Jim Marshall's photographs adorn more than five hundred album coversn-spanning everyone from Johnny Cash to Miles Davis. His cover photograph for Life from this tour of a white jump-suited Jagger remains one of the enduring portraits of the master showman. Marshall, who died in 2010 at age 74, is widely celebrated as the premiere music photographer, a pioneer of the genre. His portfolio includes photos of virtually every major musician of the era, not only from the early days of rock en' roll but including its roots in jazz, blues, and country. 'He was THE rock en' roll photographer,' said colleague Annie Leibowitz. 'With an imposing presence and gruff, forceful personality, Mr. Marshall was something of a rock star himself,' said the New York Times in his obituary. A much-beloved Chronicle Books author, and a legend not only for his outsized personality but also for the way he could, when behind the camera, disappear so people seemed to forget he was there and let their guard down, Marshall's fine work graces our list with Jazz, Proof, and Pocket Cash.

The Rolling Stones (founded 1962) have influenced international culture over the last fifty years through their music. Keith Richards is guitarist and founding member of the band -- and has been attributed with 'rock's greatest single body of riffs' by Rolling Stone magazine.