The following documents are in sequential order. There is not a lot of detail on individual artists except The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys and Bob Dylan.
Modern music developed very much via Afro American Blues artists from the 1920’s onward with individuals such as Robert Johnson (Eric Clapton has an entire album of Robert Johnson songs). Their influence, particularly on English bands was enormous. I have tried to provide introductions to a number of genres and list significant artists for each genre.