100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock

VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" were selected by a panel of rock artists that included Pat Benatar, Def Leppard's Joe Elliott, Ozzy Osbourne, Scott Ian and John Bush of Anthrax, Korn's Dave Silveria, Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler, Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple, Dave Grohl of Nirvana/Foo Fighters, Mike Bordin of Faith No More, Skid Row's Sebastian Bach, Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea, Yngvie Malmsteen, Lita Ford, and Geddy Lee of Rush.

Highlighting the "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock":

-- Of all of the bands on the list, more than half of them are still currently playing together.

-- The Yardbirds are the first band on the list to record an album (1963). (The band is also the cradle of three legendary guitar heavyweights: Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page.)

-- 73 of the 100 bands hail from the United States -- seven from Seattle alone.

-- 41 of the artists have produced platinum albums, and 18 have gone double platinum. Five artists are tied for the most double platinum albums, with three each (Ted Nugent, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Lynryd Skynyrd and Pantera).

-- 25 of the bands have received Grammy Awards; Metallica has received an extraordinary five, followed by Aerosmith and Pat Benatar with four each.

-- Eleven of the bands have been honored with tribute albums.

-- Of all the artists on the list, Frank Zappa has made the most albums, with over 60 original records to his credit. (And only one top 40 single among them). Indeed, 55 of the bands have never had a top 10 single, and 45 have not had any top 10 albums.

-- Of the artists on the list, 15 have had members who have played in more than one of the bands. Eleven of the bands have had more than one lead singer. 23 of bands have one or more deceased members.

-- Five of the bands played at the original 1969 Woodstock festival, nine played at Woodstock '94, and five played in the most recent, Woodstock '99.

This is the complete list:

1. Led Zeppelin
2. Black Sabbath
3. Jimi Hendrix
4. AC/DC
5. Metallica
6. Nirvana
7. Van Halen
8. The Who
9. Guns N' Roses
10. KISS
11. Aerosmith
12. The Sex Pistols
13. Queen
14. Soundgarden
15. Pink Floyd
16. Cream
17. The Ramones
18. Ozzy Osbourne
19. The Clash
20. Alice Cooper
21. Pearl Jam
22. Deep Purple
23. Judas Priest
24. Iron Maiden
25. Cheap Trick
26. Motorhead
27. Iggy Pop/ The Stooges
28. Rush
29. Motley Crue
30. Red Hot Chili Peppers
31. Def Leppard
32. The Doors
33. Rage Against The Machine
34. Alice in Chains
35. Jane's Addiction
36. Frank Zappa
37. Yardbirds
38. MC5
39. Neil Young & Crazy Horse
40. Stone Temple Pilots
41. Ted Nugent
42. The Kinks
43. Nine Inch Nails
44. ZZ Top
45. Pantera
46. Scorpions
47. The Rollins Band/ Black Flag
48. Janis Joplin
49. Smashing Pumpkins
50. Slayer
51. Thin Lizzy
52. Faith No More
53. Korn
54. Sonic Youth
55. Blue Oyster Cult
56. White Zombie
57. Heart
58. Anthrax
59. Bad Company
60. The New York Dolls
61. Jethro Tull
62. Ministry
63. Boston
64. Steppenwolf
65. The Cult
66. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
67. Rolling Stones
68. Husker Du
69. Megadeth
70. Living Colour
71. Lynyrd Skynyrd
72. Foo Fighters
73. Twisted Sister
74. Pat Benatar
75. Spinal Tap
76. Bon Jovi
77. Hole
78. Marilyn Manson
79. Ratt
80. Green Day
81. Pixies
82. Queensryche
83. King's X
84. UFO
85. Whitesnake
86. Foreigner
87. King Crimson
88. Tool
89. Lita Ford
90. Rainbow
91. Danzig
92. The Black Crowes
93. Lenny Kravitz
94. Yes
95. Fugazi
96. Meat Loaf
97. Primus
98. Mountain
99. Bad Brains
100. Quiet Riot