Run DMC were the Beatles of hip hop. They drove the movement past marginalized, stigmatized communities and into the mainstream. These guys incorporated disco elements, funk, folk, jazz, and rock into their work. They even collaborated with Aerosmith. They were a model for Wu-Tang, Public Enemy, and they even set the stage for a ton of boy bands. Jam Master Jay was occasionally called the John Lennon of hip-hop, and so far, their influences are truly parallel.
Johnny Ramone
Johnny Ramone was full of youthful energy. He was goofy, strong, and quiet offstage, but he was a force to be reckoned with on stage.
Johnny held the Ramones together with his rigidity, his songwriting prowess, and his ability to play guitar like absolutely nobody else on the planet. People complained that the Ramones had no idea how to play their instruments, which was true at first, but they used their juvenile experience to their benefit. In fact, the Ramones were so simple and effective, that they preached a message to prospective musicians. If they could do it, so could you.
Lou Reed
The Velvet Underground was everything in the New York scene in the 1960s and 70s, without them, there would be no modern music.