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Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath is an English rock band, formed in Birmingham in 1968 by Ozzy Osbourne (lead vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (electric bass), and Bill Ward (drums and percussion). The band has since experienced multiple lineup changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of twenty-two musicians have at one time been members of Black Sabbath.
Originally formed as a heavy blues-rock band named Earth, the band began incorporating occult- and horror-inspired lyrics with tuned-down guitars, changing their name to Black Sabbath and achieving multiple platinum records in the 1970s. Despite an association with occult and horror themes, Black Sabbath also composed songs dealing with social and political issues such as drugs and war.
As one of the first and most influential heavy metal bands of all time, Black Sabbath helped define the genre with releases such as quadruple-platinum Paranoid, released in 1970.
They were ranked by MTV as the "Greatest Metal Band" of all time, and placed second in VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" list, behind Led Zeppelin.
They have sold over 15 million records in the United States alone. Rolling Stone has posited the band as 'the heavy-metal kings of the '70s'.
Vocalist Ozzy Osbourne's drinking led to his firing from the band in 1979. He was replaced by former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio. After a few albums with Dio's vocals and his songwriting collaborations, Black Sabbath endured a revolving lineup in the 1980s and 1990s that included vocalists Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes, Ray Gillen and Tony Martin. In 1992, Iommi and Butler rejoined Dio and drummer Vinny Appice to record Dehumanizer. The original lineup reunited with Osbourne in 1997 and released a live album, Reunion. The early/mid 1980s line-up featuring Iommi, Butler, Dio, and Appice reformed in 2006 under the title, Heaven & Hell, until Dio's death on May 16, 2010.
Originally formed as a heavy blues-rock band named Earth, the band began incorporating occult- and horror-inspired lyrics with tuned-down guitars, changing their name to Black Sabbath and achieving multiple platinum records in the 1970s. Despite an association with occult and horror themes, Black Sabbath also composed songs dealing with social and political issues such as drugs and war.
As one of the first and most influential heavy metal bands of all time, Black Sabbath helped define the genre with releases such as quadruple-platinum Paranoid, released in 1970.
They were ranked by MTV as the "Greatest Metal Band" of all time, and placed second in VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" list, behind Led Zeppelin.
They have sold over 15 million records in the United States alone. Rolling Stone has posited the band as 'the heavy-metal kings of the '70s'.
Vocalist Ozzy Osbourne's drinking led to his firing from the band in 1979. He was replaced by former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio. After a few albums with Dio's vocals and his songwriting collaborations, Black Sabbath endured a revolving lineup in the 1980s and 1990s that included vocalists Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes, Ray Gillen and Tony Martin. In 1992, Iommi and Butler rejoined Dio and drummer Vinny Appice to record Dehumanizer. The original lineup reunited with Osbourne in 1997 and released a live album, Reunion. The early/mid 1980s line-up featuring Iommi, Butler, Dio, and Appice reformed in 2006 under the title, Heaven & Hell, until Dio's death on May 16, 2010.
Deep Purple
Deep Purple is an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members have avoided categorising themselves as any one genre. The band also incorporated classical music, blues-rock, pop and progressive rock elements.
They were once listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's loudest band, and have sold over 100 million albums worldwide. Deep Purple were ranked #22 on VH1's Greatest Artists of Hard Rock program
.The band has gone through many line-up changes and an eight-year hiatus (1976–84). The 1968–76 line-ups are commonly labelled Mark I, II, III and IV.
Their second and most commercially successful line-up featured Ian Gillan (vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Jon Lord (keyboards), Roger Glover (bass) and Ian Paice (drums). This line-up was active from 1969 to 1973 and was revived from 1984 to 1989 and again in 1993, before the rift between Blackmore and other members became unbridgeable.
The current line-up (including guitarist Steve Morse) has been much more stable, although Lord's retirement in 2002 has left Paice as the only original member never to have left the band.
The Grateful Dead
Their second and most commercially successful line-up featured Ian Gillan (vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Jon Lord (keyboards), Roger Glover (bass) and Ian Paice (drums). This line-up was active from 1969 to 1973 and was revived from 1984 to 1989 and again in 1993, before the rift between Blackmore and other members became unbridgeable.
The current line-up (including guitarist Steve Morse) has been much more stable, although Lord's retirement in 2002 has left Paice as the only original member never to have left the band.
The Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, jazz, psychedelia, and space rock and for live performances of long musical improvisation.
"Their music," writes Lenny Kaye, "touches on ground that most other groups don't even know exists.
The fans of the Grateful Dead, some of whom followed the band from concert to concert for years, are known as "Deadheads" and are known for their dedication to the band's music.
Many referred to the band simply as "the Dead" after Jerry Garcia passed away. As of 2003, the remaining band members who had been touring under the name "The Dead" changed their official group name to "Furthur". Deadheads continue to use the nickname "The Dead" to refer to all versions of the band.
The Grateful Dead's musical influences varied widely; in concert recordings or on record albums one can hear psychedelic rock, blues, rock and roll, country-western, bluegrass, country-rock, and improvisational jazz. These various influences were distilled into a diverse and psychedelic whole that made the Grateful Dead "the pioneering Godfathers of the jam band world."
They were ranked 55th in the issue "The Greatest Artists of all Time" by Rolling Stone magazine.
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin was an English rock band formed in 1968 and consisting of Jimmy Page (guitar), Robert Plant (vocals, harmonica), John Paul Jones (bass guitar, keyboards, mandolin), and John Bonham (drums). With their heavy, guitar-driven blues-rock sound, Led Zeppelin are regularly cited as one of the progenitors of heavy metal and hard rock music.
However, the band's individualistic style drew from many sources and transcends any one genre. Led Zeppelin did not release songs from their albums as singles in the UK, as they preferred to develop the concept of "album-oriented rock".
Thirty years after disbanding following Bonham's death in 1980, the band continues to be held in high regard for their artistic achievements, commercial success, and broad influence.
The band have sold over 200 million albums worldwide, including 111.5 million certified units in the United States, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
They have had all of their original studio albums reach the top 10 of the Billboard album chart in the US, with six reaching the number one spot. Led Zeppelin are ranked #1 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock and Classic Rock's 50 Best Live Acts of All Time.
Rolling Stone magazine has described Led Zeppelin as "the heaviest band of all time", "the biggest band of the '70s" and "unquestionably one of the most enduring bands in rock history".
Similarly, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes the band being "as influential in that decade (70s) as the Beatles were in the prior one".
In 2007, the surviving members of Led Zeppelin reunited (along with deceased drummer John Bonham's son, Jason) for the Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert at The O2 Arena in London.
Nirvana
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987. Nirvana went through a succession of drummers, the longest-lasting being Dave Grohl, who joined the band in 1990.
The band established itself as part of the Seattle music scene, releasing its first album Bleach for the independent record label Sub Pop in 1989. After signing to major label DGC Records, Nirvana found unexpected success with "Smells Like Teen Spirit", the band's lead single from its second album Nevermind (1991). Subsequently, Nirvana entered into the mainstream, bringing along with it a subgenre of alternative rock called grunge.
As Nirvana's frontman, Kurt Cobain found himself referred to in the media as the "spokesman of a generation," with Nirvana being considered the "flagship band" of Generation X. Cobain was uncomfortable with the attention and placed his focus on the band's music, believing the band's message and artistic vision to have been misinterpreted by the public, challenging the band's audience with its third studio album In Utero (1993).
Nirvana's brief run ended following the death of Cobain in 1994, but the band's influence and popularity endured in the years that followed. In 2002, "You Know You're Right," an unfinished demo from the band's final recording session, topped radio playlists around the world.
Since their debut, the band has sold over twenty-five million albums in the US alone, and over fifty million worldwide.
