Time's '100 most influential' list names Chance the Rapper, Emma Stone, Riz Ahmed and more

Chance the Rapper, Emma Stone and Riz Ahmed among the stars who made the list.

ByABC News
April 20, 2017, 2:50 PM

— -- John Legend, Emma Stone, Chance the Rapper and Ava DuVernay are just some of the celebrities who made Time magazine's list of the "100 most influential people" for 2017.

The magazine released its annual list of artists, pioneers, leaders, titans and icons earlier today.

Each person named received a brief tribute from another boldfaced name. Stone, who won the Oscar this year for "La La Land," was saluted by last year's best actress Oscar winner, Brie Larson.

"What I really admire about Emma the person — as well as Emma the actor — is that she is never afraid to show us the most difficult thing you can show the world: yourself," Larson wrote. "What that entails is not always pretty. But with Emma, it is real, and it is beautiful."

The rapper Common revealed that he had once called Chance the Rapper to encourage him to pursue his dream.

"Years ago, my grandmother asked me to call her friend's grandson," Common wrote in his tribute to Chance. "'I want you to give him some words of encouragement,' she said. 'He wants to be a rapper.' She gave me his number, and I left him a message. I told him to keep following his dreams. Then I forgot all about it."

Years later, after Chance had made it big, the two met, and Chance reminded Common, "You won't remember this ... but you called me when I was a kid."

"I'm glad Chance followed his dreams," Common wrote about Chance, who won the Grammy for best new artist earlier this year. "I hope he always does."

Lin-Miranda Manuel wrote about how actor Riz Ahmed seems to be everywhere these days — "Rogue One," "The Hamilton Mixtape" and HBO's "The Night Of."

"To know him is to be inspired, engaged and ready to create alongside him," Manuel wrote in a tribute. "The year 2016 was when all the seeds he planted bore glorious fruit, and here's the best part: He's just getting started."

Here are some other celebrities who made the list:

  • Samantha Bee
  • James Corden
  • Viola Davis
  • Ava DuVernay
  • Donald Glover
  • Barry Jenkins
  • Leslie Jones
  • Alicia Keys
  • John Legend
  • Demi Lovato
  • Sarah Paulson
  • Jordan Peele
  • Ryan Reynolds
  • Margot Robbie
  • Ed Sheeran