Mayfield breathed soul into absolutely everything he made. His most famous tracks were just simplistic highs of his career, although it seems as if any of his songs could have been smash hits. The man was a perfectionist, but he wasn't anxious about it. He commanded his backing bands with patience, he would not instill fear into their hearts, even though they were generally terrified by his musical ability. For that, he was an outstanding rock star.
Carlos Santana
You may only know him by his hit song "Smooth" featuring Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20, but Santana's roots go all the way back to Woodstock. This young, foreign guitar player was granted the lifechanging opportunity to showcase his craft on the most memorable stage in the history of music.
Santana's Hispanic roots drive the majority of his tunes, his complex rhythms are typically comprised of a mixture of thumping, rhythmic hand drums, and china cymbals. However, what made him an effective rockstar was his ability to absolutely shred on the guitar. This wasn't an extremely common trait of the music that Santana grew up listening to, but the generation he lived in inspired him to make unconventional, yet still tonally classic tunes that rocked the ages and will rock ages to come.
Elvis Costello
A lot of people credit Elvis Costello as the sole proprietor of "Power Pop," a genre that has never received as much credit as it deserves, yet has been pivotal for the progression of music as a whole.