I think Budweiser should start with Chuck Berry!

[Mike 2]

The story

Let's get a little competition going...after all it's the "Rock N Roll - American Way" baby!!

[bazooka 0]

I've been joking around with images of Bo Diddley (Ellas McDaniel) in the "Picture Wars" thread, and I've started to realize what a major unrecognized and uncredited influence he's had in Rock & Roll (The "Bo Diddley Beat" is the basis for hundreds of classic songs). Bo Diddley often praises Chuck Berry as another "originator".

Little Richard, "The Georgia Peach", "the biggest star by far without a car", has always been sure to steal the show. He must have been incredibly scary to Middle America's parents in the 1950s. He helped save Rock & Roll from being taken over by the likes of Pat Boone and kinder, gentler "pop" covers.

[Crazy Don 0]

And of course they should also do Jimi Hendrix!

[Mike 2]

I personally give much more credit to Little Richard, Jackie Brenston and Chuck Berry for starting Rock N Roll than Elvis!

Time line

[bazooka 0]

The commerative cans really don't have anything to do with recognizing musical milestones. Everybody knows it's about selling Miller beer and Rolling Stone magazine, and who can even guess the machinations that go into selecting the artists to optimize that result.

But hey, when did Willie Nelson become a Rock 'n' Roll legend?

Maybe around the same time 7-11 Slurpee cups made Rock Stars out of Merle Haggard and Freddy Fender.