10 Classic Rock Artists That NEVER Sold Out

The idea of selling out has always been a cruel temptation in the rock world. Whereas many bands spend years trying to cultivate their own sound, it's just as easy to try and make lightning strike twice by following whatever is popular at the time. Even with the odds stacked against them, these fixtures of rock's glory years never bothered with the more trendy sounds of the time.

Coming out of the first generations of rock and roll, a lot of these bands didn't really know much outside of their own form of music, which they formed at the grassroots level. As opposed to the more customary thing of just doing what their audience wants, these bands decided to take the plunge and find new and interesting things to explore down the road. Even though the world kept turning around them, most of these acts were still able to score massive hits without ever having to compromise their own artistic vision.

Given that many of these artists have been in the game for multiple decades, there's something to be said about trusting your gut and never cowering to what the big bad record man has to say about it. You could just make a quick buck off of what else is going on...but where's the fun in that?

It's almost impossible to overstate the amount of influence John Lennon has had over the rock community. Even if you don't really care for the man's music, the amount of classic tunes he has had some hand in is seemingly endless, from his solo work to his time with the Beatles. Whereas most people wouldn't want to leave the top of the charts, Lennon ended up following his musical vision wherever it would take him.

For a man who was one of the most recognizable rock stars of his time, it's staggering to consider how much Lennon didn't care about the mainstream. How little care you might ask? Well, around the time he was still in the Beatles, his collaboration with Yoko Ono resulted in an album with a cover of him completely naked on the front. After his take on the avant garde, Lennon even went so far as to be even more transparent as the years went on, with Imagine and Plastic Ono Band detailing his time in primal therapy.

Even when not focusing on his own projects, Lennon still seemed to keep his ear to the ground in rock circles, collaborating with everyone from Elton John to David Bowie. Eventually settling into his domestic life in New York City before his death, Lennon never let his star power limit his ability to live life to the fullest extent.