The Defining Artists of the 1970s

The following artists released some of the best music of the 1970s. Hall of Famers are highlighted in orange.

Of the 251 artists listed above, 57% have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The Defining Albums of the 1970s

Diana Ross - Diana Ross (1970)

Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)

James Brown - Sex Machine (1970)

Curtis Mayfield - Curtis (1970)

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (1970)

Cat Stevens - Tea For The Tillerman (1970)

The Beatles - Let It Be (1970)

Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1970)

Sly & The Family Stone - Greatest Hits (1970)

Derek & The Dominos - Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs (1970)

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Deja Vu (1970)

The Velvet Underground - Loaded (1970)

Santana - Abraxas (1970)

James Taylor - Sweet Baby James (1970)

George Harrison - All Things Must Pass (1970)

Neil Young - After the Gold Rush (1970)

The Who - Live At Leeds (1970)

The Grateful Dead - Workingman's Dead (1970)

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath (1970)

The Carpenters - Close To You (1970)

The Grateful Dead - American Beauty (1970)

Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection (1970)

Randy Newman - 12 Songs (1970)

John Lennon - John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970)

The Stooges - Fun House (1970)

Van Morrison - Moondance (1970)

MC5 - Back In the USA (1970)

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory (1970)

The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers (1971)

Alice Cooper - Love it to Death (1971)

Janis Joplin - Pearl (1971)

Paul and Linda McCartney - Ram (1971)

Loretta Lynn - Coal Miner's Daughter (1971)

The Who - Who's Next (1971)

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV (1971)

Carole King - Tapestry (1971)

Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells a Story (1971)

John Lennon - Imagine (1971)

Jethro Tull - Aqualung (1971)

Sly & The Family Stone - There's A Riot Goin' On (1971)

Joni Mitchell - Blue (1971)

Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality (1971)

T. Rex - Electric Warrior (1971)

Dolly Parton - Coat of Many Colors (1971)

Leonard Cohen - Songs Of Love And Hate (1971)

The Allman Brothers Band - At Fillmore East (1971)

John Prine - John Prine (1971)

Alice Coltrane - Journey in Satchidananda (1971)

Funkadelic - Maggot Brain (1971)

David Bowie - Hunky Dory (1971)

The Doors - L.A. Woman (1971)

Bill Withers - Just As I Am (1971)

Harry Nilsson - Nilsson Schmilsson (1971)

Marvin Gaye - What's Going On (1971)

Stevie Wonder - Talking Book (1972)

Aretha Franklin - Young, Gifted and Black (1972)

Lou Reed - Transformer (1972)

Dr. John - Dr. John's Gumbo (1972)

Yes - Close To The Edge (1972)

Neil Young - Harvest (1972)

The O'Jays - Back Stabbers (1972)

Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything? (1972)

Nick Drake - Pink Moon (1972)

Randy Newman - Sail Away (1972)

Elton John - Honky Chateau (1972)

Stevie Wonder - Music of My Mind (1972)

Big Star - #1 Record (1972)

Al Green - I'm Still In Love With You (1972)

David Bowie - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (1972)

War - The World Is A Ghetto (1972)

Bonnie Raitt - Give It Up (1972)

Jimmy Cliff & Various Artists - The Harder They Come (1972)

Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill (1972)

Paul Simon - Paul Simon (1972)

Aretha Franklin - Amazing Grace (1972)

Can - Ege Bamyasi (1972)

The Rolling Stones - Exile On Main St. (1972)

The Eagles - Eagles (1972)

Mott the Hoople - All the Young Dudes (1972)

Curtis Mayfield - Super Fly (1972)

Bill Withers - Still Bill (1972)

Lou Reed - Berlin (1973)

Lynyrd Skynyrd - (Pronounced 'Leh-'nerd 'Skin-'nerd) (1973)

The Isley Brothers - 3+3 (1973)

The Who - Quadrophenia (1973)

Sly & The Family Stone - Fresh (1973)

Al Green - Call Me (1973)

Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)

Bob Marley & the Wailers - Catch a Fire (1973)

Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)

David Bowie - Aladdin Sane (1973)

The Temptations - Anthology (1973)

Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters (1973)

Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy (1973)

Bob Marley & the Wailers - Burnin' (1973)

The Stooges - Raw Power (1973)