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd was an English rock band who earned recognition for their psychedelic music in the late 1960s, and as they evolved in the 1970s, for their progressive rock music. Pink Floyd's work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album cover art, and elaborate live shows.
One of rock music's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful acts, the group has sold over 200 million albums worldwide, including 74.5 million certified units in the United States, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
Pink Floyd was formed in 1965, and originally consisted of university students Roger Waters, Nick Mason, Richard Wright, and Syd Barrett. The group was a popular fixture on London's underground music scene, and under Barrett's leadership released two charting singles, "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play", and a commercially and critically successful debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
In 1968, guitarist and singer David Gilmour joined the line-up, and Barrett was removed due to his increasingly erratic behaviour. Following Barrett's departure, bass player and singer Roger Waters became the lyricist and dominant figure in the band, which went on to achieve worldwide critical and commercial success with the concept albums The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, and rock opera The Wall.
Wright left the band in 1979, and Waters in 1985, but Gilmour and Mason (joined by Wright) continued recording and touring under the name Pink Floyd. Waters used legal means to try to keep them from using the name, declaring Pink Floyd a spent force, but the parties reached an out-of-court settlement allowing Gilmour, Mason and Wright to continue as Pink Floyd.
The band again enjoyed worldwide success with A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) and The Division Bell (1994), and Waters continued as a solo musician, releasing three studio albums.
Although for some years relations between Waters and the remaining three members were sour, the band reformed in 2005 for what would be a final one-off performance at Live 8.
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in April 1962 in London when guitarist and harmonica player Brian Jones and pianist Ian Stewart joined vocalist Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards. Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early lineup.
After signing to Decca Records in 1963, the band changed their name from "The Rollin' Stones" to "The Rolling Stones". Band members and others often refer to the band as "The Stones".
In 1963 Jagger and Richards formed a songwriting partnership and eventually took over leadership of the band as Jones became increasingly troubled and erratic.
After recording mainly covers of American blues and R&B songs, every studio record since the 1966 album Aftermath has featured mainly Jagger/Richards songs.
Mick Taylor replaced Jones shortly before Jones' death in 1969. Taylor quit in 1974, and was replaced in 1975 by Faces guitarist Ronnie Wood, who has remained with the band since. Stewart was removed from the official lineup in 1963 to continue as the band's road manager and occasional keyboardist until his death in 1985. Wyman left in 1992 and was replaced by Darryl Jones, who is not an official band member but has been the primary bassist since 1994.
First popular in the UK, The Rolling Stones toured the US repeatedly during the early 1960s "British Invasion". The Rolling Stones have released 22 studio albums in the UK (24 in the US), eight concert albums (nine in the US) and numerous compilations; and have album sales estimated at more than 200 million worldwide.
Sticky Fingers (1971) began a string of eight consecutive studio albums reaching number one in the United States. Their latest album, A Bigger Bang, was released in 2005. In 1989 The Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2004 they ranked number 4 in Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked The Rolling Stones at number ten on "The Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists", and as the second most successful group in the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The Clash
The Clash was an English punk band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk rock. Along with punk, they experimented with reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance and rockabilly. For most of their recording career,
The Clash consisted of Joe Strummer (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Mick Jones (lead guitar, vocals), Paul Simonon (bass, backing vocals, occasional lead vocals) and Nicky "Topper" Headon (drums, percussion). Headon left the group in 1982, and internal friction led to Jones's departure the following year.
The group continued with new members, but finally disbanded in early 1986.
The Clash were a major success in the UK from the release of their debut album, The Clash, in 1977. Their third album, London Calling, released in the UK in December 1979, brought them popularity in the United States when it came out there the following month.
Critically acclaimed, it was declared the best album of the 1980s a decade later by Rolling Stone magazine.
The Clash's politicized lyrics, musical experimentation and rebellious attitude had a far-reaching influence on rock, alternative rock in particular.
They became widely referred to as "The Only Band That Matters", originally a promotional slogan introduced by the group's record label, CBS. In January 2003, the band—including original drummer Terry Chimes—were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked The Clash number 30 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
The Kinks
The Kinks was an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorized in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognized as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era.
Their music was influenced by a wide range of genres, including rhythm and blues, British music hall, folk, and country. Ray Davies (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and Dave Davies (lead guitar, vocals) remained members throughout the group's 32-year run.
Original members Pete Quaife (bass guitar, vocals) and Mick Avory (drums and percussion) were replaced by John Dalton in 1969 and Bob Henrit in 1984, respectively. Dalton was in turn replaced by Jim Rodford in 1978. Keyboardist Nicky Hopkins accompanied the band during studio sessions in the mid-1960s.
Later, various keyboardists, including John Gosling and Ian Gibbons, were full-time members.
The Kinks first came to prominence in 1964 with their third single, "You Really Got Me", written by Ray Davies. It became an international hit, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and reaching the Top 10 in the United States.
Between the mid-1960s and early 1970s, the group released a string of commercially and critically successful singles and LPs, and gained a reputation for songs and concept albums reflecting English culture and lifestyle, fuelled by Ray Davies' observational writing style.
Albums such as Face to Face, Something Else, The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur, Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, and Muswell Hillbillies, along with their accompanying singles, are considered among the most influential recordings of the period.
The Kinks' subsequent theatrical concept albums met with less success, but the band experienced a revival during the New Wave era—groups such as The Jam, The Knack, and The Pretenders covered their songs, helping to boost The Kinks' record sales. In the 1990s, Britpop acts such as Blur and Oasis cited the band as a major influence.
The Kinks broke up in 1996, a result of the commercial failures of their last few albums and creative tension between the Davies brothers.
The Kinks had five Top 10 singles on the US Billboard chart. Nine of their albums charted in the Top 40.
In the UK, the group had seventeen Top 20 singles and five Top 10 albums.
Four of their albums have been certified gold by the RIAA. Among numerous honours, they received the Ivor Novello Award for "Outstanding Service to British Music".
In 1990, their first year of eligibility, the original four members of The Kinks were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, as well as the UK Music Hall of Fame in November 2005.
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1965 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although never commercially successful while together, the band is often cited by many critics as one of the most important and influential groups of the 1960s.
The Velvet Underground first gained a degree of fame and notoriety in New York City in 1966 when they were selected as the house band for Andy Warhol's Factory and his Exploding Plastic Inevitable events.
The band's lyrics challenged conventional societal standards of the time, and broke ground for other musicians to do the same. The band favored experimentation, and also introduced a nihilistic outlook through some of their music.
Their outsider attitude and experimentation has since been cited as pivotal to the rise of punk rock and, later, alternative rock.
Their 1967 debut album, titled The Velvet Underground & Nico (which featured German singer Nico, with whom the band collaborated) was named the 13th Greatest Album of All Time, and the "most prophetic rock album ever made" by Rolling Stone in 2003.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the band #19 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California in 1972. They have enjoyed large scale success since the release of their debut album Van Halen (1978).
As of 2007, Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and have had the most number-one hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. During the 1980s they also had more Billboard Hot 100 hits than any other hard rock or heavy metal band.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Van Halen is the 19th best-selling band/artist of all time with sales of over 56 million albums in the U.S., and is one of five rock bands that have had two albums sell more than 10 million copies in the U.S. In 2008 they became one of the best paid live acts in the world, over twenty years after performing the same feat in the early eighties in regards to their huge payout for headlining the US festival.
In 1999, the RIAA certified Van Halen diamond, for ten million U.S. sales. The group were one of the forerunners to the glam metal movement of the 1980s.
In addition to being recognized for success, the band is known for the drama surrounding the exits of former members. The (multiple) exits of both lead singers David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar were surrounded in controversy and mass press coverage with various contrasting press statements between the former singers and the band.
