Speaking of Living Colour

They were my first inkling that black musicians and rock, especially heavier rock/metal, belonged in the same sentence. As a seven or eight-year-old kid in Detroit -- long before I heard about Jimi Hendrix or Bad Brains or Black Merda or Fishbone, hell before I even really knew about Chuck Berry or Little Richard -- I knew Living Colour. Sure, they couldn't dress for shit (neon?) but they were my gateway into black rock and I'm glad they were.

Of course, the song I'll always remember them for the most is "Cult of Personality." They eventually won a Grammy for the song, but more importantly, inspired countless musicians, from Darius Rucker to TV on the Radio to find a home within rock.