The Most Famous

MUSICIANS from United Kingdom

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This page contains a list of the greatest British Musicians. The pantheon dataset contains 3,175 Musicians, 516 of which were born in United Kingdom. This makes United Kingdom the birth place of the 2nd most number of Musicians.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary British Musicians of all time. This list of famous British Musicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of British Musicians.

Photo of John Lennon

1. John Lennon (1940 - 1980)

With an HPI of 83.61, John Lennon is the most famous British Musician.  His biography has been translated into 138 different languages on wikipedia.

John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney remains the most successful in history. Born in Liverpool, Lennon became involved in the skiffle craze as a teenager. In 1956, he formed the Quarrymen, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Lennon initially was the group's de facto leader, a role he gradually seemed to cede to McCartney, writing and co-writing songs with increasing innovation, including "Strawberry Fields Forever", which he later cited as his finest work with the band. Lennon soon expanded his work into other media by participating in numerous films, including How I Won the War, and authoring In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works, both collections of nonsense writings and line drawings. Starting with "All You Need Is Love", his songs were adopted as anthems by the anti-war movement and the counterculture of the 1960s. In 1969, he started the Plastic Ono Band with his second wife, multimedia artist Yoko Ono, held the two-week-long anti-war demonstration bed-in for peace, and left the Beatles to embark on a solo career. Lennon and Ono collaborated on many works, including a trilogy of avant-garde albums and several more films. After the Beatles disbanded, Lennon released his solo debut John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and the international top-10 singles "Give Peace a Chance", "Instant Karma!", "Imagine", and "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)". Moving to New York City in 1971, his criticism of the Vietnam War resulted in a three-year deportation attempt by the Nixon administration. Lennon and Ono separated from 1973 to 1975, during which time he produced Harry Nilsson's album Pussy Cats. He also had chart-topping collaborations with Elton John ("Whatever Gets You thru the Night") and David Bowie ("Fame"). Following a five-year hiatus, Lennon returned to music in 1980 with the Ono collaboration Double Fantasy. He was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman, three weeks after the album's release. As a performer, writer or co-writer, Lennon had 25 number-one singles in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Double Fantasy, his second-best-selling non-Beatles album, won the 1981 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. That year, he won the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In 2002, Lennon was voted eighth in a BBC history poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. Rolling Stone ranked him the fifth-greatest singer and 38th-greatest artist of all time. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (in 1997) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (twice, as a member of the Beatles in 1988 and as a solo artist in 1994).

Photo of Lemmy

2. Lemmy (1945 - 2015)

With an HPI of 79.99, Lemmy is the 2nd most famous British Musician.  His biography has been translated into 61 different languages.

Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was a British musician. He was the founder, lead vocalist, bassist and primary songwriter of the metal band Motörhead, of which he was the only continuous member, and a member of Hawkwind from 1971 to 1975. A foundational force in the genre following the advent of the new wave of British heavy metal, Lemmy was known for his appearance, which included his signature friendly mutton chops, his military-influenced fashion sense and his gravelly rasp of a voice. It was once declared "one of the most recognisable voices in rock". He was also noted for his unique posture when singing, which was once described as "looking up towards a towering microphone tilted down into his weather-beaten face". He was also known for his bass playing style, using his Rickenbacker bass to create an "overpowered, distorted rhythmic rumble". A notable aspect of his bass sound was his guitar-like riffing, often playing power chords using heavily overdriven tube stacks by Marshall. Lemmy was born in Stoke-on-Trent and grew up between there, the nearby towns of Newcastle-under-Lyme and Madeley, and later the Welsh village of Benllech, Anglesey. At a later point, Lemmy remembers living briefly at Gwrych Castle, Abergele. He was influenced by rock and roll and the early works of the Beatles, which led to him playing in several rock groups in the 1960s, such as the Rockin' Vickers. He worked as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix and the Nice before joining the space rock band Hawkwind in 1971, singing lead vocals on their hit "Silver Machine". In 1975, he was fired from Hawkwind after an arrest for drug possession. That same year, he founded Motörhead. The band's success peaked around 1980 and 1981, including the hit single "Ace of Spades" and the chart-topping live album No Sleep 'til Hammersmith (1981). Lemmy continued to record and tour regularly with Motörhead until his death on 28 December 2015 in Los Angeles, where he had lived since 1990. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer two days before his death. Alongside his music career, he had minor roles and cameos in film and television. He was known for his hard-living, road-driven lifestyle, which included chain-smoking and daily consumption of large amounts of alcohol and amphetamine.

