The Long of It
My parents defied theirs by listening to and following The Beatles, I’ve spent many girls’ nights watching ‘Across the Universe’ and my little cousin often sings ‘Yellow Submarine’ along with the Sesame Street gang.
The music and culture of The Beatles transcends generations, and will probably continue to do so for many generations to come.
Yahoo! seems to agree. They ranked The Beatles No. 1 on ‘The Ten Most Universally Loved Performers’ list, which was posted last Friday.
The list featured a variety of artists from many different genres of music. All the artists, however, have one thing in common ‘- they are all from generations previous to our own. In fact, with a quick search of the Internet, one can find that most ‘top artists/song lists’ include few, if any, artists from our generation.
What is the key to the longevity of artists like The Beatles, The Ramones (ranked No. 2 on the Yahoo! list) and Elvis Presley (ranked No. 3)? Why are our generation’s musicians left off these lists?
Perhaps our generation’s artists are left off simply because they are mainstream artists, so they haven’t yet had the chance to see if they can stand the test of time. But I highly doubt my kids and grandchildren will be singing and dancing along to ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ by Britney Spears or ‘Chasing Cars’ by Snow Patrol.
In fact, when I searched Billboard’s Hot 100 lists of the past 15 years, I realized with songs like ‘Lady Marmalade’ by Christina Aguilera, Pink, Mya and Lil’ Kim and ‘Too Close’ by Next topping the charts in 2001 and 1998 respectively, our generation has a slim chance at having mainstream artists and songs with great longevity.
The charts of our generation are being topped by our previous generation’s musicians. For example, in 1997 Elton John’s ‘Candle in the Wind’ was No. 1 on Billboard’s charts. In 1999, ‘Believe’ by Cher took the top spot.
I believe artists like Cher and Elton John have successfully transcended generations and lasted so long because they were different. They didn’t simply follow the trends, they created them. Artists like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones are more than just musicians, they are a culture. They represent the revolution, change and defiance of their generation ‘- something many contemporary artists have failed to accomplish.
I don’t mean to say all artists of our generation are bad. And I do think we have a couple mainstream artists who have a chance at transcending generations. For example:’ Radiohead, Beck, Bad Religion, Green Day and even Beyonce.
I also believe there are many artists who, if they were to receive the recognition they deserve, would also have a shot at standing the test of time, like Wilco and Bjork.
But I must say there is one major exception to my point ‘- rap artists.
While our generation may have not made major imprints in mainstream pop, R&B and rock music, we have developed rap. Rap wasn’t a nationally recognized genre of music before our generation. Artists like Tupac, Dr. Dre, Eminem and Run DMC made rap and hip-hop music what it is today. Rap music will be our generation’s mark on music history.
In fact, Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’ is the highest rated song from our generation on Rolling Stone’s ‘500 Greatest Songs of All Time’ list from 2004.
‘ It is also rap music that has represented our generation’s revolution, change and defiance. Our parents defied the norm with louder, faster-paced music. Our generation has taken a stand with powerful, honest, bold and sometimes crude lyrics, exemplifying our generation’s move toward change, equality and personal expression.
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The Short of It
When looking up our generation’s mark on music’s history, we may only be listed under rap.

‘- Megan Jicha can be reached at [email protected].