Tolkien is, hands-down, the father of modern-fantasy.
It's no wonder that most authors I'm familiar with speak highly of him, as though his works and those similar to them are the ones that inspired them to write.
I've read LotR some long time ago, it took me some time
Yeah Hobbit is a prelude to Lord of the Rings, everything starts there I mean this insignificant detail like finding the ring XD
I also read Sillmarilion thou not really like it