Two recent music lists converged to inspire me to write this hybrid. One of the lists – created by the bigwigs at the New York Times – attempted to identify the greatest living American songwriters. It caused quite a stir, with plenty of follow-ups in response.
The other came out last year and has not gotten the same amount of attention. It was written by Daniel Jaffe of the BBC’s classical music website. I had a joke all ready about this list being from the powdered wigs of the BBC as opposed to the bigwigs of the NYT, but eventually thought better of it.
Jaffe chose the 20 greatest American composers. About half came from classical music, including top-ranked Aaron Copland, while others were from the world of jazz or other forms of modern popular music. After Copland, the next five names on Jaffe’s list were Charles Ives, George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Duke Ellington.
The 17 greatest composers in rock & roll
There’s plenty to say about both lists. I have already weighed in on the Times' songwriters and may do the same on the BBC list, but I decided that it might be fun to split the difference. Who are the greatest composers in rock music history?
Talk about poking a hornets nest.
The first challenge I encountered was defining what a rock composer is. I chatted with some friends and did a few online searches, and soon found out that there are a fair number of music lovers who believe there is no such thing. Songwriters? Yes. But composers?
Paul McCartney is not eligible for inclusion here (remember, this is for American composers), but he puts the question in stark relief. He has written some of the most gorgeous pop melodies ever heard, but does that make him a composer?
There are some very wise music fans who believe a composer tackles bigger projects. While it may be true that McCartney and other pop writers like him have attempted more ambitious compositions, I’m not sure anyone would consider those works on a par with their pop tunes. Paul Simon’s Seven Psalms might fall into this boat, but Seven Psalms, as nice as it may be, doesn’t get him onto my “composer’s” list. Nor does “Homeward Bound.”
I decided to consider rock composers' complete discographies, even if some of it was not exactly rock and roll. The thought here was that all of the work was at least somewhat informed by their initial love of rock. For composers such as these, you can hear a little bit of rock and roll even in works that go far afield.
I also gave some credit to innovators who played with all aspects of their compositions – the notes, the sounds, the structure, the instrumentation. I don’t exactly have a lot of John Cages to choose from, but there have been some brilliant creative mavericks in rock and roll composition.
If that isn't clear -- and I admit it isn't -- you could simplify this down to this parameter: who has written the most creative music for rock and roll songs? That is a very imperfect definition. I could go on explaining methodology for several more pages, but you don’t want to read that. I know, because I read a lot of these things myself. You want the names. So here they are.
17. Wayne Coyne
I can’t say with absolute certainty what Wayne Coyne was responsible for as a composer with the Flaming Lips. Multiple members of the band are typically credited. But Coyne is the ongoing constant voice – both literally and figuratively. 1999’s The Soft Bulletin is a joyous landmark of alt-rock, creatively blending synths with orchestral accompaniment while still maintaining relatable pop song structures.
Listen to: “A Spoonful Weighs a Ton”
16. Danny Elfman
Elfman created plenty of offbeat, quirky pop-rock with his band Oingo Boingo before taking up a second career as one of the most important film composers of the past fifty years. Songs like “Dead Man’s Party,” which the band played on screen in Back to School, and “Weird Science” from the film of the same name, fit comfortably into the cinematic universe and helped pave the way for Oscar-nominated scores for films like Good Will Hunting and Big Fish.
Listen to: “Gratitude”
15. Nile Rodgers/Bernard Edwards
I was initially going to avoid writing teams, and I suppose you could just list the legendary Rodgers in this spot. But bass-playing co-composer Edwards strikes me as significant enough to merit inclusion.
Even if you think the big Chic hits like “Le Freak” and “Good Times” are little more than simple disco rhythms, you can’t avoid the volume of beautiful songs they composed for the likes of Luther Vandross (“Shine”), Sister Sledge (“Thinking of You”), and Avicii (“Lay Me Down”). Rodgers and Edwards accomplish something very difficult – they make complicated songs sound supremely simple.