Toots and the Maytals - Funky Kingston (1973)

Mott the Hoople - Mott (1973)

Jackson Browne - For Everyman (1973)

Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle (1973)

Stevie Wonder - Innervisions (1973)

Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On (1973)

Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure (1973)

New York Dolls - New York Dolls (1973)

ZZ Top - Tres Hombres (1973)

Gram Parsons - Grievous Angel (1974)

Linda Ronstadt - Heart Like a Wheel (1974)

Neil Young - On The Beach (1974)

Richard and Linda Thompson - I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (1974)

Labelle - Nightbirds (1974)

Jackson Browne - Late For The Sky (1974)

Diana Ross and the Supremes - Anthology (1974)

Sparks - Kimono My House (1974)

Tom Waits - The Heart of Saturday Night (1974)

Brian Eno - Here Come The Warm Jets (1974)

Big Star - Radio City (1974)

Barry White - Can't Get Enough (1974)

The Meters - Rejuvenation (1974)

Eric Clapton - 461 Ocean Boulevard (1974)

Bob Marley & the Wailers - Natty Dread (1974)

Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic (1974)

Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark (1974)

Randy Newman - Good Old Boys (1974)

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (1975)

Aerosmith - Toys In The Attic (1975)

Queen - A Night At The Opera (1975)

Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run (1975)

Joni Mitchell - The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975)

Neil Young - Tonight's The Night (1975)

Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac (1975)

Al Green - Al Green's Greatest Hits (1975)

Elton John - Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975)

Bob Dylan and the Band - The Basement Tapes (1975)

Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks (1975)

Roxy Music - Siren (1975)

Parliament - Mothership Connection (1975)

Earth, Wind & Fire - That's the Way of the World (1975)

Patti Smith - Horses (1975)

KISS - Alive! (1975)

Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti (1975)

Brian Eno - Another Green World (1975)

Willie Nelson - Red Headed Stranger (1975)

Fela Kuti & Africa 70 - Expensive Shit (1975)

Steve Miller Band - Fly Like An Eagle (1976)

Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life (1976)

Aerosmith - Rocks (1976)

Joni Mitchell - Hejira (1976)

David Bowie - Station To Station (1976)

Bob Dylan - Desire (1976)

Blondie - Blondie (1976)

Jackson Browne - The Pretender (1976)

KISS - Destroyer (1976)

The Eagles - Hotel California (1976)

Elvis Presley - The Sun Sessions (1976)

Ramones - Ramones (1976)

The Modern Lovers - The Modern Lovers (1976)

Ramones - Rocket To Russia (1977)

Suicide - Suicide (1977)

Eric Clapton - Slowhand (1977)

Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols (1977)

Steely Dan - Aja (1977)

Bee Gees & Various Artists - Saturday Night Fever (1977)

Television - Marquee Moon (1977)

The Clash - The Clash (1977)

Rufus - Ask Rufus (1977)

Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (1977)

David Bowie - Low (1977)

Billy Joel - The Stranger (1977)

Kraftwerk - Trans-Europe Express (1977)

Bob Marley & the Wailers - Exodus (1977)

Wire - Pink Flag (1977)

Talking Heads - Talking Heads: 77 (1977)

Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True (1977)

Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell (1977)

Cheap Trick - In Color (1977)

Van Halen - Van Halen (1978)

Hank Williams - 40 Greatest Hits (1978)

Willie Nelson - Stardust (1978)

Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)

Buddy Holly - 20 Golden Greats (1978)

X-Ray Spex - Germfree Adolescents (1978)

Devo - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (1978)

Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings And Food (1978)

The Cars - The Cars (1978)

Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear (1978)

Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove (1978)

The Police - Outlandos d'Amour (1978)

Billy Joel - 52nd Street (1978)

Blondie - Parallel Lines (1978)

Big Star - Third/Sister Lovers (1978)

The Rolling Stones - Some Girls (1978)

Cheap Trick - Cheap Trick At Budokan (1978)

Elvis Costello - This Year's Model (1978)

Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Armed Forces (1979)

The Police - Reggatta de Blanc (1979)

Public Image Ltd. - Metal Box (1979)

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Damn the Torpedoes (1979)

The Raincoats - The Raincoats (1979)

Chic - Risqué (1979)

Pink Floyd - The Wall (1979)

Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady (1979)

Donna Summer - Bad Girls (1979)

