Special Report

50 Most Popular Rock Stars of All Time

Fox Photos / Hulton Archive via Getty Images 40. George Harrison > Lifetime YouTube channel views: 241,132,667 > Spotify followers: 1,845,595 > Lifetime Pandora streams: 1,243,038,143 > Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 10,504 Michael Ochs Archives…

By 247patrick

Published July 14, 2021, 10:00am ET · 6 min read

© Handout / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

What makes a rock star? Selling out stadiums and destroying hotel rooms in a drug-fueled craze? Shredding guitar solos and a strong disdain for authority? Many of the bands here fit the archetype, but the genre has also branched out in a million different directions.

To determine the 50 most popular rock performers of all time, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the top 10,000 most popular artists on the music analytics site Chartmetric. The site ranks them according to cross platform performance score (CPP), a measure based on views, subscribers, fans, streams, and other metrics on multiple social media and streaming platforms. Drawing on Chartmetric data, 24/7 Tempo created an index using Spotify followers, YouTube channel views, lifetime Pandora streams, and Wikipedia views from late May through late June 2021. All data was weighted equally.

The variety of artists who made the top 50 demonstrates that fans these days enjoy all kinds of rock. The list includes solo artists and groups ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Neil Young, Metallica to Radiohead. Rock royalty like Elvis and The Beatles are here, as are such newer alternative bands as Gorillaz and The Killers. Pop and rap/hip-hop artists are not included. (Here are the most famous rock bands formed every year since 1960.)

Click here to see the 50 most popular rock stars of all time

This ranking should be useful for anyone looking for some music recommendations, or who wants to see how their favorites from the past stack up in the modern world of streaming. Many bands come and go. Some are superstars in their time but don’t trickle down to future generations. Others have made timeless music that is still on repeat decades later. Many of the older rock icons here continue to create music. Here are 35 rock stars now 75 or older.

50. Neil Young
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 260,953,416
> Spotify followers: 2,215,229
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 1,154,753,217
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 7,883

49. Joe Walsh
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 6,852,140
> Spotify followers: 814,834
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 143,712,105
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 11,832

48. Ricky Nelson
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: No data available
> Spotify followers: 297,086
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 183,123,386
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 9,013

47. Bruce Springsteen
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 1,364,481,640
> Spotify followers: 4,049,371
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 687,385,743
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 5,885

46. Ozzy Osbourne
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 739,844,837
> Spotify followers: 3,587,635
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 1,134,070,373
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 6,792

45. Chris Cornell
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 100,038,048
> Spotify followers: 1,552,303
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 119,607,311
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 11,787

44. Korn
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 1,640,975,518
> Spotify followers: 4,624,790
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 2,066,422,825
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 2,681

43. The Killers
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 1,846,736,967
> Spotify followers: 6,004,402
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 2,652,937,457
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 37

42. Muse
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 2,202,706,870
> Spotify followers: 6,443,785
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 1,085,672,153
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 2,416

41. Counting Crows
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: No data available
> Spotify followers: 1,301,082
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 1,474,125,772
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 7,006

40. George Harrison
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 241,132,667
> Spotify followers: 1,845,595
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 1,243,038,143
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 10,504

39. The Beach Boys
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 136,338,138
> Spotify followers: 3,141,892
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 2,984,281,042
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 6,184

38. The Black Keys
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 630,758,962
> Spotify followers: 3,486,076
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 3,749,255,295
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 3,592

37. Radiohead
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 1,536,717,538
> Spotify followers: 6,154,164
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 1,658,507,127
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 4,306

36. Paul McCartney
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 233,808,014
> Spotify followers: 3,519,430
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 913,754,858
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 10,756

35. Tom Petty
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 560,289,770
> Spotify followers: 1,631,539
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 3,367,532,914
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 7,074

34. Jimi Hendrix
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 434,946,723
> Spotify followers: 4,954,131
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 1,312,676,422
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 8,898

33. Eric Clapton
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 287,509,044
> Spotify followers: 4,247,455
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 1,754,335,856
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 9,355

