Bestest Songwriters EVER!

Neil Peart from Rush. The Thinking Man's Rock Band. Congrats on making it in the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in 2013 (finally!!).

Dave Grohl is one of my favs. Great song writer, for a drummer. Lol. No seriously, he's my favorite.

Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world, and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that.
-Steve Earle

Damien Rice, lyrical genius.

So you listened to 9 crimes on repeat for a month and this constitutes a lyrical genius pfft.

That's really rude of you. No, I've been a huge fan of his since his Juniper days and I never missed any of his gigs here in Ireland. My favourite songs of his are NOT on 9 or O. So STFU.

1. Damien Rice is a musical/lyrical genius. I've only been lucky to see him once in the US.
2. Dude is an *kitten*.

High5 sister.

While I want to punch his face, I have to say John Mayer as well...mostly because my bf sounds so damn sexy playing his music!

Most of the best songwriters in the world are people you've never heard of because they are writers, not artists. Lots of artists on these list thats didn't write the majority of their well-known songs. Also some great mentions like Dylan.

A few of my favorite writers that have also had some notable success both as a writer and artist, but maybe don't get the acclaim they deserve as writers:

1. Kris Kristofferson - interestingly enough he only finished about 30 songs in his career, but almost all of them were hits. I would say his singing is an "acquired taste". Probably also has the claim to the best verbal dress down ever to another star when he called out Toby Keith backstage a few years ago before an awards show. He's got balls for days.

2. Leon Russell - The only songwriter to ever win a Grammy twice for song of the year TWICE on the same song recorded by two . separate artists. His standard, "A Song For You" , has probably been cut by more artists than any other song in history. Leon was especially influential as a composer, arranger, band leader, and session player for many of the artists that have been named on other lists. Artists as diverse as Elton, Michael Buble, and Zac Brown consider him their idol. He's never gotten the mainstream credit he deserves because of his personal lack of interest in catering to the media or what's sometimes expected of a star.

3. Taylor Swift - I remember when she first came to Nashville as a 12 year old kid and really well-known writers were just amazed by her maturity as a writer. She does not get the credit she deserves as a writer because people always seem to want to discount her success for some reason. As far as a singer, when she openers her mouth I believe the story she's telling, and for me that is what makes a great singer. If I believe what's coming out of a singer's mouth, then it doesn't really matter how perfectly in tune or how "beautiful" the singing is. For instance, opera stars are technically great singers, but I doubt any of us would want to listen to them all day long on the radio.

An iconic figure in the music business once told me, "Lance, a hit song speaks to, or speaks for, millions of people."

No matter what our individual tastes are, I think we can all agree to that statement.

I love hearing everyone's favorites!

I'd also like to add David Byrne & Neil Diamond

mark knopfler !!!

Peter Murphy, Elliott Smith, Peter John Sinfield, Andy Deane, Neil Peart, Josh Homme, Freddie Mercury, Dave Grohl...I am sure there are more floating around in my head.

Lil Wayne

..jk

Elliott Smith, James Blunt, Jeff Buckley, Ed Sheeran (don't knock him til you've listened to his unknown stuff.. like Wake me up) Peter Gabriel (arguable)

And some newer stuff

Ben Howard
Bon Iver
Bright Eyes (First day of my life is an example)
Emeli Sande
Ally Sudol (Of A Fine Frenzy)
James Vincent McMorrow
Marcus Mumford (Of Mumford and Sons)

And whoever writes The National's songs..

Neil Diamond!
Chad Kroeger

I'm real partial to Van Morrison, David Bowie and Peter Gabriel.

Surprised no one has mentioned Lou Reed yet. He should be on the list.

Neil Peart from Rush. The Thinking Man's Rock Band. Congrats on making it in the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in 2013 (finally!!).

True Story, 99% of Rush fans are men. I am sure there is a woman that is a Rush fan, but I've never met her.

I'd say 100%. There are a lot of bands I don't care for. I LOATHE Rush.

I don't know what it is, but I can't freaking stand Rush, and I don't know a single woman that likes them.

This is so weird to me, I grew up with Rush playing in the house and I can say I really enjoy their music. Maybe I'm the weird female here haha