More recently, Michael Anthony left the band for controversial reasons.
Following their 2004 concert tour the band was on a hiatus from the public until September 2006, when new bassist Wolfgang Van Halen's place was confirmed and Roth-reunion rumors began to re-surface coinciding with the band's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction on March 12, 2007.
After years of speculation, Van Halen began a tour with Roth in late 2007 across North America. The tour continued into 2008. An album was proposed to follow.
Along with this, a live tour DVD was announced at their May 13, 2008 concert at the Izod Center that would contain recordings from several performances on their current tour. Since the end of the Reunion Tour, no official news from the band were heard about its future.
Cream
Cream was a 1960s British blues-rock band and supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer/vocalist Ginger Baker.
Their sound was characterised by a hybrid of blues, hard rock and psychedelic rock, combining Eric Clapton's blues guitar playing with the voice and basslines of Jack Bruce and the jazz-influenced drumming of Baker. Wheels of Fire was the world's first platinum-selling double album.
Cream is widely regarded as being the world's first notable and functioning supergroup.
Cream's music included songs based on traditional blues such as "Crossroads" and "Spoonful", and modern blues such as "Born Under a Bad Sign", as well as more eccentric songs such as "Strange Brew", "Tales of Brave Ulysses" and "Toad". Cream's biggest hits were "I Feel Free" (UK, #11), "Sunshine of Your Love" (US, #5), "White Room" (US, #6), "Crossroads" (US, #28), and "Badge" (UK, #18).
Cream, together with The Jimi Hendrix Experience, made a significant impact upon the popular music of the time, and along with Jimi Hendrix popularised the use of the wah-wah pedal.
They provided a heavy yet technically proficient musical theme that foreshadowed and influenced the emergence of English bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and The Jeff Beck Group in the late 1960s.
The band's live performances influenced progressive rock acts such as Rush, jam bands such as The Allman Brothers Band, Grateful Dead, Phish and heavy metal bands such as Black Sabbath.
Cream was ranked #16 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock and Rolling Stone Magazine named them the sixty-sixth greatest artist of all time.
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, electric guitarist, record producer, and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, electronic, orchestral, and musique concrète works.
He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. Zappa produced almost all of the more than 60 albums he released with the band Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist.
While in his teens, he acquired a taste for percussion-based avant-garde composers such as Edgard Varèse and 1950s rhythm and blues music. He began writing classical music in high school, while at the same time playing drums in rhythm and blues bands—he later switched to electric guitar.
He was a self-taught composer and performer, and his diverse musical influences led him to create music that was often impossible to categorize. His 1966 debut album with the Mothers of Invention, Freak Out!, combined songs in conventional rock and roll format with collective improvisations and studio-generated sound collages.
His later albums shared this eclectic and experimental approach, irrespective of whether the fundamental format was one of rock, jazz or classical. He wrote the lyrics to all his songs, which—often humorously—reflected his iconoclastic view of established social and political processes, structures and movements. He was a strident critic of mainstream education and organized religion, and a forthright and passionate advocate for freedom of speech and the abolition of censorship.
Zappa was a highly productive and prolific artist and he gained widespread critical acclaim. Many of his albums are considered essential in rock and jazz history. He is regarded as one of the most original guitarists and composers of his time.
He also remains a major influence on musicians and composers. He had some commercial success, particularly in Europe, and for most of his career was able to work as an independent artist. Zappa was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, organ, songwriting), who were supported by Dickey Betts (lead guitar, vocals, songwriting), Berry Oakley (bass guitar), Butch Trucks (drums), and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson (drums).
While the band has been called the principal architects of Southern rock, they also incorporate elements of blues, jazz, and country music, and their live shows have jam band-style improvisation and instrumental songs.
The band achieved its artistic and commercial breakthrough in 1971 with the release of At Fillmore East, featuring extended renditions of their songs "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" and "Whipping Post" and often considered one of the best live albums ever made.
George Kimball of Rolling Stone magazine hailed them as "the best damn rock and roll band this country has produced in the past five years."
A few months later, group leader Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident. The group survived that and the death of bassist Oakley in another motorcycle accident a year later; with replacement members Chuck Leavell and Lamar Williams, the Allman Brothers Band achieved its peak commercial success in 1973 with the album Brothers and Sisters and the hit single "Ramblin' Man".
Internal turmoil overtook the band soon after; the group dissolved in 1976, reformed briefly at the end of the decade with additional personnel changes, and dissolved again in 1982.
In 1989, the group reformed with some new members and has been recording and touring since. A series of personnel changes in the late 1990s was capped by the departure of Betts.
Following their 2004 concert tour the band was on a hiatus from the public until September 2006, when new bassist Wolfgang Van Halen's place was confirmed and Roth-reunion rumors began to re-surface coinciding with the band's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction on March 12, 2007.
After years of speculation, Van Halen began a tour with Roth in late 2007 across North America. The tour continued into 2008. An album was proposed to follow.
Along with this, a live tour DVD was announced at their May 13, 2008 concert at the Izod Center that would contain recordings from several performances on their current tour. Since the end of the Reunion Tour, no official news from the band were heard about its future.
Cream
Cream was a 1960s British blues-rock band and supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer/vocalist Ginger Baker.
Their sound was characterised by a hybrid of blues, hard rock and psychedelic rock, combining Eric Clapton's blues guitar playing with the voice and basslines of Jack Bruce and the jazz-influenced drumming of Baker. Wheels of Fire was the world's first platinum-selling double album.
Cream is widely regarded as being the world's first notable and functioning supergroup.
Cream's music included songs based on traditional blues such as "Crossroads" and "Spoonful", and modern blues such as "Born Under a Bad Sign", as well as more eccentric songs such as "Strange Brew", "Tales of Brave Ulysses" and "Toad". Cream's biggest hits were "I Feel Free" (UK, #11), "Sunshine of Your Love" (US, #5), "White Room" (US, #6), "Crossroads" (US, #28), and "Badge" (UK, #18).
Cream, together with The Jimi Hendrix Experience, made a significant impact upon the popular music of the time, and along with Jimi Hendrix popularised the use of the wah-wah pedal.
They provided a heavy yet technically proficient musical theme that foreshadowed and influenced the emergence of English bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and The Jeff Beck Group in the late 1960s.
The band's live performances influenced progressive rock acts such as Rush, jam bands such as The Allman Brothers Band, Grateful Dead, Phish and heavy metal bands such as Black Sabbath.
Cream was ranked #16 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock and Rolling Stone Magazine named them the sixty-sixth greatest artist of all time.
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, electric guitarist, record producer, and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, electronic, orchestral, and musique concrète works.
He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. Zappa produced almost all of the more than 60 albums he released with the band Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist.
While in his teens, he acquired a taste for percussion-based avant-garde composers such as Edgard Varèse and 1950s rhythm and blues music. He began writing classical music in high school, while at the same time playing drums in rhythm and blues bands—he later switched to electric guitar.
He was a self-taught composer and performer, and his diverse musical influences led him to create music that was often impossible to categorize. His 1966 debut album with the Mothers of Invention, Freak Out!, combined songs in conventional rock and roll format with collective improvisations and studio-generated sound collages.
His later albums shared this eclectic and experimental approach, irrespective of whether the fundamental format was one of rock, jazz or classical. He wrote the lyrics to all his songs, which—often humorously—reflected his iconoclastic view of established social and political processes, structures and movements. He was a strident critic of mainstream education and organized religion, and a forthright and passionate advocate for freedom of speech and the abolition of censorship.
Zappa was a highly productive and prolific artist and he gained widespread critical acclaim. Many of his albums are considered essential in rock and jazz history. He is regarded as one of the most original guitarists and composers of his time.
