Thanks Deschanel, it is a bit silly rigidly using decades starting from 0 to 10 to determine how big an artist is. I also know its a bit wrong to expect every decade starting from the 60's to follow recognizable patterns. I guess subconsciously I was commenting on how much music has changed, probably the biggest shift since the 60's. It would be nice to categorize everything neatly, but music has become more divided, in fans and genres. Whether that's beneficial or not is another topic. I did kinda mush up rock and music in general, but up until this decade, rock steered the course for music history. Besides those mentioned, in pop I only think Sinatra, ABBA, Michael Jackson deserve similar recognition.
I still do think Coldplay belongs with those previously mentioned. They've changed how rock sounds this era and may be the only ones to be popular around the world. I also think they're good, no Pink Floyd comparisons but no worse than Queen.
As for Radiohead, I think Kid A killed their momentum. They made one of the greatest albums of all time, but it was courageously unplayable on the radio. They deserve high respect for that album, but after it fell, Hail to the Thief was even less popular. In Rainbows was a comeback, no doubt. A lot of people I knew were surprised they were still making music. But that was just the view from here, in Britain they could have been huge the whole time.