100+ Best Bands & Artists That Start With V

Jared Baly
Updated August 15, 2023 1.1K votes 76 voters
Over 70 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of 100+ Best Bands & Artists That Start With V

We're ranking the best bands and solo artists that start with V across every music genre and generation. From Grammy Award-winning superstars Van Morrison and Vince Gill, to rock legends Van Halen, Vinnie Vincent, Vampire Weekend, Volbeat, Voivod, Vixen, and the Velvet Underground, this compilation of artists contains a diverse range of multi-talented musicians with names all beginning with the letter V. 

Singer-songwriter royalty Vanessa Carlton, Vance Joy, and Vanessa Williams never cease to captivate fans across their profound records and live performances; and hip-hop moguls Vince Staples, Vic Mensa, and Vanilla Ice indisputably remain forces to be reckoned with among the rap world. Hollywood triple-threat Vanessa Hudgens still has fans playing every High School Musical song on repeat; and composer/DJ extraordinaire Vangelis (rest in peace) redefined both the cinematic music world and EDM scene, paving the way for future generations of electronic producers and progressive musicians.

Vote below for your favorite singers, bands, rappers, DJs, and composers whose names start with V, and feel free to check out these artists' discography lists afterwards if you'd like to discover more of their incredible music. 

Most divisive: Vince Staples
Ranked by
  • Van Halen
    1

    Van Halen

    74 votes
    Van Halen were an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen were known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of their lead guitarist, Eddie Van Halen. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. From 1974 until 1985, Van Halen consisted of Eddie Van Halen; Eddie's brother, drummer Alex Van Halen; vocalist David Lee Roth; and bassist/vocalist Michael Anthony. Upon its release in 1978, the band's self-titled debut album reached No. 19 on the Billboard pop music charts and would sell over 10 million copies in the U.S. By 1982, the band released four more albums (Van Halen II, Women and Children First, Fair Warning, and Diver Down), all of which have since been certified multi-platinum. By the early 1980s, Van Halen was one of the most successful rock acts of the day. The album 1984 was a commercial success with U.S. sales of 10 million copies.
  • The Velvet Underground
    2
    The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in 1964 in New York City by singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise (replaced by Moe Tucker in 1965). The band was initially active between 1965 and 1973, and was briefly managed by the pop artist Andy Warhol, serving as the house band at the Factory and Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable events from 1966 to 1967. Their debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico (with German-born singer and model Nico), was released in 1967 to critical indifference and poor sales but has become critically acclaimed; in 2003, Rolling Stone called it the "most prophetic rock album ever made."The band's integration of rock and the avant-garde achieved little commercial success during its existence, but it is now recognized as one of the most influential bands in rock, underground, experimental, and alternative music. The provocative subject matter, musical experiments, and often nihilistic attitudes explored in the band's work proved influential in the development of punk rock and new wave music. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the band No. 19 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". In 2017, a study of AllMusic's catalog indicated the Velvet Underground as the fifth most frequently cited artist influence in its database. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 by Patti Smith.
  • Van Morrison
    3

