The real question is what kind of influence and impact has someone had? That's what defines an icon. Jennifer Lopez is not an icon because her star flamed out quickly and no one followed her lead. Janet is an icon, however, because her style, image, routines, videos, etc. are being copied ad nauseam by girls that are hired to replace her but never come close.

I honestly don't know. I can't say... I know some '90s artists stood out as icons like Cobain and 'Pac. As far as this generation goes, Britney is an icon of pop culture, but not of music, I say the same for Beyonce. Mary J. Blige is actually someone I'd consider a music icon of the '90s and beyond in the R&B music world for better or for worse. Janet's status is sketchy because in one way she could be an icon of the late eighties and an icon of the nineties, she'll likely be in the '90s column. As for J-Lo and nem...eh... this is a confusing topic, lol.

Ah, Tupac, Diddy? lol

Graycap23 said:

Wait, how come Fats Domino ain't part of that '50s icon thing, he ain't exactly an etc., Ike Turner was an "etc." for years, lol.

Timmy84 said:

Forgot Stevie Wonder in that 70s category . . .

Se7en said:

And MARVIN in the '60s/'70s categories too.



MOTOWN doesn't count. It was an entity that had a LOT OF ICONS ON IT!
[Edited 4/18/09 13:16pm]

As usual, music snobbery to the highest order ya'll ain't never gonna change.

Here's the post-80s icon IMO.

MJB Da MVP



Say what you want about the Blige, she's the single MOST influential force of RnB during the 90s as far female singers are concerned, the fact that damn near every RnB singer/girl group in the 90s tried to master her style proves it.

Harlepolis said:

That's what I said.

who's p-funk?

Britney is an icon? An icon of generic pop!
Beyonce is an icon? NO! There isn't anything she's done that hasn't been done before.

graecophilos said:

Parliament and Funkadelic (George Clinton, lol)

Janet Jackson is def. an icon! Many of these girls wouldn't be shit if it wasn't for her!

Sdldawn said:

That's what I told 'em.

I would definitely put Mariah, Celine Dion, Garth Brooks, and the Spice Girls as 90's icons, but they still aren't as influential as those who stormed into the scene but left us too soon (Kurt Cobain/Nirvana, 2Pac, Biggie Smalls). I wouldn't put Soundgarden or Pearl Jam on the list because they sort of came along with Nirvana, and Diddy is more of a mogul than an icon. Mary J. Blige was definitely an R&B/hip-hop icon, but her greatest recognition among the mainstream actually occurred this decade. I'm hesitant to put R.E.M. on the list because they really got their start in the 1980's yet had some of their best work in the 90's.

LiveToTell86 said:

Meow!!!!!

Yeah, there are icons past the 1980s except they are undeserving ones like Tupac Shitkur.

As for rock, Nirvana and Radiohead, for sure. Bjork is iconic and should probably be considered 90's, even though the Sugar Cubes were 80's. PJ Harvey? Wilco?

Graycap23 said:

1970's: Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Donna Summers, ABBA, Elton John, Barry White (to an extent), The Bee Gees, Fleetwood Mac, KISS, .....hell, too many talent recording artists to choose from THIS decade alone!

1980's: Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Janet Jackson (to an extent)

1990's: Madonna, Mariah Carey, Shania Twain, Janet Jackson (again, to an extent), .....damn, no male recording artists worth mentioning!

2000's: Madonna (again!), Kylie Minogue, Beyonce (for better OR worse), Britney Spears (for better OR worse), Usher

To answer your question, Madonna, Kylie, AND Beyonce are your only true post-1980's icons that people are still talking about.

vainandy said:

1. Madonna is THE only artists to be consider an icon in 3 straight decades (80's, 90's, 2000's).

2. Hardly any hip-hop/rap artist can be consider an icon besides 2pac, Snoop Dogg, & Jay-Z.

Harlepolis said:

Thank you for giving Vainandy someone else to blame for slowing down the music tempo beside Whitney Houston.

TonyVanDam said:

Knowing Andy, he'd blame Whitney for Mary J. to go down that path.

Timmy84 said:

Actually, Vainandy should blame Dr.Dre (an icon in hip-hop production). The Chronic was THE album in which most producers copy the same idea of slowing down their beats at the 95 beat per minute (BPM) mark. Sean Combs would follow suit while producing Mary J. Blige's first 2 albums What's The 411? & My Life.

From there Janet AND Madonna would both have a response to what Mary was doing (Janet's janet. AND Madonna's Bedtime Stories). And from that point since mid-tempo AND downtempo tracks ruled most of FM radio it seems.

TonyVanDam said:

Right.

Cinnie said:

I draw the line at Gwen. What's she ever done? No Doubt weren't that amazing, and her solo career was just a bunch of novelty hits.