Photo of Jeff Beck

3. Jeff Beck (1944 - 2023)

With an HPI of 79.94, Jeff Beck is the 3rd most famous British Musician.  His biography has been translated into 56 different languages.

Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English musician. He rose to prominence as the guitarist of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to an instrumental style with focus on an innovative sound, and his releases spanned genres and styles ranging from blues rock, hard rock, jazz fusion and a blend of guitar-rock and electronica. Beck has been consistently ranked in the top five of Rolling Stone and other magazines' lists of the greatest guitarists. He was often called a "guitarist's guitarist". Rolling Stone described him as "one of the most influential lead guitarists in rock". Although he recorded two successful albums (1975's Blow by Blow and 1976's Wired) as a solo act, Beck did not establish or maintain commercial success like that of his contemporaries and bandmates. He recorded with many artists. Beck earned wide critical praise and received the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance six times, winning in three categories at the 2010 Grammy Awards for a career total of eight Grammies. In 2014, he received the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: first as a member of the Yardbirds (1992) and secondly as a solo artist (2009).

Photo of Roger Taylor

4. Roger Taylor (b. 1949)

With an HPI of 79.86, Roger Taylor is the 4th most famous British Musician.  His biography has been translated into 60 different languages.

Roger Meddows Taylor (born 26 July 1949) is an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He achieved international fame as the drummer and backing vocalist for the rock band Queen. As a drummer, Taylor was recognised early in his career for his unique sound and was voted the eighth-greatest drummer in classic rock music history in a listener poll conducted by Planet Rock in 2005. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 as a member of Queen. As a songwriter, Taylor composed at least one track on every Queen album, and often sang lead vocals on his own compositions. He wrote or co-wrote three UK number ones ("These Are the Days of Our Lives", "Innuendo" and "Under Pressure") and wrote a further five major hits ("Radio Ga Ga", "A Kind of Magic", "Heaven for Everyone", "Breakthru" and "The Invisible Man"). He has collaborated with such artists as Eric Clapton, Roger Waters, Roger Daltrey, Robert Plant, Phil Collins, Genesis, Jimmy Nail, Kansas, Elton John, Gary Numan, Shakin' Stevens, Foo Fighters, Al Stewart, Steve Vai, Yoshiki, Cyndi Almouzni and Bon Jovi. As a producer, he has produced albums by Virginia Wolf, Jimmy Nail and Magnum. As a singer, Taylor employs a falsetto vocal range. During the 1980s, in addition to his work with Queen, he formed a parallel band known as the Cross, in which he was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist. During the early 1980s, Taylor was also a panellist on the UK quiz show Pop Quiz, hosted by Mike Read. In 2014, he appeared in Brian Pern as himself. He is the father of the Darkness' drummer Rufus Tiger Taylor.

Photo of Paul McCartney

5. Paul McCartney (b. 1942)

With an HPI of 79.53, Paul McCartney is the 5th most famous British Musician.  His biography has been translated into 124 different languages.

Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One of the most successful composers and performers in history, McCartney is known for his melodic approach to bass-playing, versatile and wide tenor vocal range and musical eclecticism, exploring genres ranging from pre-rock and roll pop to classical, ballads and electronica. His songwriting partnership with Lennon is the most successful in music history. Born in Liverpool, McCartney taught himself piano, guitar and songwriting as a teenager, having been influenced by his father, a jazz player, and rock and roll performers such as Little Richard and Buddy Holly. He began his career when he joined Lennon's skiffle group, the Quarrymen, in 1957, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Sometimes called "the cute Beatle", McCartney later immersed himself in the London avant-garde scene and played a key role in incorporating experimental aesthetics into the Beatles' studio productions. Starting with the 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, he gradually became the band's de facto leader, providing creative impetus for most of their music and film projects. Many of his Beatles songs, including "And I Love Her", "Yesterday", "Eleanor Rigby" and "Blackbird", rank among the most covered songs in history. Although primarily a bassist with the Beatles, he played a number of other instruments, including keyboards, guitars and drums, on various songs. After the Beatles disbanded, he debuted as a solo artist with the 1970 album McCartney and went on to form the band Wings with his first wife, Linda, and Denny Laine. Under McCartney's leadership, Wings became one of the most successful bands of the 1970s. He wrote or co-wrote their US or UK number-one hits, such as "My Love", "Band on the Run", "Listen to What the Man Said", "Silly Love Songs" and "Mull of Kintyre". He resumed his solo career in 1980 and has been touring as a solo artist since 1989. Apart from Wings, his UK or US number-one hits include "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" (with Linda), "Coming Up", "Pipes of Peace", "Ebony and Ivory" (with Stevie Wonder) and "Say Say Say" (with Michael Jackson). Beyond music, he has been involved in projects to promote international charities related to animal rights, seal hunting, land mines, vegetarianism, poverty and music education. McCartney has written or co-written a record 32 songs that have topped the Billboard Hot 100 and, as of 2009, he had sales of 25.5 million RIAA-certified units in the US. His honours include two inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as a member of the Beatles in 1988 and as a solo artist in 1999), an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, 19 Grammy Awards, an appointment as a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1965 and an appointment as Knight Bachelor in 1997 for services to music. As of 2024, he is one of the wealthiest musicians in the world, with an estimated fortune of £1 billion.

Photo of Mark Knopfler

6. Mark Knopfler (b. 1949)

With an HPI of 78.32, Mark Knopfler is the 6th most famous British Musician.  His biography has been translated into 52 different languages.

Mark Freuder Knopfler OBE (born 12 August 1949) is a British musician. He was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits from 1977 to 1995, and he is the one of the two members who stayed during the band's existence, along with the bassist John Illsley. He pursued a solo career after the band dissolved, and is now an independent artist. Knopfler was born in Glasgow, and raised in Blyth, near Newcastle. After graduating from the University of Leeds and working for three years as a college lecturer, Knopfler co-founded Dire Straits with his younger brother, David Knopfler. The band recorded six albums, including Brothers in Arms (1985), one of the best-selling albums in history. After Dire Straits disbanded in 1995, Knopfler began a solo career, and has produced ten solo albums to date. He has composed and produced film scores for nine films, including Local Hero (1983), Cal (1984), The Princess Bride (1987), Wag the Dog (1997) and Altamira (2016). He has produced albums for Tina Turner, Bob Dylan, and Randy Newman. Described by Classic Rock as a virtuoso, Knopfler is a fingerstyle guitarist and was ranked 27th on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". With Dire Straits, Knopfler sold between 100 million and 120 million records. A four-time Grammy Award winner, Knopfler is the recipient of the Edison Award, the Steiger Award and the Ivor Novello Award, as well as holding three honorary doctorate degrees in music from universities in the United Kingdom. Knopfler was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Dire Straits in 2018.

Photo of Elton John

7. Elton John (b. 1947)

With an HPI of 78.15, Elton John is the 7th most famous British Musician.  His biography has been translated into 98 different languages.

Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin is one of the most successful in history. John was the 19th EGOT winner in history. He has sold over 300 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. John learned to play piano at an early age, winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. In the 1960s, he formed the blues band Bluesology, wrote songs for other artists alongside Taupin, and worked as a session musician, before releasing his debut album, Empty Sky (1969). Throughout the next six decades, John cemented his status as a cultural icon with 32 studio albums, including Honky Château (1972), Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973), Rock of the Westies (1975), Sleeping with the Past (1989), The One (1992), Songs from the West Coast (2001), The Diving Board (2013) and The Lockdown Sessions (2021). His catalog of hit singles includes "Your Song", "Tiny Dancer", "Rocket Man", "Crocodile Rock", "Bennie and the Jets", "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", "I'm Still Standing", "Sacrifice", "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and "Cold Heart". He has also had success in musical films and theatre, composing music for The Lion King (1994), Aida (2000), and Billy Elliot the Musical (2005). John's final tour, Farewell Yellow Brick Road (2018–2023), became the highest-grossing tour ever at the time. His life and career were dramatised in the 2019 biopic Rocketman. John is an HIV/AIDS charity fundraiser and has been involved in the fight against AIDS since the late 1980s. He established the Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992, which has raised over £300 million since its inception, and a year later he began hosting his annual AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Party, which has since become one of the biggest high-profile Oscar parties in the Hollywood film industry. John was the chairman and director of Watford Football Club from 1976 to 1987, and again from 1997 to 2002, and is an honorary life president of the club. From the late 1970s to the late 1980s, John developed a severe addiction to drugs and alcohol, but has been clean and sober since 1990. In 2005, he entered a civil partnership with his long-term partner, the Canadian filmmaker David Furnish. They married in 2014, when same-sex marriage was legalised in England and Wales. John has had more than fifty top-40 hits on the UK singles chart and US Billboard Hot 100, including nine number ones in both countries, as well as seven consecutive number-one albums in the US. He is the most successful solo artist in the history of the US Billboard charts. His tribute single to Diana, Princess of Wales, "Candle in the Wind 1997", a rewritten version of his 1974 single, sold over 33 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling chart single of all time. In 2021, he became the first solo artist with UK top 10 singles across six decades. John's awards include an Primetime Emmy Award, five Grammy Awards, two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards, a Laurence Olivier Award, and the Kennedy Center Honor. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, and is a fellow of The Ivors Academy. He was appointed Knight Bachelor for services to music and charity in 1998 and was appointed a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 2020.

Photo of Bon Scott

8. Bon Scott (1946 - 1980)

With an HPI of 78.13, Bon Scott is the 8th most famous British Musician.  His biography has been translated into 44 different languages.

Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott (9 July 1946 – 19 February 1980) was an Australian singer who was the second lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980. In the July 2004 issue of Classic Rock, Scott was ranked number one in a list of the "100 Greatest Frontmen of All Time". Hit Parader ranked Scott as fifth on their 2006 list of the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Vocalists of all time. Born in Forfar in Angus, Scotland, Scott spent his early years in Kirriemuir. He moved to Australia with his family in 1952 at the age of six, living in Melbourne for four years before settling in Fremantle, Western Australia. Scott formed his first band, the Spektors, in 1964 and became the band's drummer and occasional lead vocalist. He performed in several other bands, including the Valentines and Fraternity, before replacing original AC/DC lead singer Dave Evans in 1974. With AC/DC Scott performed on the band's first seven albums: High Voltage (1975, Australian only release), T.N.T. (1975, Australian only release), High Voltage (1976, first international release), Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976, not released until 1981 in the United States), Let There Be Rock (1977), Powerage (1978) and Highway to Hell (1979). AC/DC's popularity grew throughout the 1970s, initially in Australia, and then internationally. Their 1979 album Highway to Hell reached the top 20 in the United States, and was their commercial breakthrough. However, on 19 February 1980, Scott died after a night out in London with former musician and alleged drug dealer Alistair Kinnear. AC/DC briefly considered disbanding, but the group recruited vocalist Brian Johnson of the British glam rock band Geordie. AC/DC's subsequent album, Back in Black, was released only five months later, and was a tribute to Scott. It is currently the second-best-selling album of all time.

Photo of George Harrison

9. George Harrison (1943 - 2001)

With an HPI of 78.02, George Harrison is the 9th most famous British Musician.  His biography has been translated into 107 different languages.