Listen to: “I’m Coming Out”
14. David Byrne
We’ll get this out of the way up front. Byrne was born in Scotland but spent most of his formative years in the USA and became a U.S. citizen in 2012. I’m counting him as American for purposes of this list. As frontman of the Talking Heads, Byrne wrote plenty of pop songs that were musically ambitious and inventive.
He soon expanded his scope, writing film scores and creating musical works for stage and screen. The score he co-wrote for The Last Emperor won him an Oscar in 1987, and he was also awarded a special Tony for his Broadway show David Byrne’s American Utopia, leaving him one Emmy away from an EGOT.
Listen to: “Once in a Lifetime”
13. Trent Reznor
Speaking of film composers … As the force behind Nine Inch Nails, Reznor was as responsible as any composer for the emergence of industrial rock as a force in the 1990s. If that doesn’t do it for you.
Consider that he has gone on – along with partner Atticus Ross – to become one of the leading composers of film scores working today. He took home Oscars for his expressive score for The Social Network and again for collaborating with Jon Batiste on Soul. Ross, being British, doesn’t qualify for inclusion here. As for Batiste… just hold your horses.
Listen to: “A Familiar Taste” (from the Social Network soundtrack)
12. David Michael Portner
Known as Avey Tare when performing with the creative pop band Animal Collective, Portner launched his band right out of high school. They are collaborative in nature, but Portner is the acknowledged leader and main songwriter. Their songs draw on classic rock influences – they can sound like the Beatles or Beach Boys - but filtered through some phase shifting to produce an entirely new sound.
Tare has collaborated with a wide range of artists outside the Animal Collective umbrella with a remarkable range of results. Most recently, he teamed up with Croz Boyce and Geologist to create the dreamy “Towson Acid.”
Listen to: “Fireworks”
11. Annie Clark
Performing as St. Vincent, Annie Clark’s exquisite guitar playing can overshadow her sensational songwriting. From the jarring “Rattlesnake” on her self-titled 2014 album to the all-encompassing “Flea” and “Broken Man” on her award-winning All Born Screaming (2024), Clark has mastered the ability to be confrontational and tuneful in equal measure.
For a real treat, check out the combined efforts of Clark and David Byrne on 2012’s Love This Giant.
Listen to: “Pulga” (if you love “Flea” and even more if you’ve never heard it)
10. Jon Batiste
You didn’t have to wait too long, did you? If you are going to release an album called Black Mozart, which features multiple tracks credited to both Mozart and Jon Batiste, you had better have the goods.
Fortunately, Batiste has plenty of them. Prodigiously talented and seemingly comfortable in any musical tradition, Batiste has an Oscar to go along with an awful lot of Grammys and has written wonderful music in jazz, blues, soul, and folk traditions, as well as being able to rock out when required.
Listen to: “Kenner Boogie”
9. Jimmy Webb
With Jimmy Webb, we do need to confront the idea of how a songwriter and a composer may differ. Webb is primarily recognized as a songwriter – one of the greatest American songwriters of all time. He did tackle bigger works – he did a very nice score for the 1982 movie The Last Unicorn. But he is most known for his songs. What separates Webb from other great songwriters is the sheer depth and breadth of his work.
From the standard “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” to the pop soul of “Up, Up and Away” – from the Supremes dramatic “Reflections” to the groovy psychedelic pop of “Stoned Soul Picnic” – Jimmy Webb could write inventive songs in virtually any genre. And then there is “Wichita Lineman,” with its use of unresolved chord patterns to make the longing of the lyrics come to life.
Listen to: “Wichita Lineman”
8. William Cullen Hart & Bill Doss
As with Animal Collective, it can be difficult to distinguish the actual composers on songs from Olivia Tremor Control. But from what I know, Hart and Doss are at the core. They are arguably the most experimental pop band that America has produced.
They play recognizable pop songs, often drawn from the Beach Boys and other classic rock sources. But there are always multiple intriguing musical ideas at play, captured wondrously in their debut album Music From an Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle. If they weren’t so talented, that might strike some as just a bit pretentious.
Listen to: “Define a Transparent Dream”
7. Stevie Wonder
If you are waiting to see George Clinton’s name, stop waiting. He’s not here. The mastermind behind funk masters Parliament and Funkadelic was obviously a major figure. I just don’t know how much he was a composer and how much he was a bandleader.