He also remains a major influence on musicians and composers. He had some commercial success, particularly in Europe, and for most of his career was able to work as an independent artist. Zappa was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, organ, songwriting), who were supported by Dickey Betts (lead guitar, vocals, songwriting), Berry Oakley (bass guitar), Butch Trucks (drums), and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson (drums).
While the band has been called the principal architects of Southern rock, they also incorporate elements of blues, jazz, and country music, and their live shows have jam band-style improvisation and instrumental songs.
The band achieved its artistic and commercial breakthrough in 1971 with the release of At Fillmore East, featuring extended renditions of their songs "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" and "Whipping Post" and often considered one of the best live albums ever made.
George Kimball of Rolling Stone magazine hailed them as "the best damn rock and roll band this country has produced in the past five years."
A few months later, group leader Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident. The group survived that and the death of bassist Oakley in another motorcycle accident a year later; with replacement members Chuck Leavell and Lamar Williams, the Allman Brothers Band achieved its peak commercial success in 1973 with the album Brothers and Sisters and the hit single "Ramblin' Man".
Internal turmoil overtook the band soon after; the group dissolved in 1976, reformed briefly at the end of the decade with additional personnel changes, and dissolved again in 1982.
In 1989, the group reformed with some new members and has been recording and touring since. A series of personnel changes in the late 1990s was capped by the departure of Betts.
The group found stability during the 2000s with Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks, the nephew of their drummer, serving as its guitarists, and became renowned for their month-long string of shows in New York City each spring.
The band has been awarded eleven gold and five platinum albums between 1971 and 2005 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. Rolling Stone ranked them 52nd on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2004.
Fleedwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac is a British-American rock band formed in 1967 in London.
The only original member present in the band is its namesake drummer, Mick Fleetwood.
Despite band founder Peter Green naming the group by combining the surnames of two of his former bandmates (Fleetwood, McVie) from John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, bassist John McVie did not play on their first single nor at their first concerts.
Keyboardist Christine McVie has, to date, appeared on all but two albums, either as a member or as a session musician. She also supplied the artwork for the album Kiln House.
The two most successful periods for the band were during the late 1960s British blues boom, when they were led by guitarist Peter Green, and from 1975 to 1987, with more pop-orientation, featuring Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.
The band enjoyed more modest success in the intervening period between 1971 and 1974, with the line-up including Bob Welch, and also during the 1990s which saw more personnel changes before the return of Nicks and Buckingham in 1997, and more recently, the departure of Christine McVie.
AC/DC
AC/DC is an Australian rock band formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Although the band are commonly classified as hard rock and are considered a pioneer of heavy metal, they have always classified their music as rock and roll.
AC/DC underwent several line-up changes before releasing their first album, High Voltage, in 1975. Membership remained stable until bassist Mark Evans was replaced by Cliff Williams in 1977 for the album Powerage.
Within months of recording the album Highway to Hell, lead singer and co-songwriter Bon Scott died on 19 February 1980, after a night of heavy alcohol consumption.
The group briefly considered disbanding, but soon ex-Geordie singer Brian Johnson was selected to replace Scott. Later that year, the band released their highest selling album, Back in Black.
The band's next album, For Those About to Rock We Salute You, was their first album to reach number one in the United States. AC/DC declined in popularity soon after drummer Phil Rudd was fired in 1983 and was replaced by future Dio drummer Simon Wright, though the band resurged in the early 1990s with the release of The Razor's Edge.
Phil Rudd returned in 1994 (after Chris Slade, who was with the band from 1990–1994, was asked to leave in favour of him) and contributed to the band's 1995 album Ballbreaker. Stiff Upper Lip was released in 2000 and was well received by critics.
Since then, the band has stayed the same with the 1980-1983 lineup. The band's most recent album, Black Ice, was released on 20 October 2008. It was their biggest hit on the charts since "For Those About to Rock, reaching #1 on all the charts eventually.
AC/DC's newest studio album, AC/DC: Iron Man 2 was released on April 19, 2010.
As of 2008, AC/DC have sold more than 200 million albums worldwide, including 71 million albums in the United States.
Back in Black has sold an estimated 49 million units worldwide, making it the highest-selling album by any band and the 2nd highest-selling album in history, behind Thriller by Michael Jackson. The album has sold 22 million in the US alone, where it is the fifth-highest-selling album.
AC/DC ranked fourth on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" and was named the seventh "Greatest Heavy Metal Band of All Time" by MTV.
In 2004, the band was ranked number 72 in the Rolling Stone list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
The Eagles
The Eagles is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1971 by Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner.
With five number one singles and six number one albums, the Eagles were one of the most successful recording artists of the 1970s. At the end of the 20th century, two of their albums, Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) and Hotel California, ranked among the 20 best-selling albums in the U.S. according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
Hotel California is ranked 37th in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and the band was ranked #75 on the magazine's 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
They also have the best selling album in the U.S. with Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975), which sold more than 30 million copies.
The Eagles broke up in 1980, but reunited in 1994 for Hell Freezes Over, a mix of live and new studio tracks. They have toured intermittently since then, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
In 2007, Eagles released Long Road out of Eden, their first full studio album in 28 years. The next year they launched The Long Road out of Eden Tour in support of the album. The tour continued on into 2009, crossing North America and Europe, and will continue in 2010 with additional North American tour dates.
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American hard rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band".
Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many subsequent rock artists.
The band was formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1970. Guitarist Joe Perry and bassist Tom Hamilton, originally in a band together called the Jam Band, met up with singer Steven Tyler, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarist Ray Tabano, and formed Aerosmith.
In 1971, Tabano was replaced by Brad Whitford, and the band began developing a following in Boston. Their first gig in the Boston area was held at the then Nipmuck Regional High School in 1970, Mendon, Massachusetts.
They were signed to Columbia Records in 1972, and released a string of multi-platinum albums, beginning with their 1973 eponymous debut album, followed by their 1974 album Get Your Wings. In 1975, the band broke into the mainstream with the album Toys in the Attic, and their 1976 follow-up Rocks cemented their status as hard rock superstars.
By the end of the 1970s, they were among the most popular hard rock bands in the world and developed a loyal following of fans, often referred to as the "Blue Army".
However, drug addiction and internal conflict took their toll on the band, which resulted in the departures of Perry and Whitford, in 1979 and 1981 respectively. They were replaced by Jimmy Crespo and Rick Dufay.
The band did not fare well between 1980 and 1984, releasing a lone album, Rock in a Hard Place, which went gold but failed to match their previous successes.
Although Perry and Whitford returned in 1984 and the band signed a new deal with Geffen Records, it was not until the band sobered up and released 1987's Permanent Vacation that they regained the level of popularity they had experienced in the 1970s.
Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, the band scored several hits and won numerous awards for music from the multi-platinum albums Pump (1989), Get a Grip (1993), and Nine Lives (1997). Their comeback has been described as one of the most remarkable and spectacular in rock 'n' roll history.
After 40 years of performing, the band continues to tour and record music.
Aerosmith is the best-selling American rock band of all time, having sold more than 150 million albums worldwide, including 66.5 million albums in the United States alone.
They also hold the record for the most gold and multi-platinum albums by an American group. The band has scored 21 Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, nine #1 Mainstream Rock hits, four Grammy Awards, and ten MTV Video Music Awards.
They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and in 2005 they were ranked #57 in Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1981.
Founded when drummer Lars Ulrich posted an advertisement in a local newspaper. Metallica's line-up has primarily consisted of Ulrich, rhythm guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield and lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, while going through a number of bassists. Currently, the spot is held by Robert Trujillo.