Graham Parker and The Rumour - Squeezing Out Sparks (1979)

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Rust Never Sleeps (1979)

The Slits - Cut (1979)

AC/DC - Highway to Hell (1979)

The B-52's - The B-52's (1979)

The Clash - London Calling (1979)

Gang of Four - Entertainment! (1979)

Michael Jackson - Off the Wall (1979)

Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures (1979)

The Defining Songs of the 1970s

Edwin Starr - War (1970)

The Beatles - Let It Be (1970)

The Grateful Dead - Ripple (1970)

Toots & the Maytals - Pressure Drop (1970)

Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up (1970)

Elton John - Your Song (1970)

Eric Clapton - After Midnight (1970)

Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (1970)

Black Sabbath - Iron Man (1970)

Neil Young - After The Gold Rush (1970)

The Kinks - Lola (1970)

Santana - Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen (1970)

Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1970)

Free - All Right Now (1970)

Paul McCartney - Maybe I'm Amazed (1970)

Santana - Oye Como Va (1970)

James Taylor - Fire And Rain (1970)

Van Morrison - Into the Mystic (1970)

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Ohio (1970)

Cat Stevens - Father and Son (1970)

James Brown - Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine (1970)

Jackson 5 - ABC (1970)

The Velvet Underground - Sweet Jane (1970)

Van Morrison - Moondance (1970)

Derek & The Dominos - Layla (1970)

Led Zeppelin - Rock And Roll (1971)

Joni Mitchell - River (1971)

Alice Cooper - I'm Eighteen (1971)

The Chi-Lites - Have You Seen Her (1971)

Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven (1971)

Harry Nilsson - Without You (1971)

John Lennon - Imagine (1971)

David Bowie - Changes (1971)

Joni Mitchell - A Case of You (1971)

Dolly Parton - Coat of Many Colors (1971)

The Rolling Stones - Wild Horses (1971)

David Bowie - Life on Mars? (1971)

Isaac Hayes - Theme From Shaft (1971)

War - Slippin' Into Darkness (1971)

Marvin Gaye - What's Going On (1971)

Sly & The Family Stone - Family Affair (1971)

The Staple Singers - Respect Yourself (1971)

Al Green - Let's Stay Together (1971)

Yes - Roundabout (1971)

T. Rex - Cosmic Dancer (1971)

Rod Stewart - Maggie May (1971)

Jethro Tull - Aqualung (1971)

T. Rex - Bang A Gong (Get It On) (1971)

Elton John - Tiny Dancer (1971)

The Who - Baba O'Riley (1971)

Carole King - You've Got a Friend (1971)

Deep Purple - Smoke On The Water (1972)

Lyn Collins - Think (About It) (1972)

Al Green - Love And Happiness (1972)

Bill Withers - Lean On Me (1972)

Curtis Mayfield - Superfly (1972)

Stevie Wonder - You Are The Sunshine Of My Life (1972)

Stevie Wonder - Superstition (1972)

The Eagles - Take It Easy (1972)

Mott The Hoople - All The Young Dudes (1972)

Neil Young - Heart Of Gold (1972)

Randy Newman - Sail Away (1972)

Steely Dan - Reelin' In The Years (1972)

Nick Drake - Pink Moon (1972)

Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side (1972)

Roxy Music - Virginia Plain (1972)

Curtis Mayfield - Pusherman (1972)

The Rolling Stones - Tumbling Dice (1972)

The Staple Singers - I'll Take You There (1972)

The O'Jays - Love Train (1972)

David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust (1972)

Jimmy Cliff - The Harder They Come (1972)

The Temptations - Papa Was A Rollin' Stone (1972)

New York Dolls - Personality Crisis (1973)

Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly With His Song (1973)

Dolly Parton - Jolene (1973)

The Wailers - I Shot The Sheriff (1973)

Pink Floyd - Money (1973)

Little Feat - Dixie Chicken (1973)

The Faces - Ooh La La (1973)

Stevie Wonder - Living for the City (1973)

Hall & Oates - She's Gone (1973)

Grand Funk Railroad - We're An American Band (1973)

Billy Joel - Piano Man (1973)

Iggy And The Stooges - Search And Destroy (1973)

The Wailers - Get Up, Stand Up (1973)

Elton John - Bennie And The Jets (1973)