32. Pearl Jam
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 986,744,296
> Spotify followers: 6,706,042
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 2,525,941,865
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 4,749

31. Oasis
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 2,234,559,855
> Spotify followers: 6,266,520
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 1,385,341,795
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 5,782

30. Lynyrd Skynyrd
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 534,538,277
> Spotify followers: 3,405,231
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 3,814,774,111
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 6,124

29. System Of A Down
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 3,525,179,638
> Spotify followers: 7,231,337
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 1,565,873,591
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 3,360

28. Foo Fighters
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 2,223,864,010
> Spotify followers: 8,773,421
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 1,836,064,682
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 5,427

27. Gorillaz
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 3,499,185,046
> Spotify followers: 6,998,898
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 1,185,699,116
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 6,569

26. Arctic Monkeys
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 2,812,192,299
> Spotify followers: 11,812,909
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 1,379,146,620
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 3,271

25. John Lennon
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 813,595,844
> Spotify followers: 4,169,472
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 1,642,219,896
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 12,861

24. U2
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 1,584,409,092
> Spotify followers: 8,309,376
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 2,798,341,479
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 6,155

23. Glenn Frey
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 10,999,298
> Spotify followers: 384,212
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 33,957,483
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 21,738

22. Fleetwood Mac
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 789,490,530
> Spotify followers: 6,556,767
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 2,976,469,117
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 9,458

21. David Bowie
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 612,889,186
> Spotify followers: 6,894,044
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 543,862,289
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 15,149

20. Aerosmith
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 2,476,853,952
> Spotify followers: 10,292,467
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 3,497,473,384
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 3,511

19. Journey
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 1,175,551,318
> Spotify followers: 3,576,795
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 7,369,795,608
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 3,647

18. Creedence Clearwater Revival
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 894,185,941
> Spotify followers: 4,286,592
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 6,715,767,187
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 4,877

17. Bon Jovi
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 5,043,357,567
> Spotify followers: 9,328,992
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 2,748,734,720
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 3,859

16. Green Day
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 3,085,222,440
> Spotify followers: 12,138,801
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 3,322,973,829
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 5,371

15. Nirvana
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 3,831,878,559
> Spotify followers: 12,774,030
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 3,147,875,898
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 6,194

14. Pink Floyd
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 994,861,467
> Spotify followers: 14,622,465
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 2,715,579,735
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 10,242

13. Elvis Presley
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 1,250,293,027
> Spotify followers: 5,461,163
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 2,903,232,668
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 17,748

12. Led Zeppelin
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 1,424,124,649
> Spotify followers: 10,714,229
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 4,669,437,004
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 10,949

11. Twenty One Pilots
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 3,695,493,886
> Spotify followers: 20,395,574
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 2,400,751,816
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 5,297

10. The Rolling Stones
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 1,190,102,967
> Spotify followers: 10,239,327
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 6,751,479,998
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 10,033

9. AC/DC
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 5,946,630,585
> Spotify followers: 19,184,928
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 4,870,519,218
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 187

8. Metallica
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 4,476,385,041
> Spotify followers: 17,822,487
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 3,608,842,982
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 7,490

7. Elton John
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 1,630,092,137
> Spotify followers: 7,129,353
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 5,621,539,673
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 16,945

6. Guns N’ Roses
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 6,606,098,434
> Spotify followers: 20,632,747
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 2,905,268,951
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 5,172

5. Eagles
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 395,252,617
> Spotify followers: 6,547,642
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 6,077,192,109
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 20,786

4. Red Hot Chili Peppers
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 5,083,377,617
> Spotify followers: 16,033,120
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 6,889,305,567
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 6,804

3. Imagine Dragons
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 11,426,066,911
> Spotify followers: 34,219,881
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 6,524,640,673
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 3,233

2. The Beatles
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 3,834,795,845
> Spotify followers: 19,556,309
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 13,798,999,620
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 15,336

1. Queen
> Lifetime YouTube channel views: 8,260,605,188
> Spotify followers: 34,371,171
> Lifetime Pandora streams: 7,445,079,346
> Wikipedia page views (May 26 – June 26, 2021): 9,891