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Your Favorite Musicians' Favorite Musicians

4:15 p.m. · March 5, 2009 · by Kali Holloway

When it comes to figuring out who influenced our favorite bands, singers and songwriters, we’re all accidental music critics (no matter how much we profess to revile the term). Once you’ve heard enough music, it’s almost impossible not to make mental notes when you think you’ve recognized traces of the old in the new. Every generation of music owes at least something to what came before – no song is produced in a vacuum – and in some cases, it’s all too easy to deduce which artists inspired a musician. But sometimes, it’s not so clear. And frankly, there’s probably more in any given musician’s record collection than just what can be detected by listening to his or her songs. Ever wondered which artists your favorite songwriter looks up to? Or the album your favorite guitarist credits with getting him or her into music? Or even the songs your favorite singer listened to, over and over, during the dark days of high school?

Amazon has undertaken the task of getting musicians to talk about the music they love and why. The list of artists offering up opinions is lengthy and diverse, and while a lot of their favorite albums and songs are what you might have predicted, some of their picks are genuinely surprising. I mean, who knew that Yellowcard hearts the Dixie Chicks? Or that Donny Osmond loves Prince and Def Leppard? Or that Norah Jones is really into Violent Femmes? Not I.

The list is too long to include here, but other artists who were willing to share (just to give you a look at what a disparate group is represented) include TheRapture, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bob Dylan, Toby Keith, Dead Kennedys, The Who and “Weird Al” Yankovic. For more, visit NoiseAddicts.