Here are the greatest multi-taskers in popular music. They are labeled as such because they are doing so well in handling more than a single task whenever they perform. Who among them can be declared as the greatest multi-instrumentalist?
Prince
Apart from music, he is a very well-rounded person. He is also an actor and a philanthropist. As a true innovator in musical style, fashion, and in the wide avenue of performing arts, nobody could ever dispute the fact that this guy is really one of the most important music icons in history. He died due to an accidental drug overdose, but his legacy still lives on.
Dave Grohl
During his late teens and early 20s, he was just known as Nirvana’s Drummer. But after Kurt Cobain’s death, he rose to even greater fame as the lead vocalist and guitarist of Foo Fighters. Working ever relentlessly with other artists up to these days, Dave is undoubtedly one of the busiest artists and instrumentalists in mainstream music.
Jonny Greenwood
Alternative rock is often regarded as garage music, meaning it can be played only with not too many complex styles and instruments. This alternative rocker proves the pundits wrong, he decided to teach himself many instruments which became crucial to Radiohead’s success. He had some solo endeavors which may have undermined his band’s greatness a bit, but dignified his talents even more.
Dolly Parton
It is seldom that female singers are envisioned as someone who would hold and play instruments while performing. But Ms. Parton broke such stereotyping and became very successful at it. Known for playing the banjo and the guitar in addition to his fantastic singing abilities, she is one of the greatest females in music and truly deserves to be among the male hall-of-famers out there.
Mike Oldfield
Although primarily a guitarist, audiences, and critics are on a consensus that he is one of popular music's most skilled and diverse multi-instrumentalists. He can play string instruments and keyboard-based instruments as well, in nearly equal projections. As a personal assessment of himself, he claims he is the type of composer who can go through all types of mood, and create compelling music out of it.
Nick Cave
His music is generally laced with emotional intensity and has a wide variety of influences. Lyrically, his songs speak of death, religion, love, and violence. It is for this reason that he is called rock music's "Prince of Darkness", whatever that means. He also endeavored into filmmaking as a screenwriter and actor, further proving that he can deliver something more aside from his musicianship.
Sufjan Stevens
If you want something done right, you better do it yourself. Sufjan strongly believes in this statement reason that he often plays most of the instruments that you can hear in his recorded songs. Though his songs evidently speak about the Christian faith, he openly claims that he never intended to merge his beliefs with his music.
Alicia Keys
If Time Magazine and VH1 call you one of the greatest artists of all, then you can be sure that your name can never be erased in the annals of music. An accomplished pianist, Alicia incorporates keyboarding into a majority of her songs and often writes about love, heartbreak, and female empowerment. She is regarded as one of the sexiest R&B artists though, in truth, she has really a hard time admitting it.
Todd Rundgren
In terms of musicianship, you may view him as a ‘closet scientist’ due to the fact that he would often push himself to the limits of his own physical capabilities just to project the kind of music that he envisions. Though he didn’t achieve all of his musical engineering goals, he is viewed by his peers as one of the greatest audio craftsmen in popular music.
Paul McCartney
Many artists can play various instruments and make great songs out of it. But not too many can multi-task as such and still be on the biggest rock band on the planet. Not fond of playing complex chords with the strings and keyboards, he can play just fairly. He doesn’t need to though, because out of the simple harmonies that emanate from his playing, came some of the very best songs human beings have ever heard.
Who do you think among them should be declared as number 1?
All these musicians are great but I like country music so I would vote for Dolly Parton.