Portal:Rock music

The Rock Music Portal

Rock music is a genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and United Kingdom. It has its roots in rock and roll, a style that drew from the African-American musical genres of blues and rhythm and blues, as well as from country music. Rock also drew strongly from genres such as electric blues and folk, and incorporated influences from jazz and other styles. Rock is typically centered on the electric guitar, usually as part of a rock group with electric bass guitar, drums, and one or more singers.

Usually, rock is song-based music with a ⁴
₄ time signature and using a verse–chorus form; however, the genre has become extremely diverse. Like pop music, lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political. Rock was the most popular genre of music in the U.S. and much of the western world from the 1960s up to the 2010s.

Rock musicians in the mid-1960s began to advance the album ahead of the single as the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption, with the Beatles at the forefront of this development. Their contributions lent the genre a cultural legitimacy in the mainstream and initiated a rock-informed album era in the music industry for the next several decades. By the late 1960s "classic rock" period, a few distinct rock music subgenres had emerged, including hybrids like blues rock, folk rock, country rock, southern rock, raga rock, and jazz rock, which contributed to the development of psychedelic rock, influenced by the countercultural psychedelic and hippie scene. New genres that emerged included progressive rock, which extended artistic elements, heavy metal, which emphasized an aggressive thick sound, and glam rock, which highlighted showmanship and visual style. In the second half of the 1970s, punk rock reacted by producing stripped-down, energetic social and political critiques. Punk was an influence in the 1980s on new wave, post-punk and eventually alternative rock. (Full article...)

General images -

The following are images from various rock music-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Golden Earring receives a gold record in 1970. (from Hard rock)
Image 2Little Richard in 1957 (from Rock and roll)
Image 3Nirvana were at the forefront of the 1990s grunge era. (from Hard rock)
Image 4Foo Fighters performing an acoustic show in 2007 (from Hard rock)
Image 5Bill Haley and his Comets performing in the 1954 Universal International film Round Up of Rhythm (from Rock and roll)
Image 6Cliff Richard became an early British rock and roll star with his 1958 hit "Move It". (from Rock and roll)
Image 7Drum notation for a backbeat (from Hard rock)
Image 8Tommy Steele, one of the first British rock and rollers, performing in Stockholm in 1957 (from Rock and roll)
Image 9Baker, Bruce and Clapton of Cream, whose blues rock improvisation was a major factor in the development of the genre (from Hard rock)
Image 10Johnny Rivers was a key 1960s rock artist known for hits like "Memphis" and his "Go-go" style. (from Rock and roll)
Image 11Big Joe Turner and Pete Johnson's record "Roll 'Em Pete" is regarded as a precursor to rock and roll. (from Rock and roll)
Image 12Rush on stage in Milan, Italy, 2004 (from Hard rock)
Image 13Original member Izzy Stradlin' on stage with Guns N' Roses in 2006 (from Hard rock)
Image 14Wolfmother, 2007 (from Hard rock)
Image 15Sign commemorating the role of Alan Freed and Cleveland, Ohio, in the origins of rock and roll (from Rock and roll)
Image 16Kiss on stage in Boston in 2004 (from Hard rock)
Image 17"There's No Romance in Rock and Roll" made the cover of True Life Romance in 1956. (from Rock and roll)
Image 18The Who on stage in 1975 (from Hard rock)
Image 19LaVern Baker was an R&B singer who was influential on rock and roll (from Rock and roll)
Image 20Poison, seen here in 2008, were among the most successful acts of the 1980s glam metal era. (from Hard rock)
Image 21Disc jockey Alan Freed is credited with popularizing the term "rock and roll" and introducing the genre across racial barriers in the 1950s (from Rock and roll)
Image 22Aerosmith performing at Quilmes Rock in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on April 15, 2007 (from Hard rock)
Image 23Led Zeppelin live at Chicago Stadium, January 1975 (from Hard rock)
Image 24Chuck Berry in 1957 (from Rock and roll)
Image 25Elvis Presley in a promotion shot for Jailhouse Rock in 1957 (from Rock and roll)
Image 26The transistor radio (1958 Emerson pictured) introduced FM radio and rock and roll music to baby boomer children in American households. (from Rock and roll)
Image 27Buddy Holly and his band, the Crickets (from Rock and roll)

Selected article

Queen on stage in Frankfurt on 26 September 1984.

Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1970 by Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), and Roger Taylor (drums, vocals), later joined by John Deacon (bass). Their earliest works were influenced by progressive rock, hard rock and heavy metal, but the band gradually ventured into more conventional and radio-friendly works by incorporating further styles, such as arena rock and pop rock.

Before forming Queen, May and Taylor had played together in the band Smile. Mercury was a fan of Smile and encouraged them to experiment with more elaborate stage and recording techniques. He joined in 1970 and suggested the name "Queen". Deacon was recruited in February 1971, before the band released their self-titled debut album in 1973. Queen first charted in the UK with their second album, Queen II, in 1974. Sheer Heart Attack later that year and A Night at the Opera in 1975 brought them international success. The latter featured "Bohemian Rhapsody", which topped the UK singles chart for nine weeks and helped popularise the music video format. The band's 1977 album News of the World contained "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions", which have become anthems at sporting events. By the early 1980s, Queen were one of the biggest stadium rock bands in the world. "Another One Bites the Dust" from The Game (1980) became their best-selling single, and their 1981 compilation album Greatest Hits is the best-selling album in the UK and has been certified 9× Platinum in the US by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Their performance at the 1985 Live Aid concert is ranked among the greatest in rock history by various publications. In August 1986, Mercury gave his last performance with Queen at Knebworth, England.

Mercury was diagnosed with AIDS in 1987. The band released two more albums, The Miracle in 1989 and Innuendo in 1991. On 23 November 1991, Mercury publicly revealed his AIDS diagnosis, and the next day died of bronchopneumonia, a complication of AIDS. One more album was released featuring Mercury's vocals, 1995's Made in Heaven. Deacon retired in 1997, while May and Taylor continued to make sporadic appearances together. Since 2004, they have toured as "Queen +", with vocalists Paul Rodgers until 2009 and Adam Lambert since 2011.

Queen have been a global presence in popular culture for more than half a century. Estimates of their record sales range from 250 million to 300 million, making them one of the world's best-selling music artists. In 1990, Queen received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and with each member having composed hit singles, all four were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2005, they received the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors. In 2018, they were presented the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and they were awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2025. (Full article...)

Selected biography

Gwen Stefani performing "The Real Thing" in Duluth, Georgia, United States.

Gwen Renée Stefani Shelton (/stəˈfɑːni/ stə-FAH-nee; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani rose to fame as a member and lead vocalist of the band No Doubt, whose hit singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs", and "Don't Speak" from their studio album Tragic Kingdom (1995), as well as "Hey Baby" and "It's My Life" from later albums. During the band's hiatus, Stefani embarked on a solo pop career in 2004 by releasing her debut studio album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Inspired by pop music from the 1980s, the album was a critical and commercial success. It spawned six singles, including "What You Waiting For?", "Rich Girl", "Hollaback Girl", and "Cool". "Hollaback Girl" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart while also becoming the first US download to sell one million copies.

Stefani's second studio album, The Sweet Escape (2006), yielded the singles "Wind It Up" and the title track, the latter of which was number three on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end chart of 2007. Her third solo album, This Is What the Truth Feels Like (2016), was her first solo album to reach number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Her fourth solo album and first full-length Christmas album, You Make It Feel Like Christmas, was released in 2017 and charted 19 tracks on Billboard's Holiday Digital Song Sales component chart in the United States. Stefani has released several singles with husband Blake Shelton, including "Nobody but You" (2020), which reached number 18 in the US. In 2024, she released her fifth studio album Bouquet.