Metallica's early releases included fast tempos, instrumentals, and aggressive musicianship that placed them as one of the "big four" of the thrash metal subgenre alongside Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax during the genre's development into a popular style.
The band earned a growing fan base in the underground music community and critical acclaim, with the 1986 release Master of Puppets described as one of the most influential and "heavy" thrash metal albums. The band achieved substantial commercial success with their self-titled fifth album (also known as The Black Album), which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. With this release the band expanded its musical direction resulting in an album that appealed to a more mainstream audience.
In 2000, Metallica was among several artists who filed a lawsuit against Napster for sharing the band's copyright-protected material for free without the band members' consent.
A settlement was reached, and Napster became a pay-to-use service. Despite reaching number one on the Billboard 200, the release of St. Anger alienated many fans with the exclusion of guitar solos and the "steel-sounding" snare drum.
A film titled Some Kind of Monster documented the recording process of St. Anger.
Metallica has released nine studio albums, two live albums, two EPs, twenty-four music videos, and forty-five singles.
The band has won nine Grammy Awards, and has had five consecutive albums debut at number one on the Billboard 200, making Metallica the first band to do so, this record was later matched by the Dave Matthews Band.
The band's 1991 album, Metallica, has sold over 15 million copies in the United States, and 22 million copies worldwide, which makes it the 25th-highest-selling album in the country.
In December 2009, it became the highest-selling album of the SoundScan era, surpassing 1997's Come on Over by country artist Shania Twain. The band has sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide as of the release of their latest album, Death Magnetic. As of December 2009, Metallica is the fourth highest-selling music artist since the SoundScan era began tracking sales on May 25, 1991, selling a total of 52,271,000 albums in the United States alone.
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses (sometimes abbreviated as GN'R or GNR) is an American hard rock band. The band formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California in 1985. Led by frontman and co-founder Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose, Jr.), the band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album while going through numerous line-up changes and controversies since its formation.
The band has sold more than 110 million albums worldwide, including over 46 million in the United States. The band's 1987 major label debut album, Appetite for Destruction, has sold in excess of 38 million copies worldwide and reached No. 1 on the United States Billboard 200.
In addition, the album charted three Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including "Sweet Child o' Mine" which reached No. 1. The 1991 albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II debuted on the two highest spots on the Billboard 200 and have sold a combined 14 million copies in the United States alone and 35 million worldwide.
After over a decade of work, the band released their follow-up album, Chinese Democracy. A Greatest Hits album was released in 2004.
The current lineup comprises lead vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarists Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal and DJ Ashba, rhythm guitarist Richard Fortus, bassist Tommy Stinson, keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman and drummer Frank Ferrer.
Guns N' Roses' mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s years have been described by individuals in the music industry as the period in which "they brought forth a hedonistic rebelliousness and revived the punk attitude-driven hard rock scene, reminiscent of the early Rolling Stones."
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi, guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald.
The band's line-up has remained mostly static during their 26-year history, the only exception being the departure of Alec John Such in 1994, who was unofficially replaced by Hugh McDonald. The band have become known for writing several rock anthems, and achieved widespread recognition with their third album Slippery When Wet, released in 1986.
Bon Jovi is well-known for songs including "Livin' on a Prayer", which has become their signature song, as well as "You Give Love a Bad Name", "Wanted Dead or Alive", "Bad Medicine", "Keep the Faith", "Bed of Roses", "Always", "It's My Life", "Everyday" and "Have a Nice Day". Their latest hit single is "We Weren't Born To Follow."
After prolifically touring and recording during the late 1980s, the band went on hiatus following the New Jersey Tour in 1990, during which time Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora both released successful solo albums. In 1992, the band returned with the album Keep the Faith and have since created successful albums throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
Their 2000 single "It's My Life", which followed a second hiatus, successfully introduced the band to a younger audience. Bon Jovi have been known to use different styles in their music, which have ranged to country for their 2007 album Lost Highway. Their latest album, The Circle, was released on 10 November 2009 in the United States.
Throughout their career, the band has released eleven studio albums, two compilation albums and one live album, and has sold over 120 million records worldwide.
They have performed more than 2,600 concerts in over 50 countries for more than 34 million fans, and were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006.
The band was also honored with the Award of Merit at the American Music Awards in 2004, and as songwriters and collaborators, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora inducted into Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2009.
Kiss
Kiss is an American hard rock band formed in New York City in January 1973.
Easily identified by its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting, smoking guitars, and pyrotechnics.
Kiss has been awarded 24 gold albums to date in the USA. The band has sold over 40 million albums in the United States, and their worldwide sales exceeded 100 million albums.
The lineup of Paul Stanley (vocals and rhythm guitar), Gene Simmons (vocals and bass guitar), Ace Frehley (lead guitar and vocals), and Peter Criss (drums, percussion and vocals) is the most successful and identifiable.
With their makeup and costumes, they took on the personae of comic book-style characters: The Demon (Simmons), Starchild (Stanley), Spaceman (Frehley), and Catman (Criss). The band explains that the fans were the ones who ultimately chose their makeup designs.
The "Demon" makeup reflected Simmons's cynicism and dark elements, as well as his affection for comic books. Paul Stanley became the "Starchild" because of his tendency to be referred to as the "starry-eyed lover" and "hopeless romantic." Ace Frehley's "Spaceman" makeup was a reflection of him wanting to go for a ride in a space ship and supposedly being from another planet. Peter Criss's "Catman" makeup was in accordance with the belief that Criss had nine lives because of his rough childhood in Brooklyn.
Because of creative differences, both Criss and Frehley were out of the group by 1982. The band's commercial fortunes had also waned considerably by that point.
In 1983, Kiss abandoned its makeup and profited from a commercial resurgence throughout the rest of the decade. Buoyed by a wave of Kiss nostalgia in the 1990s, the band announced a reunion of the original lineup (with makeup) in 1996. The resulting Kiss Alive/Worldwide/Lost Cities/Reunion Tour was the top-grossing act of 1996 and 1997. Criss and Frehley have since left Kiss again and have been replaced by Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer, respectively.
The band continues to perform with makeup, while Stanley and Simmons have remained the only two constant members.
Kiss was named by VH1 as 10th on their list of the '100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock,' and 9th on 'The Greatest Metal Bands' list by MTV.
On 23 September 2009, Kiss was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, ten years after becoming eligible but on December 15, 2009 it was announced that Kiss did not make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The Doors
The Doors was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California. Through most of its existence, the group consisted of vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger.
They were among the most controversial rock acts of the 1960s, due mostly to Morrison's wild, poetic lyrics and charismatic but unpredictable stage persona. After Morrison's death in 1971, the remaining members continued as a trio until finally disbanding for good in 1973.
Although The Doors' active career ended in 1973, their popularity has persisted. According to the RIAA, they have sold over 32.5 million albums in the US alone.
The band has sold over 75 million albums worldwide.
Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger still tour sometimes with additional musicians as Manzarek-Krieger, performing Doors songs exclusively.
Golden Earring
Golden Earring is a Dutch rock band, founded in 1961 in The Hague as the Golden Earrings (the 's' was dropped in 1969).
They had international chart success with the songs "Radar Love" in 1973, "Twilight Zone" in 1982, and "When The Lady Smiles" in 1984. In their home country, they had over 40 hits and made over 30 gold and platinum albums.
Current members of Golden Earring are Barry Hay (vocals, guitar, flute and saxophone, member since 1968), George Kooymans (vocals and guitar, founder of band), Rinus Gerritsen (bass and keyboard, founding member), and Cesar Zuiderwijk (drums and percussion, member since 1970).
Golden Earring have sold millions of albums worldwide, and they are one of the longest existing rock bands in the world that are still performing today in the same line up.
