Elvis, Led Zep, Stones et al were just white man packaging for all the awesome blues guys that went before, who are the real influences. They actively plagiarised them at times, which I'm not ripping on them for, but if we're talking abhout "influence"...
The Beatles started ripping off 12 bar blues but became more progressive and actually experimented with making a new sound, which in my book makes them more of a proper influence on today's music, rather than a rehash of Muddy Waters et al like Zeppelin, Stones.
Stevie Wonder deserves a mention since much of today's RnB borrows from him, and Michael Jackson used to sit in on his sessions sometimes. You can hear on tracks like master blaster near the end his vocal delivery is pure michael jackson, he was an idol of Jackson's. That track is an hommage to Bob Marley in turn, who didn't invent reggae so much as popularise it, so where do you start?!?!?!