Stefani's accolades include three Grammy Awards, an American Music Award, a Brit Award, a World Music Award, and two Billboard Music Awards. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023. In 2003, she debuted her clothing line L.A.M.B. and expanded her collection with the 2005 Harajuku Lovers line inspired by Japanese culture and fashion. Billboard magazine ranked Stefani the 54th most successful artist and 37th most successful Hot 100 artist of the 2000–2009 decade. VH1 ranked her 13th on their "100 Greatest Women in Music" list in 2012. (Full article...)

Selected album

The Velvet Underground & Nico is the debut studio album by the American rock band the Velvet Underground and the German singer Nico, released by Verve Records in March 1967. The album was recorded in 1966 on Ludlow Street, New York while the band were featured on Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable tour. Warhol, who designed the album's record sleeve, served as co-producer alongside Tom Wilson.

The Velvet Underground & Nico features elements of avant-garde music incorporated into brash, minimal and groove-driven rock music. Lead singer and songwriter Lou Reed delivers explicit lyrics spanning themes of drug abuse, prostitution, sadomasochism and urban life. Due to its abrasive, unconventional sound and controversial lyrical content, the album underperformed commercially and polarized critics upon release. Various record stores banned the album, many radio stations refused to play it, and magazines refused to carry advertisements for it.

In the following decades, The Velvet Underground & Nico received widespread critical acclaim, being regarded as ahead of its time, and was included on numerous all-time best album lists. The Observer placed it at No. 1 in their list of the "50 Albums That Changed Music" and Pitchfork ranked it as the best album of the 1960s. It has been characterized as the original art-rock record, influencing many subgenres of rock and alternative music, including punk, garage rock, krautrock, post-punk, post-rock, noise rock, shoegaze, gothic rock, art punk, and indie rock.

The Velvet Underground & Nico continues to be lauded as one of the most important albums in rock and pop music. In 2006, it was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 2008, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, honoring recordings of "lasting qualitative or historical significance". Despite its poor sales, the album is certified platinum in the United Kingdom for sales of over 300,000 copies. In 2023, Billboard ranked the album No. 1 on its list of "The 100 Best Album Covers of All Time." (Full article...)

Selected song

"Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are" is a song composed and written by Jim Steinman, and recorded by American singer and actor Meat Loaf. The song was released in April 1994, by MCA and Virgin Records, as the third single from his sixth album, Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell (1993). It reached number 38 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and number 26 in the UK Top 40. With its chart success, the song became the hit with the longest un-bracketed title at fifty-two characters as of 2007. The title is derived from the safety warning on car side mirrors in the US, "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear". Its accompanying music video was directed by Michael Bay and filmed in Texas, featuring actors Robert Patrick and Will Estes.

Parts of the melody were adapted from Steinman's earlier tune "Surf's Up", which appears on Steinman's solo album Bad for Good. Steinman later reused the melody, with new lyrics by Michael Kunze, for "Die Unstillbare Gier", a song in the Tanz der Vampire productions, and for "Confession of a Vampire" in the ill-fated US version (Dance of the Vampires). (Full article...)

Selected picture

Hayley Williams, lead vocalist of the American rock band Paramore, at Rock im Park ("Rock in the Park") 2013 in Nuremberg, Germany.

Did you know (auto-generated)

... that the heavy metal band Cradle of Filth released a T-shirt that was so offensive that several people were arrested for wearing it?
... that director Abel Ferrara "delayed" the 64th Locarno Film Festival by singing rock and roll songs?
... that Rolling Stone listed Ácido Argentino as the most essential album of Argentine heavy metal?
... that during his tenure as Governor of Central Java, Muhammad Ismail banned rock music concerts and car rallies?
... that before charting on the UK Albums Chart with Are We There Yet?, the indie rock musician James Marriott had made a career of mocking other YouTubers' music?
... that raw material waste from the West influenced a generation of rock music in China?

Selected genre

Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s with the likes of the grunge subgenre in the United States, and the Britpop and shoegaze subgenres in the United Kingdom and Ireland. During this period, many record labels were looking for "alternatives", as many corporate rock, hard rock, and glam metal acts from the 1980s were beginning to grow stale throughout the music industry. The emergence of Generation X as a cultural force in the 1990s also contributed greatly to the rise of alternative music. (Full article...)