Using pg's criteria, the first one that comes to mind is Eugine Hutz (front man Gogol Bordello).
Like others pg mentioned, he writes the music for himself not for the audiences. The sincerity and lack of compromise really comes through - his music is an unconventional blend of gypsy and punk (go to a concert and for the first time ever you'll see a mosh pit in front of an accordionist), many of his songs have a lot of humour (something painfully lacking from most music), he sings half in Ukrainian etc and yet him and Gogol Bordello have achieved a fair amount of success.
I know it may sound a bit stupid since its 12 year olds would usually have music heroes, but I'm 24 and he's the only musician I'd ever call a hero.
It may be just me, but his music, lyrics and actions all all exude the same message: do what you love doing, be a decent human being, be sincere and you'll do alright. And that's an awesome message, regardless of what you choose to do in life.
Like others pg mentioned, he writes the music for himself not for the audiences. The sincerity and lack of compromise really comes through - his music is an unconventional blend of gypsy and punk (go to a concert and for the first time ever you'll see a mosh pit in front of an accordionist), many of his songs have a lot of humour (something painfully lacking from most music), he sings half in Ukrainian etc and yet him and Gogol Bordello have achieved a fair amount of success.
I know it may sound a bit stupid since its 12 year olds would usually have music heroes, but I'm 24 and he's the only musician I'd ever call a hero.
It may be just me, but his music, lyrics and actions all all exude the same message: do what you love doing, be a decent human being, be sincere and you'll do alright. And that's an awesome message, regardless of what you choose to do in life.