    Van Morrison

    57 votes
    Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison OBE (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter, instrumentalist and record producer. His professional career began as a teenager in the late 1950s playing a variety of instruments including guitar, harmonica, keyboards and saxophone for various Irish showbands, covering the popular hits of that time. Van Morrison rose to prominence in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of the Northern Irish R&B band Them, with whom he recorded the garage band classic "Gloria". His solo career began under the pop-hit oriented guidance of Bert Berns with the release of the hit single "Brown Eyed Girl" in 1967. After Berns's death, Warner Bros. Records bought out his contract and allowed him three sessions to record Astral Weeks (1968). Though this album gradually garnered high praise, it was initially a poor seller. Moondance (1970) established Morrison as a major artist, and he built on his reputation throughout the 1970s with a series of acclaimed albums and live performances. He continues to record and tour, producing albums and live performances that sell well and are generally warmly received, sometimes collaborating with other artists, such as Georgie Fame and The Chieftains. Much of Morrison's music is structured around the conventions of soul music and R&B, such as the popular singles "Brown Eyed Girl", "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)", "Domino" and "Wild Night". An equal part of his catalogue consists of lengthy, loosely connected, spiritually inspired musical journeys that show the influence of Celtic tradition, jazz and stream-of-consciousness narrative, such as the album Astral Weeks and the lesser known Veedon Fleece and Common One. The two strains together are sometimes referred to as "Celtic soul". He has received two Grammy Awards, the 1994 Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, the 2017 Americana Music Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting and has been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2016, he was knighted for services to the music industry and to tourism in Northern Ireland. He is known by the nickname Van the Man to his fans.
  • Velvet Revolver
    4
    Velvet Revolver was an American hard rock supergroup consisting of Guns N' Roses members Slash (lead guitar), Duff McKagan (bass, backing vocals), and former member Matt Sorum (drums, backing vocals), alongside Dave Kushner (rhythm guitar) formerly of punk band Wasted Youth, and Scott Weiland formerly of Stone Temple Pilots (STP). Weiland left the band to rejoin STP in 2008. In 2004, the band achieved commercial success with their debut album, Contraband. Despite positive reviews, some critics initially described Velvet Revolver as a mere combination of Stone Temple Pilots and Guns N' Roses, and criticizing them for a "disconnection" between Weiland and the rest of the band. With their single "Slither", they won the 2005 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. The band released Libertad in 2007, driven by the release of the single "She Builds Quick Machines", and embarked on a tour with Alice in Chains. In April 2008, Weiland abruptly left Velvet Revolver and reunited with Stone Temple Pilots. Velvet Revolver was put on indefinite hiatus and in November of that year, requested to be released by their record label RCA Records to allow themselves "complete freedom to go through whatever process it would take to accomplish" replacing Weiland. Although Velvet Revolver worked on new material and auditioned new singers following Scott Weiland's departure, the band has not released any new material and only performed publicly once since 2008, when they reunited with Weiland for a one-off reunion show on January 12, 2012 at a benefit concert. This proved to be their last performance together before Weiland's death on December 3, 2015. Slash and McKagan have since rejoined Guns N' Roses.
  • Volbeat
    5

    Volbeat

    53 votes
    Volbeat are a Danish rock band formed in Copenhagen in 2001. They play a fusion of rock and roll, heavy metal, and rockabilly. Their current line-up consists of vocalist and guitarist Michael Poulsen, guitarist Rob Caggiano, drummer Jon Larsen and bassist Kaspar Boye Larsen. The band is signed to Dutch label Mascot Records and has released seven studio albums and one DVD. All of their studio albums have been certified gold in Denmark. Their second album Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil received platinum status, and their 2010 release Beyond Hell/Above Heaven was subject to widespread international critical acclaim, receiving double platinum in Denmark, platinum in Finland and Germany, and gold in the United States, Sweden and Austria. Volbeat's seventh album, Rewind, Replay, Rebound, was released on August 2, 2019. Their eighth album, Servant of the Mind, was released on December 3, 2021.
  • Vince Gill
    6

    Vince Gill

    40 votes
    Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman to the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist beginning in 1983, where his talents as a vocalist and musician have placed him in high demand as a guest vocalist and a duet partner. He has recorded more than 20 studio albums, charted over 40 singles on the U.S. Billboard charts as Hot Country Songs, and has sold more than 26 million albums. He has been honored by the Country Music Association with 18 CMA Awards, including two Entertainer of the Year awards and five Male Vocalist Awards. As of 2017, Gill has also earned 21 Grammy Awards, more than any other male country music artist. In 2007 he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. On February 4, 2016, Gill was inducted into the Guitar Center Rock Walk by Joe Walsh of the Eagles. In 2017, Vince Gill and Deacon Frey were hired by the Eagles in place of the late Glenn Frey. Gill has been married to singer Amy Grant since March 2000.