See also: Top 20 Musicians of All Time, In Any Genre: The Complete List

Last week we crowned former American Idol contestant William Hung the greatest musician of all time, in any genre, beating out luminaries including Beethoven, the Beatles, Michael Jackson and Guido D'Arezzo, the guy who invented sheet music. "It's great, thank you," Hung said, upon being told of his victory. "It is an honor and proves that an Average Joe can make it in the music world, no matter what the odds are."

The odds were certainly great -- many of our readers felt that folks like Bob Dylan and Mozart deserved to be ranked higher -- but everything about Hung's success has been dazzling. And now he's entered a new chapter in his life, as a statistical analyst for the Los Angeles County's Sheriff Department. We caught up with him to talk about his life these days. (This is not a joke. We really interviewed William Hung.)

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Yeah, yeah, we know. The top 20 greatest musicians of all time, in any genre. Where do we get off? Well, we'll tell you where we get off -- at Accuracy Station. Our team of writers listened to thousands and thousands of hours of music for this list, digging deep into the annals of history and exploring the sounds of the entire globe. We painstakingly researched the shit out of practically all music ever made, modern and classical, popular and experimental, chart-topping and obscure. You may not agree with every artist on this list, but one thing is for certain: You're going to respect the hell out of it. -Ben Westhoff

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See also:
*Top 20 Musicians of All Time, In Any Genre: #20-16
*Top 20 Musicians of All Time, In Any Genre: #15-11
*Top 20 Musicians of All Time, In Any Genre: #10-6

5. Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong was jazz's first superstar. Satchmo's explosive creativity defied conventions of early New Orleans jazz; he was a charismatic showman and dazzling trumpet player who was, literally, too good for his band. His performances were largely responsible for shifting the focus from the group to the soloist, and he was also quite an innovator when it came to scat. Perhaps most importantly, his acceptance by the social elite helped popularize jazz across racial and social boundaries. -Chris Walker

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See also:
*Top 20 Musicians of All Time, In Any Genre: #20-16
*Top 20 Musicians of All Time, In Any Genre: #15-11
*Top 20 Musicians of All Time, In Any Genre: #5-1

10. Guido D'Arezzo

Simply put, the writings of Guido D'Arezzo (above) laid the foundations for Western music. This medieval theorist of the 11th century was the dude responsible for inventing the notation we still use today. In other words, without him we wouldn't have sheet music. Oh yeah, and you know that mnemonic "do-re-mi-fa-so-la-te-do"? He invented that too. -Chris Walker

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See also:
*Top 20 Musicians of All Time, In Any Genre: #20-16
*Top 20 Musicians of All Time, In Any Genre: #10-6
*Top 20 Musicians of All Time, In Any Genre: #5-1

15. Madonna
When asked by Dick Clark on American Bandstand in 1983 what her dreams were, a young Madonna replied, "To rule the world." She proceeded to do just that, releasing eleven blockbuster studio albums to date and becoming the world's top-selling female recording artist ever. The mother of reinvention, she has endlessly reworked her image and style, affecting our culture in myriad, rippling ways. Though she's sometimes criticized for following fads in her personal life, when it comes to her music the culture usually mirrors her. -Rebecca Haithcoat

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See also:
*Top 20 Musicians of All Time, In Any Genre: #15-11
*Top 20 Musicians of All Time, In Any Genre: #10-6
*Top 20 Musicians of All Time, In Any Genre: #5-1

Yeah, yeah, we know. The top 20 greatest musicians of all time, in any genre. Where do we get off? Well, we'll tell you where we get off -- at Accuracy Station. Our team of writers listened to thousands and thousands of hours of music for this list, digging deep into the annals of history and exploring the sounds of the entire globe. We painstakingly researched the shit out of practically all music ever made, modern and classical, popular and experimental, chart-topping and obscure. You may not agree with every artist on this list, but one thing is for certain: You're going to respect the hell out of it. -Ben Westhoff

More »