In the world of music, some artists refuse to compromise their artistic vision. Join us as we explore musicians who stayed true to their creative roots, rejecting commercial pressures and maintaining their unique musical identity throughout their careers.
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00:00I keep trying to tap into that person who maybe was naive and you know went into it
00:07feeling like you could make a difference. Welcome to WatchMojo and today we'll be counting down our
00:13picks for those musical artists that largely stuck to their creative guns while finding success
00:20on their own terms. We were talking about boy we should charge 25 dollars and really milk it
00:25really take them for all they got. Number 10 ABBA. When we got into the studio after 39 years
00:32it was like no time had passed. The swedish pop sensations known as ABBA may have released a new
00:38album in 2021 and they did create a virtual residency known as the ABBA voyage in London
00:45soon afterwards. However the members of ABBA had been notoriously reluctant to reunite prior to
00:52the 2020s even famously turning down a 1 billion dollar payday back in 2000. This is pretty
00:59astounding stuff since even the most stalwartly grounded groups would have a difficult time
01:05turning down that kind of money. But the fact that ABBA also utilized motion captured avatars
01:17of themselves within their residency might speak to the fact they simply want their fans to
01:22remember them as they were to enjoy the past. Number 9 Rush. Progressive rock artists have
01:34long stood proudly and defiantly out of time. Bands like Rush remain steadfast in their dedication to
01:46music rather than fashion or trends. This stands in line with Prague's reputation for boundary
01:52pushing musicianship and Rush has certainly achieved this and all on their own terms.
02:05Granted the 1980s output of Rush did embrace the burgeoning synthesizer movement
02:11but their musical fences never felt enclosed by possibility.
02:16Instead fans responded in droves to how these Canadian legends made arena rock a place where
02:27both the visceral and intellectual spaces could be explored and those same fans wouldn't want
02:34it any other way. Number 8 Motorhead. We are Motorhead and we play rock and roll.
02:46This was a line famously uttered by the group's leader Ian Lemmy Kilmister before practically
02:52every gig. And Motorhead never pretended to be anything other than loud, heavy and obnoxious
03:03rock. They're seen today as one of the godfathers of speed metal thanks to their high octane tempo
03:16and driving double bass drumming. Motorhead could also slow things down to a bluesy crawl or even
03:23some surprisingly effective balladry. And they did it while never straying from that
03:34rock and roll core that endeared Lemmy and company to generations of headbangers.
03:46Number 7 Beastie Boys. Does the act of progression mean selling out? It's a question that's been
04:00asked of many bands and will likely continue to be asked of practically any group that picks up
04:06some guitars. The Beastie Boys didn't seem to think so and many of their fans seem to agree.
04:16These rebellious youths started out playing hardcore punk before their early love of the
04:22hip-hop genre encouraged a stylistic shift. Those early Beasties records featured party
04:28anthems that blurred the lines between rock and rap. Meanwhile, future efforts from the
04:40boys became more and more influential, delving deep into the rap genre with a dedication that
04:46made them respected pioneers. Number 6 Iron Maiden. The landscape for commercial metal
05:02was a challenging one for the established guard. Fans had dug their heels into the underground,
05:08leaving many traditional acts struggling for relevance. Iron Maiden, to their credit,
05:13weathered the storm with a new singer, Blaze Bailey, while continuing to write the music
05:18they wanted to play. This stood in contrast to the choices made by Judas Priest, Rob Halford,
05:31or former Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson, all three of which attempted to appeal to new metal,
05:36industrial, and grunge trends of the day. Maiden, through it all, stayed Maiden, despite
05:49stunted sales and concert tickets. The band would eventually reunite with Dickinson and
05:54regain their prominence, but fans never forgot Iron Maiden's dedication to the heavy metal cause.
06:01Number 5 Pearl Jam.
06:14We've probably all paid a little too much to see our favorite bands.
06:18This could be due to them playing a big festival, or maybe we just waited too long to grab tickets.
06:25Pearl Jam has always seemed to respect their fans, particularly when it comes to ticket prices.
06:36The grunge icons famously attempted to circumvent the Ticketmaster runaround back in 1994,
06:42and their dedication to this mission sees no signs of slowing down decades later.
06:47Pearl Jam even promised to cancel any resale tickets sold above face value
06:57for their 2025 tour, in a move that likely made their devoted fans love them even more.
07:04Number 4 Radiohead.
07:06There's something to be said about sticking to one's guns, particularly when it comes to
07:19composing difficult music. Britain's Radiohead blew the minds of critics back in 1997 when they
07:25released OK Computer. This was a marvelous record that somehow managed to combine alternative rock
07:32with electronica and even vintage progressive sounds in a manner that felt fresh and new.
07:38Radiohead didn't stop there however, and continued to push creative boundaries
07:43with every new album or project. It would have been easy for the group to capitalize upon the
07:54goodwill received from both OK Computer or their 1993 debut Pablo Honey. Instead, Radiohead dug in
08:08their heels and never sold their defiantly unconventional musical principles. Number 3
08:14Roger Waters. The departure of Roger Waters from Pink Floyd didn't spell the end of that band.
08:28Floyd carried on just like they did after their separation from founding member Sid Barrett.
08:34Waters, to his credit, continued doing things
08:43his way, retaining the levels of control he wielded in Floyd.
08:53This resulted in a solo career that put just as much focus on Waters' sardonic lyrics
08:59as it did on guest spots from friends like Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. Floyd became more
09:04melodic and soulful after the departure of Waters, while the latter's LPs Amused to Death
09:10and The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking were experimental exercises from a fertile creative mind.
09:23Number 2 Nirvana. What do you do when millions of music fans suddenly adore you for
09:29writing the loud, abrasive, and intentionally uncommercial rock you've been writing for years?
09:39The members of Nirvana likely asked themselves this question after their 1991 album Nevermind
09:44struck a conceptual nerve in the pop zeitgeist. Grunge was suddenly an in-thing, with many new
09:50groups struggling to jump on the new rock bandwagon. Nirvana could have easily dumbed
09:55the Nevermind formula to compete in this new space, but they had another idea.
10:05In utero was the follow-up, and it felt even more focused and cognizant of Nirvana's new
10:10place, the food chain. This was a hard-hitting and even controversial album, one that proved Nirvana
10:16wasn't backing down to major label pressure.
10:40Number 1. David Bowie. There are just some masters of musical reinvention out there
10:46that managed to stay relevant for decades. David Bowie released his first albums during
10:57the tail end of the 1960s. Then he broke barriers with his glam rock dominance that challenged
11:03just about everybody's preconceptions of what a rock star looked like.
11:07Bowie never rested on those creative laurels however, and instead embraced every new
11:19technology while creating music that always felt true to his personal style.
11:30The thin white dude could do no wrong in the eyes of his fans and continued to stay musically
11:35relevant right up until his death in 2016. Which artists do you feel have retained the
11:41most integrity over the years? Let us know in the comments.
12:05Here's what's next!