Brian Eno

For someone who has declared himself a "non-musician," the multi-talented Brian Eno has done more than any of his art-rock contemporaries to alter the course of musical history. He began as the synthesizer player for Roxy Music, making that already-innovative band's sound even more original by using his axe more like a mixing board than a keyboard. On his own, he made some of the most bafflingly original rock ever recorded on early solo records like Here Come the Warm Jets and Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) before pioneering the music-as-sonic-painting ambient approach on a series of atmospheric instrumental albums that have since influenced everyone from serious modern composers to druggy ravers. Later, he anticipated both sampling and worldbeat with My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, a 1981 collaboration with David Byrne. Along the way, he brought his visionary sensibility to production work with a staggering list of clients including Devo, Talking Heads, U2, and many more.