2009 marks the return of the band to the UK and 2010 the release of a new studio album.
Europe
Europe is a Swedish hard rock band formed in Upplands Väsby in 1979 under the name Force by vocalist Joey Tempest and guitarist John Norum. Although widely associated with glam metal, the band's sound incorporates heavy metal and hard rock elements.
Since its formation, Europe has released eight studio albums, three live albums, three compilations and eight videos.
Europe rose to international fame in the 1980s with its third album The Final Countdown (1986), which became a substantial commercial success and sold over three million copies in the United States.
Europe was one of the most successful rock acts of the 80s and sold over four million albums in the United States alone and over 10 million albums worldwide.
The band has achieved two top 20 albums on the Billboard 200 chart (The Final Countdown and Out of This World) and two top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart ("The Final Countdown" and "Carrie").
Europe went on hiatus in 1992, reunited temporarily for a one-off performance in Stockholm on New Year's Eve 1999 and announced an official reunion in 2003.
Since then Europe has released three albums, Start from the Dark (2004), Secret Society (2006) and Last Look at Eden, which was released on September 9, 2009.
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American blues rock trio, formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. Its members are Billy Gibbons (vocals and guitar), Joseph Dusty Hill (vocals, bass, and keyboards), and Frank Beard (drums and percussion).
ZZ Top is ranked number 44 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock." The trio is one of the longest running rock bands to retain the same lineup, and until September 2006 had the same manager, Bill Ham.
ZZ Top was inducted by Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during the annual ceremony on March 15, 2004.
Cub Koda wrote, "As genuine roots musicians, they have few peers; Gibbons is one of America's finest blues guitarists working in the hard rock idiom ... while Hill and Beard provide the ultimate rhythm section support."
ZZ Top almost always appear in public wearing sunglasses. Gibbons and Hill wear similar black clothing (usually biker leathers) and various head gear, usually cowboy hats or baseball caps, or bandanas. Gibbons may wear black biker boots and neck chains with beer can openers.
Although Gibbons and Hill wear chest-length beards, drummer Beard sports only a trimmed mustache.
In 1984, the Gillette Company reportedly offered Gibbons and Hill $1 million each to shave their beards for a television commercial. They allegedly declined, saying "We're too ugly without 'em."
ZZ Top is the only major band today whose original lineup has been intact for over 40 years; their 41 years together are currently second among major U.S. recording acts to the Four Tops, whose original lineup remained intact from 1953 until the death of Lawrence Payton in 1997.
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guitar), Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), and Mike McCready (lead guitar).
The band's current drummer is Matt Cameron, also of Soundgarden, who has been with the band since 1998.
Formed after the demise of Ament and Gossard's previous band Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam broke into the mainstream with its debut album, Ten. One of the key bands of the grunge movement in the early 1990s, Pearl Jam was criticized early on as being a corporate cash-in on the alternative rock explosion.
However, over the course of the band's career its members became noted for their refusal to adhere to traditional music industry practices, including refusing to make music videos and engaging in a much-publicized boycott of Ticketmaster. In 2006, Rolling Stone described the band as having "spent much of the past decade deliberately tearing apart their own fame."
Since its inception, the band has sold over thirty million records in the U.S., and an estimated sixty million worldwide.
Pearl Jam has outlasted many of its contemporaries from the alternative rock breakthrough of the early 1990s, and is considered one of the most influential bands of the decade.
Allmusic refers to Pearl Jam as "the most popular American rock & roll band of the '90s."
Gary Moore
Gary Moore (born Robert William Gary Moore, 4 April 1952, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish guitarist and singer.
In a career dating back to the 1960s, Moore has played with artists including Thin Lizzy, B.B. King, Colosseum II, Greg Lake and the blues-rock band Skid Row (not to be confused with the glam metal band of the same name), as well as having a successful solo career.
Among many cameo appearances over the years, he performed the lead guitar solo on "She's My Baby" from Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3.
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy is an Irish hard rock band who formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1969. The band was led throughout their recording career by bassist, songwriter and singer Phil Lynott, and are best known for their songs "Whiskey in the Jar", "Jailbreak" and "The Boys Are Back in Town", all major international hits still played regularly on hard rock and classic rock radio stations.
After Lynott died, various incarnations of the band have emerged over the years culminating in a more stable line-up based around guitarists Scott Gorham and John Sykes. Sykes left the band in June 2009.
Thin Lizzy's leader, Lynott was composer or co-composer of almost all their songs. He was also one of the few black men to achieve significant success in hard rock.
As well as being multiracial, the band drew their members not only from both sides of the Irish border but also from both the Catholic and Protestant communities. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including country music, psychedelic rock, Irish music and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or sometimes heavy metal.
Rolling Stone describe the band as distinctly hard rock, "far apart from the braying mid-70s metal pack".
Critic for Allmusic John Dougan has written that "As the band's creative force, Lynott was a more insightful and intelligent writer than many of his ilk, preferring slice-of-life working-class dramas of love and hate influenced by Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen, and virtually all of the Irish literary tradition."
Van Morrison, Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix were major influences during the early days of the band, and later influences included American artists Little Feat and Bob Seger.
Thin Lizzy were ranked #51 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.
Dire Straits
Dire Straits was a British rock band, formed by Mark Knopfler (vocals and lead guitar), his younger brother David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and vocals), and Pick Withers (drums and percussion), and managed by Ed Bicknell, active between 1977 and 1995.
Although the band was formed in an era when punk rock was at the forefront, Dire Straits played a more bluesy style, albeit with a stripped-down sound that appealed to audiences weary of the overproduced stadium rock of the 1970s.
In their early days, Mark and David requested that pub owners turn down their sound so that patrons could converse while the band played, an indication of their unassuming demeanor. Despite this oddly self-effacing approach to rock and roll, Dire Straits soon became hugely successful, with their first album going multi-platinum globally.
Throughout the band's career Mark Knopfler was the songwriter and driving force behind the group. The band's best-known songs include "Sultans of Swing", "Money for Nothing", "Brothers In Arms", "Walk of Life", "So Far Away", and "Tunnel of Love".
Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler have sold in excess of 120 million albums to date.
Stratovarius
Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band that formed in 1984.
Their material contains elements of power metal and symphonic metal. To this day the band has sold over 2.5 million records worldwide. They have been since the 80's, alongside with Helloween & Blind Guardian, one of the pioneers and most influential bands of power metal.
Helloween
Helloween is a German power metal band founded in the mid 1980s by members of Iron Fist and Powerfool.
The band is known as one of the pioneering power metal bands, being part of the German heavy/speed/power metal scene. Through the years they have influenced many bands, such as Edguy, HammerFall, Crystal Eyes, Celesty and Highland Glory.
Nightwish
Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee, Finland, formed in 1996 by songwriter/keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former vocalist Tarja Turunen.
Nightwish is one of Finland's most successful bands with more than 7 million albums & singles sold worldwide, 1 silver award, 11 gold awards, and 31 platinum awards.
Although Nightwish has been prominent in their home country since the release of their first single, “The Carpenter” (1997) and debut album Angels Fall First, they did not achieve worldwide fame until the release of the albums Oceanborn, Wishmaster and Century Child, which were released in 1998, 2000 and 2002 respectively.
Their 2004 album, Once, which has sold more than 1 million copies, led to Nightwish video clips being shown on MTV in the United States and inclusion of their music in US movie soundtracks.
Their biggest US hit single, “Wish I Had an Angel” (2004), made it onto three US film soundtracks as a means to promote their North American tour. The band produced three more singles and two music videos for the album, as well as “Sleeping Sun”, from the 2005 “best of” compilation album, Highest Hopes, prior to vocalist Tarja Turunen’s dismissal.
