growing up in the 70's and 80's I listened to a lot of Eagles, Tom Petty, Van Halen, Journey, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, AC/DC, Boston, Foreigner, CCR, Styx, etc. It's hard to say one was the most influential. But when I went for a cross country drive like from BYU to Alaska after the school year was done, what would I listen to the most? Probably

1). the Eagles
2). Tom Petty
3). Bruce
4). Bob Dylan
5). Van Halen