I don’t have that problem with Wonder – composer, bandleader, and band, all in one. I have read that computers have never been able to recreate the opening of “Superstition,” the greatest groove in American modern pop. Stevie came from classic soul and pop, but he never stopped expanding his musical horizons.
Listen to: "Superstition"
6. Don Van Vliet
Here’s something else I have read. Don Van Vliet – as Captain Beefheart – had to teach each of his band members how to play their parts on his famous Trout Mask Replica album. Constantly shifting tempos and changing keys threatened the sanity of many a seasoned pro. Van Vliet was the supreme experimentalist – using the blues as a starting point and then traveling all over the musical map to find his groove.
Listen to: “The Floppy Boot Stomp"
5. Joni Mitchell
Like David Byrne, Joni Mitchell became a naturalized American citizen, though she did not grow up in the States as Byrne did. Mitchell grew up in Canada and was clearly influenced by American musical culture. Beginning with picture-perfect folk and pop in the 1960s, she rather quickly began pursuing her great passion for jazz.
The way she incorporated jazz into her classic early ‘70s albums was only a prelude. By the time she reached 1976’s Hejira, Mitchell was writing pop music unlike any heard before. And she kept pushing with more and more conceptually ambitious projects.
Listen to: “Coyote”
4. Sylvester Stewart
As Sylvester Stewart, he was a budding musical prodigy. As Sly Stone, he became among the most influential composers of the pop era. Sly didn’t invent funk, but he took it places where no one else – not even James Brown – could. He had the one thing that defines every great composer – vision. Sly saw a type of music that moved beyond the confines of race or genre. That music could be joyous, or it could be brutal, but it was always engaging on a gut level.
Listen to: “Family Affair”
3. Jim Steinman
Sadly, I just had to write a tribute to Bonnie Tyler, the Welsh powerhouse who recorded the brilliant “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in 1983. That was a Jim Steinman song. Tyler had wanted to work with Steinman from the time she first heard the enormous, sprawling operatic songs he had created for Meat Loaf in the late ‘70s.
Steinman, who came from a musical theater background, thought big and thought theatrical. He put together vocal acts to execute his visions, and when he found a Meat Loaf or a Bonnie Tyler to bring those visions to life, it was magic. Just listen to the musical setup of the double-platinum hit “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” before the vocals ever enter. And those vocals are from Celine Dion.
Listen to: “Total Eclipse of the Heart”
2. Brian Wilson
There’s a popular series of YouTube music countdowns where the host (OK – It’s Rick Beato) likes to say when he gets to the very top of the list – “Any of the following artists could have been number one. It was basically a coin flip.” I found myself flipping a coin over the top two spots.
Wilson was the recognized genius of early American pop. So much of what was to come owes a debt to his vision of what pop music could be. He had to fight his own father and his cousin, Mike Love, who seemed content to merely replicate the early Beach Boys hits ad infinitum. But Brian Wilson could hear “Good Vibrations,” and that opened a door for pop artists to dream bigger.
We will never know what might have happened had he finished his concept album Smile as planned in the late ‘60s. But even if we regret what might have been, we can still be thankful for what we got.
Listen to: “Good Vibrations”
1. Frank Zappa
Zappa gets the top spot based on vision and scope. If you're old enough, you may recall a Tootsie Pop commercial in which the tag line to the question “How many licks does it take to reach the center of a Tootsie Pop?” is “The world may never know.” Well, the world may never know how much music Frank Zappa created.
He married the highest of brows with the lowest of quips. His music was constantly challenging. He could spin off a musical powerhouse like Lowell George and Little Feat and not skip a beat. And he gets the top spot here because, more than any composer I know of, Frank Zappa didn’t care the slightest bit about genre. Classical to punk, blues and jazz, soul and folk – it was all the same music to him.
With most of the named composers, I didn’t have to think very long before coming up with a “Listen to” suggestion. With Zappa, I don’t have one. Even though he may require more guidance than all the others. I suppose you could start with the early Beatles satire We’re Only in It for the Money and go from there.
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