Earliest memories: (the next three periods cover the later 60s through early to mid 70s)
Lawrence Welk
Ray Conniff Singers
Andy Williams
Herp Albert and the tijuana brass
The Carpenters
Glenn Campbell show
EDIT: Kid's versions of Puff the Magic Dragaon, Tie me Kangaroo down and the like.
EDIT: The Catholic Nuns at my grade school leading us in "Blowing in the Wind".
Bing Crosby
Burt Bacharach
(some of the artists were my parents 8 track music, the rest radio and tv)
First things I liked independent of my parents:
Jackson 5
Yellow Submarine era Beatles
Schoolhouse Rock
Monkees
John Denver
Then I listened to radio in the car my folks were driving, as we travelled to go skiing, mostly AM. Cat in the Cradle (can't remember artist), Moody Blues, Jim Croce, Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow, Raindrops (can't remember artist), Steppenwolf, America, Eagles, James Taylor, 10CC I am sure there are more. Also liked Beach Boys
First stuff I owned (mid 70s):
Bachman Turner Overdrive, Not Fragile
Elton John, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, and Greatest Hits
Chicago, a whole bunch. 25 or 6 to 4 was my football warm up song (I liked the earlier stuff's piano and brass, remember, I was taking piano at the time, Especially loved syncopated piano and anything honkey tonkish), Kiss
Then (1976 or so through 1979) a big shift into:
VanHalen, first album
Boston, First album
Kansas
Zeppelin
EDIT: forgot to mention Pink Floyd, a big influence at the time.
Lynyrd Skynrd
Foghat
Fleetwood Mac
Foreigner
Queen
Yes
I'll admit to some Styx and such too.
Then (1980-81) changed again and focused on:
Early Beatles (primarily red album, some blue album)
Early Stones (Hotrocks)
Jazz, primarily fusion, such as Jeff Lorber Fusion. John Klemmer, Spyro Gyra, Silk (a fusion of some fusion artists)
George Benson
Earth Wind and Fire, a whole lot.
College, at University of Washington in Seattle 1981-1985, got there and listened mostly to:
Elvis Costello
Clash
U2
Kingbees (rockabilly before Stray Cats)
Stray Cats
EDIT: FORGOT TO MENTION THE ROMANTICS, I really liked them!
Head East
Springsteen (before Born in the USA, emphasize The River, and Born to Run)
AC/DC
Def Leppard
B52s
EDIT: UB40 and similar reggae, Jimmy Cliff, and Peter Tosh
Specials
English Beat, the Beat
Police
The Pretenders
Some Jimmy Buffet
Violent Femmes, (a lot!)
Talking Heads
Much, but not all of what was on the first 2-3 years of MTV, kind of got away from Van Halen, etc. and any concert/arena oriented rock
Emphasis on uptempo, 4/4 time songs that are over in about 2 minutes. Very few guitar solo songs.
Still, the Beatles and Stones, fusion jazz and EWF and Benson
Classical, and other instrumental (George Winston for example) for study tunes.
I am sure there is more.
Law School (Salem, OR, near Portland), add to college list:
SRV
REM
the Untouchables
The Replacements
Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper
Crazy 8s (ska based Portland, OR band)
More Reggae, Bob Marley, Wailers, others.
Warren Zevon
I think I bought Bon Jovi's Slippery when Wet too.
Post school, adult life, add to the above:
Most of the 90s were Grunge (Nirvana, Mudhoney, Soundgarden, etc., some Pearl Jam, like Crazy Mary) and neo punk (Greenday, Offspring) oriented, living at the time in Tacoma, near Seattle. Also, add in things like Blues Traveler, Paul Westerberg, EDIT: NEIL YOUNG, starting with Harvest Moon and Unplugged, Tom Petty, post Clash projects, essentially two playlists, adult contemp. and alternative (like Cowboy Junkies, Lyle Lovett, Bonnie Raitt, REM and post REM, Michelle Shocked, etc.) and end of the dial "harder" alternative playlists (like Seattle's 107.7 the End), including all the punky stuff above, the grunge stuff, and things like Sublime, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Jane's Addiction, etc.
Since then, continue to add artists to the above two type of playlists. Got a little stagnant out here in Idaho, and after having kids. Returned to classic rock and started learning more about earlier stuff I had heard but not really listened to, like earlier Neil Young, Hendrix, influences of SRV, people influenced by SRV, I added a lot to my blues and jazz playlists, going back in time. (Albert King, Coltrane, etc.)
Spud and others here have turned me onto a whole bunch of new stuff, and my taking up guitar has renewed my interest in guitar oriented music in general. More blues, more jazz, more classic rock. And the list continues!
EDIT: Sorry for being so long winded. It was a fun exercise to try to remember back and track forward for myself!