Portal:Rock music

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The Rock Music Portal

Rock is a broad genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles from the mid-1960s, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. It has its roots in rock and roll, a style that drew directly from the genres of blues, rhythm and blues, and country music. Rock also drew strongly from genres such as electric blues and folk, and incorporated influences from jazz and other musical styles. For instrumentation, 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 utilizing a verse–chorus form, but 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 1950s 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.

From the 1990s, alternative rock began to dominate rock music and break into the mainstream in the form of grunge, Britpop, and indie rock. Further fusion subgenres have since emerged, including pop-punk, electronic rock, rap rock, and rap metal. Some movements were conscious attempts to revisit rock's history, including the garage rock/post-punk revival in the 2000s. Since the 2010s, rock has lost its position as the pre-eminent popular music genre in world culture, but remains commercially successful. The increased influence of hip-hop and electronic dance music can be seen in rock music, notably in the techno-pop scene of the early 2010s and the pop-punk-hip-hop revival of the 2020s. (Full article...)

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

Image 1Johnny Rivers was a key 1960s rock artist known for hits like "Memphis" and his "Go-go" style. (from Rock and roll)
Image 2Golden Earring receives a gold record in 1970. (from Hard rock)
Image 3Cliff Richard became an early British rock and roll star with his 1958 hit "Move It." (from Rock and roll)
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 6Sign commemorating the role of Alan Freed and Cleveland, Ohio, in the origins of rock and roll (from Rock and roll)
Image 7Rush on stage in Milan, Italy, 2004 (from Hard rock)
Image 8Alan Freed disc jockey who is credited with popularizing the term "rock and roll" in the 1950s, helping break down racial barriers. (from Rock and roll)
Image 9Chuck Berry in 1957 (from Rock and roll)
Image 10Led Zeppelin live at Chicago Stadium, January 1975 (from Hard rock)
Image 11Ritchie Valens best known for his 1958 hit "La Bamba," which blended traditional Mexican music with rock and roll. (from Rock and roll)
Image 12Drum notation for a backbeat (from Hard rock)
Image 13Original member Izzy Stradlin' on stage with Guns N' Roses in 2006 (from Hard rock)
Image 14Baker, Bruce and Clapton of Cream, whose blues rock improvisation was a major factor in the development of the genre (from Hard rock)
Image 15Little Richard in 1957 (from Rock and roll)
Image 16The Who on stage in 1975 (from Hard rock)
Image 17Tommy Steele, one of the first British rock and rollers, performing in Stockholm in 1957 (from Rock and roll)
Image 18LaVern Baker was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. “Jim Dandy” and “Tweedlee Dee” helped shape the sound of the 1950s rock scene. (from Rock and roll)
Image 19Nirvana were at the forefront of the 1990s grunge era. (from Hard rock)
Image 20Poison, seen here in 2008, were among the most successful acts of the 1980s glam metal era. (from Hard rock)
Image 21Buddy Holly and his band, the Crickets (from Rock and roll)
Image 22Big Joe Turner and Pete Johnson's record "Roll 'Em Pete" is regarded as a precursor to rock and roll. (from Rock and roll)
Image 23Elvis Presley in a promotion shot for Jailhouse Rock in 1957 (from Rock and roll)
Image 24Kiss onstage in Boston in 2004 (from Hard rock)
Image 25"There's No Romance in Rock and Roll" made the cover of True Life Romance in 1956. (from Rock and roll)
Image 26Aerosmith performing at Quilmes Rock in Buenos Aires, Argentina on April 15, 2007 (from Hard rock)
Image 27Wolfmother, 2007 (from Hard rock)

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Fall Out Boy is an American rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer Andy Hurley. The band originated from Chicago's hardcore punk scene and was formed by Wentz and Trohman as a pop-punk side project; Stump joined shortly thereafter. The group went through a succession of drummers before Hurley joined. Their debut album, Take This to Your Grave (2003), became an underground success and helped the band gain a dedicated fan base through heavy touring.

With Wentz as the band's lyricist and Stump as the primary composer, Fall Out Boy's 2005 major-label breakthrough, From Under the Cork Tree, produced two hit singles, "Sugar, We're Goin Down" and "Dance, Dance". It went double platinum, transforming the group into superstars and making Wentz a celebrity and tabloid fixture. Fall Out Boy received a Best New Artist nomination at the 2006 Grammy Awards. Infinity on High (2007) debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 260,000 first week sales. It produced two worldwide hit singles, "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" and "Thnks fr th Mmrs". Their following album, Folie à Deux (2008), was a commercial disappointment and received a mixed response. Following the release of Believers Never Die – Greatest Hits in 2009, the band went on hiatus and the members worked on side projects.

