Yes, hats off to Aldavis. But I would add that there where other artists in the south, Robert Johnson for ex. and folks we'll never hear of, that contributed to the blues. The blues had two off-spring, jazz and rock 'n roll. Most of the British rock 'n rollers gave due praise to music that was comin from the mid-west Mississippi region. To carry that further, most of the Chicago artist were from or influenced by the black culture of the southern US. The blues, in my opinion, is where all modern popular music starts. The blues, started from poor, uneducated, untrained, folk teaching themselves how to play an instrument and express how they felt about their lot in life. Even country music has to tip a hat to the blues.
Are the Beatles the reason why modern music exists
I believe that the Beatles are the reason why modern music exists. The album that ushered in modern music was "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Although I consider it maybe their 4th best album, this is the one(One person said it was the Rolling Stones, but do you remember what their equivalent album was? It was called "Satanic Majik Mysteries", or some such{you had to be there}.) It definitely wasn't Elvis. Although good, Elvis was not the innovation that allowed modern music. One interesting thing is to ask youngsters what the Beatles' "White Album" is.