the greatest living legends. Queen were legends with Freddie Mercury who is not alive any more.

Freddie was amazzzzzzzzzing!
His voice on Don't stop me Now, and Killer Queen are some of the best vocals I've ever heard, and IMO are second only to MJ's.
Freddie is a perfect example of why it's important to put emotion in your music.
When he sung you could feel that his heart was in it.

 

[Michaels Lover]

They still legends for what they have done with queen. What they are doing now doesnt change that. Just because freddie is dead,doesnt change the fact that they are legends,and that queen is a legendary band

 

[Bad7]

Paul McCartney without doubt I'd say. He has been in the music business for almost 60 years. The Beatles are the biggest and best selling band ever. Add to that it's incredible that he still sells records to a very good standard even today. His last album was released in 2013 and got to number three in the UK and the US which is a fantastic achievement given it's extremely hard to still be able to sell records way after your peak.

Madonna a very close second. She does extremely well in the modern era also.

 

[DuranDuran]

Then you have the video album. Was she the first to pull off such the specific concept?

I think that would be Elephant Parts by Michael Nesmith from The Monkees, which won a Grammy. It came out in 1981. Nesmith is also indirectly responsible for MTV as Warners bought Pop Clips from him. He was one of the 1st to do country rock as well. Nesmith directed the music video for Lionel Richie's All Night Long.

 

[HIStory]

They still legends for what they have done with queen. What they are doing now doesnt change that. Just because freddie is dead,doesnt change the fact that they are legends,and that queen is a legendary band

No, it doesn't change the fact they are legends but the thread is about LIVING legends. Queen in it's legendary form doesn't exist any more because Freddie is dead.

 

[nickzark]

i would say Rolling Stones.. (and Axl Rose cause i am a fan.xaxa)

 

[MJsBollywoodGirl7]

The only living legends I know are the ones from India:

Lata Mangeshkar
Alka Yagnik
Asha Bhosley
Shreya Ghoshal
Kumar Sanu
Shaan
Udit Narayan
Sonu Nigam


Sonu Nigam is definitely a living legend. His voice is absolutely incredible. Especially in his song Tees Maar Khan. If you heard that song. He did all the different voices in that song.