In May 2007, former Alyson Avenue frontwoman, Anette Olzon, was revealed as Turunen’s replacement, and in the autumn, the band released a new album - Dark Passion Play, which has sold almost 2 million copies.
The supporting tour started on October 6, 2007 and ended on September 19, 2009.
A new E.P./live album, Made in Hong Kong (And in Various Other Places), was released in March 2009 as a MCD/DVD, and a seventh studio album is in production, set for release in 2011.
Within Temptation
Within Temptation is a Dutch metal/rock band founded in 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt.
Their music is described as symphonic metal and gothic metal, although in an interview, Den Adel said they fell into a symphonic rock genre with various influences.
In a later interview with 3VOOR12, Sharon stated that "we consider ourselves more a symphonic rock band ... we are in my opinion no gothic band".
After the release of their first album Enter, the band became prominent in the underground scene.
It was not until 2001 that they became known to the general public, with the single "Ice Queen" from the album Mother Earth, which reached #2 on the Dutch charts.
Since then, the band won the Conamus Exportprijs five years in a row.
Their next album The Silent Force debuted at #1 on the Dutch charts, as did their latest, The Heart of Everything. In 2008, they released a live DVD and CD, Black Symphony, recorded with the Metropole Orchestra. This collection was followed in 2009 with An Acoustic Night at the Theatre.
Kamelot
Kamelot is an American power metal from Tampa, Florida.
The band was formed by Thomas Youngblood and Richard Warner in 1991. Norwegian vocalist Roy Khan joined for the album Siége Perilous, and has shared song-writing duties with Youngblood since.
As of 2009, Kamelot has released eight studio albums, three live albums, one live DVD, six music videos and a reissue of Ghost Opera.
They are currently working on a new studio album, schedueled for release in late summer 2010.
Vandenberg
n 1981 van den Berg worked with vocalist Jos Veldhuizen, bassist Griff "Studly" McGrath, and drummer Bico De Gooijer in a band called Teaser. He auditioned for Thin Lizzy, without success.
With a new line-up (Bert Heerink (vocals), van den Berg (guitar), Dick Kemper (bass), and Jos Zoomer on drums), Teaser recorded a demo that fell into the hands of pop-journalist Kees Baars. Baars offered to manage the group, and contracted the band at Atlantic Records in the U.S.
Their debut album was recorded at the former Led Zeppelin's guitarist Jimmy Page's studio, Sol Studios, and in 1983 their first single "Burning Heart" reached #39 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts.
Vandenberg toured the U.S. as opening act for Ozzy Osbourne and KISS, and toured independently in Japan in 1984. "Different Worlds" from their second album also did fairly well in the charts, but did not equal the success of "Burning Heart".
The band's third album was recorded in the Netherlands, produced by Jaap Eggermont, manager of the Golden Earring. The album flopped, and not long after the band parted ways with lead singer Heerink. Demos with new lead singer Peter Struyk were not well received by Atlantic.
Around that time, van den Berg (who often uses an Anglicized version of his Dutch name: Adrian Vandenberg) played as a guest soloist on a Whitesnake album, and in 1987 Whitesnake vocalist David Coverdale asked him to join the band permanently. With the band Vandenberg amounting to nothing, the guitarist accepted the invitation.
The other members also started or joined other projects: Zoomer and Struyk joined Avalon, and Kemper started a new band, No Exqze. Bert Heerink joined Picture for their Marathon album.
In 2004 there was a reunion session of Vandenberg, and they released a double CD The Definitive Vandenberg, a compilation of the band's best songs and featuring a newly-recorded version of "Burning Heart". In January, 2005 the band released a DVD with footage of a 1984 Tokyo concert.
The Cure
The Cure is an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976.
The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member.
The Cure first began releasing music in the late 1970s with their debut album Three Imaginary Boys (1979); this, along with several early singles, placed the band as part of the post-punk and New Wave movements that had sprung up in the wake of the punk rock revolution in the United Kingdom.
During the early 1980s, the band's increasingly dark and tormented music helped form the gothic rock genre.
After the release of Pornography (1982), the band's future was uncertain and Smith was keen to move past the gloomy reputation his band had acquired. With the 1982 single "Let's Go to Bed" Smith began to inject more of a pop sensibility into the band's music.
The Cure's popularity increased as the decade wore on, especially in the United States where the songs "Just Like Heaven", "Lovesong" and "Friday I'm in Love" entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart. By the start of the 1990s, The Cure were one of the most popular alternative rock bands in the world.
The band is estimated to have sold 27 million albums as of 2004.
The Cure has released thirteen studio albums and over thirty singles during the course of their career.
Marillion
Marillion a British rock group, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England in 1979.
Their recorded studio output comprises sixteen albums (2009's 'Less is More' is primarily reinterpretations of existing tracks) and is generally regarded as comprising two distinct eras, delineated by the departure of original vocalist & frontman Fish in late 1988 after their first four albums, and the subsequent arrival of replacement Steve Hogarth ("h") in early 1989.
Marillion has thus far released twelve albums with Hogarth.
The band has been awarded eleven gold and five platinum albums between 1971 and 2005 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. Rolling Stone ranked them 52nd on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2004.
Fleedwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac is a British-American rock band formed in 1967 in London.
The only original member present in the band is its namesake drummer, Mick Fleetwood.
Despite band founder Peter Green naming the group by combining the surnames of two of his former bandmates (Fleetwood, McVie) from John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, bassist John McVie did not play on their first single nor at their first concerts.
Keyboardist Christine McVie has, to date, appeared on all but two albums, either as a member or as a session musician. She also supplied the artwork for the album Kiln House.
The two most successful periods for the band were during the late 1960s British blues boom, when they were led by guitarist Peter Green, and from 1975 to 1987, with more pop-orientation, featuring Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.
The band enjoyed more modest success in the intervening period between 1971 and 1974, with the line-up including Bob Welch, and also during the 1990s which saw more personnel changes before the return of Nicks and Buckingham in 1997, and more recently, the departure of Christine McVie.
AC/DC
AC/DC is an Australian rock band formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Although the band are commonly classified as hard rock and are considered a pioneer of heavy metal, they have always classified their music as rock and roll.
AC/DC underwent several line-up changes before releasing their first album, High Voltage, in 1975. Membership remained stable until bassist Mark Evans was replaced by Cliff Williams in 1977 for the album Powerage.
Within months of recording the album Highway to Hell, lead singer and co-songwriter Bon Scott died on 19 February 1980, after a night of heavy alcohol consumption.
The group briefly considered disbanding, but soon ex-Geordie singer Brian Johnson was selected to replace Scott. Later that year, the band released their highest selling album, Back in Black.
The band's next album, For Those About to Rock We Salute You, was their first album to reach number one in the United States. AC/DC declined in popularity soon after drummer Phil Rudd was fired in 1983 and was replaced by future Dio drummer Simon Wright, though the band resurged in the early 1990s with the release of The Razor's Edge.
Phil Rudd returned in 1994 (after Chris Slade, who was with the band from 1990–1994, was asked to leave in favour of him) and contributed to the band's 1995 album Ballbreaker. Stiff Upper Lip was released in 2000 and was well received by critics.
Since then, the band has stayed the same with the 1980-1983 lineup. The band's most recent album, Black Ice, was released on 20 October 2008. It was their biggest hit on the charts since "For Those About to Rock, reaching #1 on all the charts eventually.
AC/DC's newest studio album, AC/DC: Iron Man 2 was released on April 19, 2010.
As of 2008, AC/DC have sold more than 200 million albums worldwide, including 71 million albums in the United States.
