As a band, my favorite is AFI. As I can listen to any song off any of their albums at any given time. They have THAT kind of value with how all their music is overall past or present.
My favorite musician that I respect the most hands down is Gwen Stefani. The main reason being is there is no one, and I mean NO ONE in the industry today who comes close to pleasing her fans, giving 110% every single night, and staying determined to stay on top and give back then her, and if that wasn't impressive enough, she's been doing it for over a dozen years now and is still going strong. Plus her creativity is un-presidented. No one is as open, bold, and as much of a risk-taker as her in the industry. And believe me, there would be no Pink, Nelly Furtado, Avril Lavigne, Hilary Duff, Fergie, Kelly Clarkson out there making names for themselves today if it wasn't for Gwen who paved the road for them.
Oh, by the way, Linkin Park sucks. They're barely musicians. Anyone who's sat down to listen to these egomaniacs knows that Chester only wanted the money, Mike only wanted enough money to start his own Asian restaraunt, and Joe only wanted to make himself noticed as an animator. LP is a stain in the very goodness that the industry can produce nowadays.