Bruce Springsteen - Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (1973)

Dr. John - Right Place Wrong Time (1973)

Gladys Knight & The Pips - Midnight Train To Georgia (1973)

Stevie Wonder - Higher Ground (1973)

Aerosmith - Dream On (1973)

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird (1973)

ZZ Top - La Grange (1973)

Frank Zappa - Montana (1973)

The Allman Brothers Band - Ramblin' Man (1973)

Jackson Browne - Late For The Sky (1974)

Big Star - September Gurls (1974)

Joni Mitchell - Help Me (1974)

Average White Band - Pick Up The Pieces (1974)

Kraftwerk - Autobahn (1974)

Kiss - Rock And Roll All Nite (1974)

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama (1974)

Bob Marley - No Woman No Cry (1974)

Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974)

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody (1975)

Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run (1975)

Roxy Music - Love Is The Drug (1975)

David Bowie - Fame (1975)

Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road (1975)

David Bowie - Young Americans (1975)

Bob Dylan - Tangled Up In Blue (1975)

War - Low Rider (1975)

Donna Summer - Love to Love You Baby (1975)

Patti Smith - Gloria (1975)

Earth Wind and Fire - Shining Star (1975)

Fleetwood Mac - Landslide (1975)

Led Zeppelin - Kashmir (1975)

Aerosmith - Toys In The Attic (1975)

Willie Nelson - Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain (1975)

Bruce Springsteen - Jungleland (1975)

Parliament - Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker) (1975)

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (1975)

Steve Miller Band - Fly Like An Eagle (1976)

Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop (1976)

Boston - More Than A Feeling (1976)

Sex Pistols - Anarchy In The U.K. (1976)

The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner (1976)

Bob Seger - Night Moves (1976)

The Trammps - Disco Inferno (1976)

The Eagles - Hotel California (1976)

The Damned - New Rose (1976)

Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back In Town (1976)

Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way (1976)

Tom Petty - American Girl (1976)

The Runaways - Cherry Bomb (1976)

ABBA - Dancing Queen (1976)

Peter Tosh - Legalize It (1976)

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Three Little Birds (1977)

Elvis Costello - Alison (1977)

Parliament - Flash Light (1977)

Bill Withers - Lovely Day (1977)

Iggy Pop - Lust For Life (1977)

Fleetwood Mac - Dreams (1977)

Queen - We Will Rock You (1977)

Ramones - Sheena Is A Punk Rocker (1977)

Heart - Barracuda (1977)

Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill (1977)

Sex Pistols - God Save The Queen (1977)

The Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive (1977)

Billy Joel - Just The Way You Are (1977)

The Dead Boys - Sonic Reducer (1977)

Steely Dan - Deacon Blues (1977)

David Bowie - Heroes (1977)

Donna Summer - I Feel Love (1977)

The Jam - In The City (1977)

Talking Heads - Psycho Killer (1977)

Television - Marquee Moon (1977)

Kraftwerk - Trans-Europe Express (1977)

The Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen in Love (1977)

Billy Joel - Scenes from an Italian Restaurant (1977)

Van Halen - Runnin' With The Devil (1978)

The Rolling Stones - Miss You (1978)

Blondie - Heart Of Glass (1978)

Patti Smith - Because The Night (1978)

The Cars - Just What I Needed (1978)

Sylvester - You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) (1978)

Cheap Trick - Surrender (1978)

The Clash - (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais (1978)

Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove (1978)

Elvis Costello - Pump It Up (1978)

Dire Straits - Sultans Of Swing (1978)

Chic - Le Freak (1978)

Earth, Wind & Fire - September (1978)

The B-52's - Rock Lobster (1978)

The Undertones - Teenage Kicks (1978)

Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive (1978)

The Police - Roxanne (1978)

The Doobie Brothers - What A Fool Believes (1978)

Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2 (1979)

Neil Young - My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue) (1979)

The Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight (1979)

Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead (1979)

AC/DC - Highway To Hell (1979)

Sister Sledge - We Are Family (1979)

The Slits - Typical Girls (1979)

Patti Smith - Dancing Barefoot (1979)

Chic - Good Times (1979)

Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb (1979)

Talking Heads - Life During Wartime (1979)

The Clash - London Calling (1979)

Michael Jackson - Rock With You (1979)

Blondie - Dreaming (1979)