George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian culture and helped broaden the scope of popular music through his incorporation of Indian instrumentation and Hindu-aligned spirituality in the Beatles' work. Although most of the band's songs were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, most Beatles albums from 1965 onwards contained at least two Harrison compositions, including "Taxman", "Within You Without You", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun". Harrison's earliest musical influences included George Formby and Django Reinhardt; subsequent influences were Carl Perkins, Chet Atkins and Chuck Berry. By 1965, he had begun to lead the Beatles into folk rock through his interest in Bob Dylan and the Byrds, and towards Indian classical music through his use of Indian instruments, such as the sitar, which he had become acquainted with on the set of the film Help!. He played sitar on numerous Beatles songs, starting with "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)". Having initiated the band's embrace of Transcendental Meditation in 1967, he subsequently developed an association with the Hare Krishna movement. Harrison's first marriage to model Pattie Boyd in 1966 ended in divorce in 1977. In the following year he married Olivia Arias, with whom he had a son, Dhani. After the Beatles disbanded, Harrison released the triple album All Things Must Pass, a critically acclaimed work that produced his most successful hit single, "My Sweet Lord", and introduced his signature sound as a solo artist, the slide guitar. He also organised the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh with Indian musician Ravi Shankar, a precursor to later benefit concerts such as Live Aid. In his role as a music and film producer, Harrison produced acts signed to the Beatles' Apple record label before founding Dark Horse Records in 1974. He co-founded HandMade Films in 1978, initially to produce the Monty Python troupe's comedy film The Life of Brian (1979). Harrison released several best-selling singles and albums as a solo performer. In 1988, he co-founded the platinum-selling supergroup the Traveling Wilburys. A prolific recording artist, he was featured as a guest guitarist on tracks by Badfinger, Ronnie Wood, and Billy Preston, and collaborated on songs and music with Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, and Tom Petty. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 31 in their 2023 list of greatest guitarists of all time. He is a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee – as a member of the Beatles in 1988, and posthumously for his solo career in 2004. A lifelong smoker, Harrison died of cancer in 2001 at the age of 58, two years after surviving a knife attack by an intruder at his home.

Photo of Eric Clapton

10. Eric Clapton (b. 1945)

With an HPI of 77.76, Eric Clapton is the 10th most famous British Musician.  His biography has been translated into 86 different languages.

Eric Patrick Clapton (born 30 March 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in Gibson's "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". He was named number five in Time magazine's list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players" in 2009. After playing in a number of different local bands, Clapton joined the Yardbirds from 1963 to 1965, and John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers from 1965 to 1966. After leaving Mayall, he formed the power trio Cream with drummer Ginger Baker and bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, in which Clapton played sustained blues improvisations and "arty, blues-based psychedelic pop". After four successful albums, Cream broke up in November 1968. Clapton then formed the blues rock band Blind Faith with Baker, Steve Winwood, and Ric Grech, recording one album and performing on one tour before they broke up. Clapton then toured with Delaney & Bonnie and recorded his first solo album in 1970, before forming Derek and the Dominos with Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle and Jim Gordon. Like Blind Faith, the band only lasted one album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, which includes "Layla", one of Clapton's signature songs. Clapton continued to record a number of successful solo albums and songs over the next several decades, including a 1974 cover of Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" (which helped reggae reach a mass market), the country-infused Slowhand album (1977) and the pop rock of 1986's August. Following the death of his son Conor in 1991, Clapton's grief was expressed in the song "Tears in Heaven", which appeared on his Unplugged album. In 1996 he had another top-40 hit with the R&B crossover "Change the World". In 1998, he released the Grammy award-winning "My Father's Eyes". Since 1999, he has recorded a number of traditional blues and blues rock albums and hosted the periodic Crossroads Guitar Festival. His latest studio album, Meanwhile, was released in 2024. Clapton has received 18 Grammy Awards as well as the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In 2004, he was awarded a CBE for services to music. He has received four Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, including the Lifetime Achievement Award. He is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of the Yardbirds and of Cream. In his solo career, he has sold 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. In 1998, Clapton, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, founded the Crossroads Centre on Antigua, a medical facility for those recovering from substance abuse.

People

Pantheon has 516 people classified as British musicians born between 1563 and 2002. Of these 516, 374 (72.48%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living British musicians include Roger Taylor, Paul McCartney, and Mark Knopfler. The most famous deceased British musicians include John Lennon, Lemmy, and Jeff Beck. As of April 2024, 516 new British musicians have been added to Pantheon including John Lennon, Lemmy, and Jeff Beck.

Living British Musicians

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Deceased British Musicians

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Newly Added British Musicians (2024)

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Overlapping Lives

Which Musicians were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 25 most globally memorable Musicians since 1700.