Sorry, but I couldn't limit it to one, as the 20th century was dominated by two major musical genres, jazz and R&B/rock'n'roll. My two choices are not my absolute favorites, but I still think they are the most influential.

So here we go, with my two choices:

Louis Armstrong - his recordings with the Hot Fives and the Hot Sevens is the Rosetta Stone of modern music, it doesn't get more important and influential than Satchmo, the King of Jazz.

Fats Domino - this forum wouldn't exist without Fats. All r&b, soul, rock'n'roll, dance, etc. can be traced back to Fats Domino, the inventor of the big beat, the backbeat, okay! And he cancelled on me twice. And I will never get to see him live. But he is my hero. Read the biography, "Blue Monday", and you will realize just how IMPORTANT this man is!



Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock 'n' Roll (Paperback)
~ Rick Coleman

amazon.com review:

"(Blue Monday) is not just a masterly biography, boasting rare access to its reclusive subject... but an expansive social and musical history, of how 1950s America spawned rock'n'roll, and how rock'n'roll changed America...Excellent." The Guardian

Product Description
The critically acclaimed first-ever biography of New Orleans rock 'n' roll legend Fats Domino by a writer who obtained exclusive access to the reclusive singer.
While many think of Elvis Presley as rock 'n' roll's driving force, the truth is that Fats Domino, whose records have sold more than 100 million copies, was the first to put it on the map with such hits as "Ain't That a Shame" and "Blueberry Hill."

In Blue Monday, acclaimed R&B scholar Rick Coleman draws on a multitude of new interviews with Fats Domino and many other early musical legends to create a definitive biography of not just an extraordinary man but also a unique time and place: New Orleans at the birth of rock 'n' roll. Coleman's groundbreaking research makes for an immense cultural biography, and is the first to convey the full scope of Fats Domino's impact on the popular music of the twentieth century.

About the Author
Rick Coleman's work has appeared in Offbeat, Goldmine, Billboard, and Rolling Stone, and in liner notes for the likes of Fats Domino and Little Richard. He lives outside New Orleans.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0306815311/?tag=imwan-20

It's hard to argue with your choices. Of course, one can quibble over substituting, let's say Elvis Presley or even Chuck Berry for the latter half of the 20th century - but, well said Googa.

Goog, Excellent choices.

One thing I've often wondered about Fats though... how much of his artistry was HIS doing and how much was Dave Bartholomew's? (I definitely need to pick up Coleman's book! It seems like essential reading.)

Bartholomew wrote a lot of the songs, but Fats also wrote a fair share, I believe. Bartholomew was also involved in the arrangements and the production, IIRC. It's a book I must reread, an excellent social history that goes right back to the beginning with the Africans' music days in Congo Square in New Orleans.

It just occurred to me, both Louis Armstrong and Fats Domino are from New Orleans!

Interesting topic. I'd agree with Armstrong, but a case could also be made for Duke Ellington &/or Cab Calloway (Calloway for his influential entertainment style); & I'd suggest either The Beatles or Presley instead of Domino.

Now there's no question about my needing to read the book!

"Send more Chuck Berry."

My vote would be for Chuck Berry. He was the blueprint for rock & roll songs, and wrote all his own stuff...most classics. Elvis make have had the looks, image, and was a white guy doing black music, but chuck had the great songs and laid the foundation. Elvis may have got young kids all over england to pick up guitars and form bands, but those bands would play Chuck Berry songs.

I love Fats as well, but there are other greats on his level that similarly influenced all types of music.....Ray Charles for one.

I know there is a reason to look way back, and to look at the roots / foundations, and I like the comment about the 'quibble for substituting' because there are a lot of foundational players, from all those mentioned above to say Little Richard for another example.

Yet, moving the ball forward on the timeline, there's one name that keeps popping into my head:
Bob Dylan.

Yes, & I also keep thinking there should a rep from 60's Psychedlic (Airplane or Dead?) & New Wave (Police, or...?)

If going into the 60's, The Beatles and Bob Dylan are definites. I was thinking too much foundation......there likely would not have been a Dylan without Woody Guthrie.

The punk rep would be The Ramones.....(but even there, you go back to the Stooges/MC5/Velvet Underground)

We could debate your individual choices forever, but what about the country/folk music genre? Elvis and Bob Dylan both started there. Although my artist choice would likely be the Carter Family.

I also think that the country music genre, like it or not, has kicked jazz's ass for almost 50 years. (Even leaving Garth Brooks out of the mix.) Simply look at your local radio ratings wars. How many country format stations do you see in there compared to jazz format stations? In my part of the country, I can barely even find a public radio station that plays even a few hours a week of jazz block programming. I'm sure you know, too, that the Best of the Eagles is one of the biggest selling albums of all time. Rock music itself was born out of blues, country, folk, rockabilly AND jazz (as you are aware of, because you called it "R&B/rock'n'roll," unable to quite settle on a term). Technology played a huge role, too, with electric guitars and amplifiers upping the ante.

Country music, probably like many here at IMWAN, is not my favorite, but it often gets forgotten in these discussions just because we, personally, aren't necessarily attracted to it. Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for a jazz music version of Hee Haw. Wouldn't it be fun to see Miles Davis pop up out of a cornfield and swap one-liners with Dizzy Gillespie?

I'm not prepared to argue his case but I remember some time back Gary Giddens suggested, pretty persuasively, that Bing Crosby was one of the most influential recording artists in history.

One could also argue that Al Jolson influenced music even earlier in the 20th Century.

From Wikipedia:

Al Jolson (May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was an American singer, comedian, and actor. He is considered the "first openly Jewish man to become an entertainment star in America".[1] His career lasted from 1911 until his death in 1950, during which time he was commonly dubbed "the world's greatest entertainer”.

His performing style was brash and extroverted, and he popularized a large number of songs that benefited from his "shamelessly sentimental, melodramatic approach".[2] Numerous well-known singers were influenced by his music, including Bing Crosby[3] Judy Garland, rock and country entertainer Jerry Lee Lewis, and Bob Dylan, who once referred to him as "somebody whose life I can feel".[4]

Interesting fact about Al Jolson, I never knew he loomed that large in history.

As for dustydan's argument for country music, I know it has been a vital force in the US for a long time with the popularity of hat acts like Garth Brooks, but roots country acts like Dolly Parton can't get airplay in Nashville. And country music has never become a global phenomenon, only through hybrid forms like rockabilly and country rock.

Jazz and R&B/rock'n'roll have had the most impact in the world, and for the longest.

I'm jealous!!!!

Black Sabbath.

I just remembered, the two most influential acts on Jamaican mento and ska music were Fats Domino and The Impressions. And as we know, ska begat rocksteady, which begat reggae, dub, and dancehall, so that's one more point for Fats Domino!

Les Paul.

- Great musician.
- Invented several iterations of the electric guitar.
- Most important - invented multi-track recording, pioneering the way music is recorded today.

No Les Paul, it's a different world.

Alan