Jody Watley

Taylor Dayne

Paula Abdul

Howard Hewitt

Genn Jones

Nancy Wilson (Jazz legend)

Billy Joel

Elton John

All the African American legends, Aretha, Gladys etc

[Edited 12/29/16 18:15pm]

Patti Smith

Rod Stewart

Bono

Ann & Nancy Wilson (Heart)

Steve Perry

Neil Diamond

Barry Gibb

Steven Tyler

Mick Jagger

Don Henley

Joe Walsh

Paul McCartney

Ringo Starr

David Cassidy

Tears for Fears.

[Edited 12/30/16 18:07pm]

[Edited 12/30/16 18:09pm]

[Edited 12/30/16 18:25pm]

Weird responses. A lot of the people mentioned here are from the 1960's and 1970's. I don't consider anyone who was already a teenager by the 1970's 'Gen X.' Anyway, here's some for you. Granted, they are not Michael, Prince or George but they mean a lot to a lot of us Gen Xers

U2

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Pearl Jam

Morrisey

Chuck D

Eddie Van Halen

Some of the artists that are mentioned have spanned decades and are still revelent.

Chuck Berry just turned 90s and is about to put out a new album.

Damn, no one mentioned Madonna or did I miss her name somewhere.

Damn, no one mentioned Madonna or did I miss her name somewhere.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

MotownSubdivision said:

FUNKNROLL said:

MotownSubdivision said:

Are we talking about artists who were born during Gen X or were popular during Gen X? Just asking because the names born from the mid 40s to mid 60s (Stevie, Madonna, Lionel, Springsteen, Cyndi, the Jacksons, etc.) would be baby boomers not Gen X.

"who is left that helped define the 80s music scene, and is still celebrated?" . [Edited 1/3/17 17:59pm]

A lot. NWA is around, Lionel is around, Motley is still around, ect, ect, ect.

The Tragically Hip

FUNKNROLL said:

They only pick commercial artists. lol

There are a bunch of great bands guys. Wake up.

2freaky4church1 said:

They only pick commercial artists. lol

There are a bunch of great bands guys. Wake up.

Didn't see where you offered anything up on this thread. Which bands are you thinking?

Icons in music enjoy wide fame for their commercial success or artistic talents. They are generally household names. Even many classic artists don't come close to reaching that height.

The lists here include a whole lot of my favorites, but they aren't music icons of Generation X.

2freaky4church1 said:

They only pick commercial artists. lol

There are a bunch of great bands guys. Wake up.

Not all great bands are icons. You know that.

chrisslope9 said:

Weird responses. A lot of the people mentioned here are from the 1960's and 1970's. I don't consider anyone who was already a teenager by the 1970's 'Gen X.' Anyway, here's some for you. Granted, they are not Michael, Prince or George but they mean a lot to a lot of us Gen Xers

U2

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Pearl Jam

Morrisey

Chuck D

Eddie Van Halen

You hit it on the nose there.

In addition to Chuck D, I would say the entire "Class of '88" hip hop icons.

Can I add Paul Weller?

Huey Lewis and the News

Billy Ocean

Expose

Glorie Estefan

MichaelJackson5 said:

All these singers that are mentioned in this thread are not Icons. Being a house hold name and popularity during a certain time period does not automatically make you an Icon. Also, some of these singers are Icons from different eras (i.e. 50s, 60s, and 70s).

Janet to me is more so a 90s Icon.

Madonna and Duran Duran are the last living 80s Icons. I would count Queen too but Freddie is deceased.

Stevie, Rolling Stones, Elton John, etc are Icons from the 70's.

[Edited 1/5/17 10:27am]

Bob Dylan, Springsteen, Metallica, Rolling Stones, Aretha, Stevie.

Ignore me. haha

Beck, Fiona Apple, Public Enemy, Chris Isaak.

Cinny said:

chrisslope9 said:

Weird responses. A lot of the people mentioned here are from the 1960's and 1970's. I don't consider anyone who was already a teenager by the 1970's 'Gen X.' Anyway, here's some for you. Granted, they are not Michael, Prince or George but they mean a lot to a lot of us Gen Xers

U2

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Pearl Jam

Morrisey

Chuck D

Eddie Van Halen

You hit it on the nose there.

In addition to Chuck D, I would say the entire "Class of '88" hip hop icons.

Can I add Paul Weller?

Depending on whom you ask, Generation X begins between 1961 and 1965. It ends around 1979 or 1980. Some Gen X'ers would have in fact reached adolescence by the 1970's. Defining Gen X isn't (completely) a matter of opinion, it's a matter of date ranges.

Icons of any generation are not always determined during the teen years. Millenials grew up idolizing Michael Jackson as children. He can lay legitimate claim to being a Millenial icon. Stevie Wonder dominated the music scene in the Gen X childhood years, the 1970's. There's no reason he couldn't be considered a Gen X musical icon either. Take Van Halen, for example -- he and his band were 70s artists that hit big in the 80's.

Finally, I love a lot of these artists listed, but they wouldn't qualify as overall generational icons.

We're being both too narrow (in terms of defining Gen X) AND too broad (in terms of defining generational icons) in this thread.

2freaky4church1 said:

2freaky4church1 said:

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I'm Gen X, there was a time "they" shifted dates around making me a Baby Boomer. Whatever.

Anyway, there are a few but the reality is closing in rapidly. Most people I can think of have already been mentioned.

Oh, Peter Gabriel, I think.

Wouldn't Anita fit?