The band reunited with Save Rock and Roll (2013), which became Fall Out Boy's second number-one album, and included the top 20 single "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)". The same year, the band released the EP PAX AM Days, consisting of eight punk-influenced tracks that were recorded during a two-day session with producer Ryan Adams. The band's sixth studio album, American Beauty/American Psycho (2015) peaked at number one on the Billboard 200, and spawned the top-10 hit "Centuries" and the single "Uma Thurman" which reached No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100. This was followed by their first remix album Make America Psycho Again, which featured remixes of all original tracks from American Beauty/American Psycho by a different artist on each song, including Migos and Wiz Khalifa.

The band's seventh studio album Mania (2018), also peaked at No. 1, making it the band's fourth No. 1 album and sixth consecutive Top 10 album. The Mania tour included a show at Wrigley Field, marking their first headlining stadium show. In 2018, Fall Out Boy also received their second Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album for Mania. On January 18, 2023, the group announced its eighth studio album, So Much (for) Stardust, which was released on March 24. (Full article...)

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Lydia Canaan (born December 2, 1967) is a Lebanese singer-songwriter, poet, humanitarian activist, and diplomat. She is noted for her four-octave vocal range, distinctive vocal stylings, and for being the first Lebanese artist in music history to achieve global success. Widely regarded as the first "rock star" of the Middle East, she is cataloged in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's Library and Archives.

Canaan is credited as the first recording artist to exclusively release English-language music in the Middle Eastern region, along with pioneering in having music videos featured on MTV Global, MTV Russia, MTV Southeast Asia, and MTV Middle East.

Canaan rose to fame in the mid-1980s as a teen rock singer performing amid enemy attacks during the Lebanese Civil War, holding concerts in vicinities of Lebanon as they were being bombed. "In a small country that was ripped by war," Society writes, "there was this young girl making a difference".

Canaan's career is described as having defied tradition and convention and challenged millennia-old gender roles. Arabian Woman reports, "As a girl who grew up in the midst of a bloody civil war, Canaan was breaking down seemingly insurmountable barriers. She rocked the establishment". (Full article...)

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Fôrça Bruta (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈfoʁsɐ ˈbɾutɐ] ^ⓘ) is the seventh studio album by Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist Jorge Ben. It was recorded with the Trio Mocotó band and released by Philips Records in September 1970. Conceived at a time of political tension in dictatorial Brazil, its title comes from the Portuguese term meaning "brute force" and has been interpreted ironically due to the music's relatively relaxed style.

The album introduced an acoustic samba-based music that is mellower, moodier, and less ornate than Ben's preceding work. Its largely unrehearsed, nighttime recording session found the singer improvising with Trio Mocotó's groove-oriented accompaniment while experimenting with unconventional rhythmic arrangements, musical techniques, and elements of soul, funk, and rock. Ben's lyrics generally explore themes of romantic passion, melancholy, and sensuality, with women figuring prominently in his songs. In a departure from the carefree sensibility of his past releases, they also feature elements of identity politics and postmodernism, such as irony and reimagining of established idioms.

A commercial and critical success, Fôrça Bruta established Ben as a leading artist in Brazil's Tropicália movement and pioneered a unique sound later known as samba rock. Renowned among collectors and musicians but relatively rare outside of its country of origin, the album was released for the first time in the United States in 2007 by the specialty label Dusty Groove America, attracting further critical recognition. That same year, Rolling Stone Brasil named it among its 100 greatest Brazilian albums. (Full article...)

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"No One Knows" is a song by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age written by band members Josh Homme and Mark Lanegan. It was the first single and second track from their third album, Songs for the Deaf, and was released on November 26, 2002. "No One Knows" was a chart success, becoming the band's first single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 and their only single to top the US Alternative charts. The song was also critically acclaimed, receiving a nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 2003 Grammy Awards. (Full article...)

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Credit: Achim Raschka

Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro performing at Rock am Ring 2013.

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that Canadian punk rock musician Talli Osborne had only briefly spoken to the frontman of NOFX before the band wrote a song about her?
... 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 the British rock musician Hannah Grae went viral online with an anti-sexual harassment parody of Aqua's "Barbie Girl"?
... that during his tenure as Governor of Central Java, Muhammad Ismail banned rock music concerts and car rallies?
... that Rolling Stone listed Ácido Argentino as the most essential album of Argentine heavy metal?
... that heavy metal band Judas Priest took their name from Bob Dylan's song "The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest"?

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Baroque pop (sometimes called baroque rock) is a fusion genre that combines rock music with particular elements of classical music. It emerged in the mid-1960s as artists pursued a majestic, orchestral sound and is identifiable for its appropriation of Baroque compositional styles (contrapuntal melodies and functional harmony patterns) and dramatic or melancholic gestures. Harpsichords figure prominently, while oboes, French horns, and string quartets are also common. (Full article...)