There are a lot of artists I like, but liking an artist is merely a byproduct of the fact that music made by the same person or people tends to have similarities; liking music is fundamentally liking individual pieces of music.
At this moment (and all day, in my head), I'm very much enjoying 'And We Bid You Goodnight' by the Grateful Dead. I don't know much of their music, but I like some of it a great deal (and am bored by a lot of it) -- perhaps they'll emerge as a strand in my musical taste.
Originally posted by dfm65Good choice - I would add Dylan meself.
As far as relatively well-known bands go:
Velvet Underground/Lou Reed, Hendrix, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Stooges, Beatles, Pink Floyd, Ramones, Bowie, Pixies, Cure, Nirvana, NIN, Mogwai, Muse, Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Black Sabbath...