I definitely agree with Britney and Pharrell though.

My choices would be :

Britney - she became world famous super quick and is still going strong career wise today. Hell, even in her darkest time, she was getting top 5 hits all over the world. Not to mention the sheer amount of product promotion she's done over the years. Pepsi, phone companies, car companies, clothing, and perfume lines. Her perfumes have already earned her over $50 million and Fantasy is the best selling perfume in the world right now.

Add to all of that her legendary VMA performances, the strip, the snake, the kiss, the flop...all iconic. I don't even need to elaborate for you to know each one.

She'd performed with the likes of Madonna, Aerosmith, and Michael Jackson before she even turned 23. Her debut album is still the highest selling ever by a teenager.

She's probably the only true post 1980s icon around right now...followed closely by...

Beyonce - If she'd been solo from the beginning, she would've been Britney's only rival. Lately, her star has faded but she'll always have a vast fan base and her stupid dad to back her up She's behind some iconic songs - Bootylicious (damn word is in the dictionary!), Survivor, Say My Name, Crazy in Love, Single Ladies. Don't get me started on how the Single Ladies dance took off. Now she's managed to insert herself into history with her performing at the Inauguration. She's an icon although she's somewhat of a self made icon. If she chooses to stop putting in SO much effort, she may fade.


I think Justin Timberlake is also one, despite what the org thinks of him. He really defined that "breaking out of the boy band" type rebel. The one who should've faded like the rest of them but didn't. He's got the iconic ex girlfriend to keep him in the media's interest, he's got the musical chops to earn him respect amongst the industry, and girls will always remember him as their first celeb crush (well, except for me). He'll stick around.


Pharrell - I agree to an extent with most that he did borrow a lot from Prince's sound and production. But, to me, he took something great and made it his own. If you look at his discography, you'd be stunned at the amount of songs you know and love that he had a hand in creating. While I think at the moment he's still in a bit of a creative low or an experimental stage, he's still got a few mega hits in him. I'd die if he worked with Prince. Once again, the take off point of his career can be traced back to Britney. So far that's Justin and Pharrell she's partly responsible for...that brings us to the one and only...

Christina Aguilera. I'm no fan but she'll definitely always be known at the first Britney clone and the true Britney rival Beyonce never managed to be, until now, really. She's got the artistry and drive to stick around, it's just a matter of if the public still cares. Britney already did every shocking thing a pop star can do and Christina likes to think she can still shock. She's at least stopped trying to out do Britney and will hopefully develop her own style and sound soon. That's her main problem - she's always jacking someone else's sound/look. At the beginning, she was a Britney clone, then she was a J Lo clone with the Spanish album, she got it right with Stripped except there's something wrong when your best look is "dirty stripper". She went back to the style jacking for the next few years, copying the classic look and sound, now she's copying Goldfrapp and Lady Gaga. Come into your own, girl!


I think Eminem's rhymes will outlast him as an artist, Dr Dre is definitely a 90s icon, as is Snoop. Diddy's incredible talent for earning money while doing next to nothing will always be remembered, just like Paris Hilton. Timbaland will become one because his sound is now commonplace in modern music. Same with Missy, who also has the fantastic videos. Aaliyah will always be remembered as the one who would've been absolutely massive, given the chance.

So that's a decent list :

Britney
Beyonce
Justin
Pharrell
Christina
Eminem
Dr Dre
Snoop Dogg
Diddy
Timbaland
Missy Elliott
Aaliyah

A lot of people think Jennifer Lopez is an icon, but at the astoundingly quick rate she faded I say, no, she's not. She's practically a C lister, now. Her music hasn't been good for years. Same with Usher, he could've easily been an icon but he too faded within two years and now his music is boring.
[Edited 4/19/09 3:07am]

TonyVanDam said:

Whitney could never be as gritty, soulful and intersting as Mary J. She's TOO proper, she doesn't have it in her.

Harlepolis said:

These days, Mary vocals are a lot better than they ever were during her public debut. And don't worry, we all know that Whitney has ZERO street cred!!!

But musically, Vainandy would still diss Mary regardless because he doesn't want to hear any ounce of "shit-hop" elements in the music at all (HIS words, not mine!)

Graycap23 said:

lol...me eitha!

IMO, Icons doesn't necessarily mean great artist and their music, it really means those who symbolize an era whether you like them or not, their style rather than their music is copied. For example, Elvis, you may not consider him a great artist but he did symbolize the 1950s.

Being a teenager in the 90s, these are the 90s icons, if better or for worst

Kurt Cobain
Tupac Shakur
Marilyn Manson
Selena

As far as 00s (that's funny, 00s)

2000s (so far)

Eminem
Britney Spears
American Idol
Beyonce


[Edited 4/19/09 14:46pm]