WFUV Essential Artists

Longevity, impact, influence, history: we celebrate the musicians who have shaped our cultural soundtrack.

Original photo by Larry Philpot, www.soundstagephotography.com via Wikimedia Commons

Willie Nelson

August 14, 2017|Laura Fedele
Willie Nelson made it okay to be a freak, not just in country music but in life. [Playlist]
Joe Jackson (PR photo by Frank Veronsky)

Joe Jackson

August 07, 2017|Kara Manning
An artist of endless elasticity and restless genius. [Playlist]
Press photo from the 1999 No Exit album on Beyond Records

Blondie

July 31, 2017|Kara Manning
Downtown ambassadors from the '70s who've never abandoned what made them great. [Playlist]
Tom Petty

Tom Petty

July 24, 2017|Kara Manning
Petty always pushed to record fresh material, rather than just leaning on the laurels of his past. [Playlist]
(Original photo by Gus Philippas)

My Morning Jacket

July 10, 2017|Kara Manning
Alt-country psych-rock inclinations, yearning melodies and ferocious reverb: Live, they are legendary. [Playlist]
U2 (Original photo 'Walk On' single)

U2

June 26, 2017|Kara Manning
Unlike the roar or swagger of a lot of all-male bands, U2's mightiest songs are unapologetically emotional. [Playlist]
Chuck Berry (Photo: public domain)

Chuck Berry

June 19, 2017|Paul Cavalconte
Lennon: "If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry." [Playlist]
(Photo via flickr.com/m01229, CC BY-NC 2.0)

Summer of Love

June 12, 2017|Kara Manning
It's been a fifty-year embryonic journey since the Monterey International Pop Festival. [Playlist]
Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach (Original photo by Danny Clinch)

The Black Keys

June 05, 2017|Kara Manning
Sinewy dynamics, acerbic humor, flourishes of hip hop, and raw, dirty blasts of rock bliss. [Playlist]
Pixies (illustration by Andy Friedman)

Pixies

May 22, 2017|Kara Manning
No one has ever called Pixies predictable. [Playlist]