Ray Davies

As chief songwriter and vocalist for the Kinks, Ray Davies wielded considerable influence over a generation of musicians who drew inspiration from his early bursts of youthful exuberance like "You Really Got Me" and "Lola," as well as his later, more wistful tributes to times gone by, including "Celluloid Heroes" and "Come Dancing." Though the Kinks never reached the heights of fame as contemporaries like the Beatles or Stones, fans held up Davies' wry, literate songs as some of the best English pop and rock of the postwar era. Following their initial success in the early '60s, the Kinks hit their artistic stride at the end of the decade with The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968), a lovely reminiscence of English country life as it faded into the past. Davies would follow this success with a string of highly theatrical albums before returning to the three-chord rock of the Kinks' early days for a string of '80s hits like "Catch Me Now I'm Falling" before long-simmering tensions between Davies and his brother and bandmate spurred the Kinks to call it quits in 1995. Davies then embarked on a well-regarded solo career that included reworkings of his past catalog on The Kinks Choral Collection (2009) and See My Friends (2011). Throughout the course of his career, Davies' best work influenced virtually all music movements, making him one of the most invaluable figures in the history of the medium.