Which music artist do you admire and respect the most?

I greatly admire Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, otherwise know as Sting, both for his music and his activist and philanthropic endeavors. “Fragile” is a great song.

Bob Dylan because I think he is an artist, his music poetry and it’s like his songs are a part of me. I can’t pick a favorite song.

Barbra Streisand

She crosses over from singer to actor and actor to director so seemlessly. There are very few people in the industry that do that well. I love her passion, especially as a director. I also, find her mesmerising to watch.

I really struggle to choose a favourite but If I Didn’t Love You is definitely a contender.

There are two:

Mikael Akerfeldt – of the Swedish metal band Opeth. He has never written an album just to please the fans. His art remains exactly what he felt like doing at that time. They’ve even done full tours during which they played none of their heaviest music. Yes, it pissed off a lot of people, but I have massive respect for that choice.
A few songs:
Deliverance (heavy)
Hope Leaves (acoustic)
Face of Melinda (mellow with some heavy parts)

Loreena McKennitt – She is a one-woman machine. Not only does she research, write, and arrange all of her own music, she plays five instruments, sings, and manages her own record label. Her music is historically and culturally influenced, and reading into her songs and the stories behind them is like hopping in the TARDIS and experiencing the world, past and present, first hand.
A few songs:
Skellig
The Bonny Swans
Caravanserai

Joshua Homme.

Well the artist would certainly be Tom Waits, but he’s had such a long and varied career it’s hard to pick one.  How about one of each flavor of Tom?

Ballad – Long Way Home
Jazz – Heart Attack and Vine
Blues – Chocolate Jesus
Who Knows? – The Metropolitan Glide
Spoken Word – What’s He Building in There
Musical – Just the Right Bullets
Hip Hop Collaboration – Spacious Thoughts
Folk/Americana – Black Wings
Tango – Little Drop of Poison

Peter Christopherson. After starting out in graphic design in the 1970s as a partner in the firm Hipgnosis (where he created album covers for acts such as Pink Floyd and Peter Gabriel) he veered into a music career of his own first with the industrial group Throbbing Gristle, then briefly with Psychic TV. Around 1983/84 he formed the group Coil with Jhon Balance (Coil would last until Balance’s death in 2004). After Coil ended he regrouped with a reunited Throbbing Gristle (which lasted until shortly before his own death in 2010) and recorded solo works under the moniker the Threshold HouseBoys Choir as well as with Soisong (a collaboration with Russian/Swedish musician Ivan Pavlov).

Some of my favorites from his different projects:

Coil – U Pel
Coil – The Holliwell Hammers
Coil – Cathedral In Flames
Coil – Moon’s Milk or Under an Unquiet Skull

Honestly I could probably post 20 or more Coil tracks, so I’ll stop there I think.

Threshold HouseBoys Choir – A Time of Happening
Threshold HouseBoys Choir – As X is to Geff

And Throbbing Gristle aren’t really my favorite group of Peter’s, seeing live in 2009 was absolutely incredible, and probably my personal favorite concert that I’ve attended. And I don’t think I’ve ever experienced sound frequencies that intense for a prolonged period. By the time I left the show I felt like my organs had been shuffled around into new positions and like my bones were about to rattle apart.And I would give almost anything to relive those few hours. Also I had the pleasure of coming across Peter in person in a cafe near the venue before the show.

Definitely Bob Dylan. His was the voice of my generation despite his claims he wasn’t the voice for anybody! The words in a Dylan song speak to you like no others and you can spend hours discussing what some of the symbolism in others really refers to, if indeed, it refers to anything.

Favorite Song(s) – Like A Rolling Stone, Forever Young