Back in Black has sold an estimated 49 million units worldwide, making it the highest-selling album by any band and the 2nd highest-selling album in history, behind Thriller by Michael Jackson. The album has sold 22 million in the US alone, where it is the fifth-highest-selling album.
AC/DC ranked fourth on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" and was named the seventh "Greatest Heavy Metal Band of All Time" by MTV.
In 2004, the band was ranked number 72 in the Rolling Stone list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
The Eagles
The Eagles is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1971 by Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner.
With five number one singles and six number one albums, the Eagles were one of the most successful recording artists of the 1970s. At the end of the 20th century, two of their albums, Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) and Hotel California, ranked among the 20 best-selling albums in the U.S. according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
Hotel California is ranked 37th in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and the band was ranked #75 on the magazine's 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
They also have the best selling album in the U.S. with Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975), which sold more than 30 million copies.
The Eagles broke up in 1980, but reunited in 1994 for Hell Freezes Over, a mix of live and new studio tracks. They have toured intermittently since then, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
In 2007, Eagles released Long Road out of Eden, their first full studio album in 28 years. The next year they launched The Long Road out of Eden Tour in support of the album. The tour continued on into 2009, crossing North America and Europe, and will continue in 2010 with additional North American tour dates.
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American hard rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band".
Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many subsequent rock artists.
The band was formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1970. Guitarist Joe Perry and bassist Tom Hamilton, originally in a band together called the Jam Band, met up with singer Steven Tyler, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarist Ray Tabano, and formed Aerosmith.
In 1971, Tabano was replaced by Brad Whitford, and the band began developing a following in Boston. Their first gig in the Boston area was held at the then Nipmuck Regional High School in 1970, Mendon, Massachusetts.
They were signed to Columbia Records in 1972, and released a string of multi-platinum albums, beginning with their 1973 eponymous debut album, followed by their 1974 album Get Your Wings. In 1975, the band broke into the mainstream with the album Toys in the Attic, and their 1976 follow-up Rocks cemented their status as hard rock superstars.
By the end of the 1970s, they were among the most popular hard rock bands in the world and developed a loyal following of fans, often referred to as the "Blue Army".
However, drug addiction and internal conflict took their toll on the band, which resulted in the departures of Perry and Whitford, in 1979 and 1981 respectively. They were replaced by Jimmy Crespo and Rick Dufay.
The band did not fare well between 1980 and 1984, releasing a lone album, Rock in a Hard Place, which went gold but failed to match their previous successes.
Although Perry and Whitford returned in 1984 and the band signed a new deal with Geffen Records, it was not until the band sobered up and released 1987's Permanent Vacation that they regained the level of popularity they had experienced in the 1970s.
Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, the band scored several hits and won numerous awards for music from the multi-platinum albums Pump (1989), Get a Grip (1993), and Nine Lives (1997). Their comeback has been described as one of the most remarkable and spectacular in rock 'n' roll history.
After 40 years of performing, the band continues to tour and record music.
Aerosmith is the best-selling American rock band of all time, having sold more than 150 million albums worldwide, including 66.5 million albums in the United States alone.
They also hold the record for the most gold and multi-platinum albums by an American group. The band has scored 21 Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, nine #1 Mainstream Rock hits, four Grammy Awards, and ten MTV Video Music Awards.
They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and in 2005 they were ranked #57 in Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1981.
Founded when drummer Lars Ulrich posted an advertisement in a local newspaper. Metallica's line-up has primarily consisted of Ulrich, rhythm guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield and lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, while going through a number of bassists. Currently, the spot is held by Robert Trujillo.
Metallica's early releases included fast tempos, instrumentals, and aggressive musicianship that placed them as one of the "big four" of the thrash metal subgenre alongside Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax during the genre's development into a popular style.
The band earned a growing fan base in the underground music community and critical acclaim, with the 1986 release Master of Puppets described as one of the most influential and "heavy" thrash metal albums. The band achieved substantial commercial success with their self-titled fifth album (also known as The Black Album), which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. With this release the band expanded its musical direction resulting in an album that appealed to a more mainstream audience.
In 2000, Metallica was among several artists who filed a lawsuit against Napster for sharing the band's copyright-protected material for free without the band members' consent.
A settlement was reached, and Napster became a pay-to-use service. Despite reaching number one on the Billboard 200, the release of St. Anger alienated many fans with the exclusion of guitar solos and the "steel-sounding" snare drum.
A film titled Some Kind of Monster documented the recording process of St. Anger.
Metallica has released nine studio albums, two live albums, two EPs, twenty-four music videos, and forty-five singles.
The band has won nine Grammy Awards, and has had five consecutive albums debut at number one on the Billboard 200, making Metallica the first band to do so, this record was later matched by the Dave Matthews Band.
The band's 1991 album, Metallica, has sold over 15 million copies in the United States, and 22 million copies worldwide, which makes it the 25th-highest-selling album in the country.
In December 2009, it became the highest-selling album of the SoundScan era, surpassing 1997's Come on Over by country artist Shania Twain. The band has sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide as of the release of their latest album, Death Magnetic. As of December 2009, Metallica is the fourth highest-selling music artist since the SoundScan era began tracking sales on May 25, 1991, selling a total of 52,271,000 albums in the United States alone.
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses (sometimes abbreviated as GN'R or GNR) is an American hard rock band. The band formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California in 1985. Led by frontman and co-founder Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose, Jr.), the band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album while going through numerous line-up changes and controversies since its formation.
The band has sold more than 110 million albums worldwide, including over 46 million in the United States. The band's 1987 major label debut album, Appetite for Destruction, has sold in excess of 38 million copies worldwide and reached No. 1 on the United States Billboard 200.
In addition, the album charted three Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including "Sweet Child o' Mine" which reached No. 1. The 1991 albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II debuted on the two highest spots on the Billboard 200 and have sold a combined 14 million copies in the United States alone and 35 million worldwide.
After over a decade of work, the band released their follow-up album, Chinese Democracy. A Greatest Hits album was released in 2004.
The current lineup comprises lead vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarists Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal and DJ Ashba, rhythm guitarist Richard Fortus, bassist Tommy Stinson, keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman and drummer Frank Ferrer.
Guns N' Roses' mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s years have been described by individuals in the music industry as the period in which "they brought forth a hedonistic rebelliousness and revived the punk attitude-driven hard rock scene, reminiscent of the early Rolling Stones."
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi, guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald.
The band's line-up has remained mostly static during their 26-year history, the only exception being the departure of Alec John Such in 1994, who was unofficially replaced by Hugh McDonald. The band have become known for writing several rock anthems, and achieved widespread recognition with their third album Slippery When Wet, released in 1986.
Bon Jovi is well-known for songs including "Livin' on a Prayer", which has become their signature song, as well as "You Give Love a Bad Name", "Wanted Dead or Alive", "Bad Medicine", "Keep the Faith", "Bed of Roses", "Always", "It's My Life", "Everyday" and "Have a Nice Day". Their latest hit single is "We Weren't Born To Follow."
After prolifically touring and recording during the late 1980s, the band went on hiatus following the New Jersey Tour in 1990, during which time Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora both released successful solo albums. In 1992, the band returned with the album Keep the Faith and have since created successful albums throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
Their 2000 single "It's My Life", which followed a second hiatus, successfully introduced the band to a younger audience. Bon Jovi have been known to use different styles in their music, which have ranged to country for their 2007 album Lost Highway. Their latest album, The Circle, was released on 10 November 2009 in the United States.
Throughout their career, the band has released eleven studio albums, two compilation albums and one live album, and has sold over 120 million records worldwide.
They have performed more than 2,600 concerts in over 50 countries for more than 34 million fans, and were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006.
The band was also honored with the Award of Merit at the American Music Awards in 2004, and as songwriters and collaborators, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora inducted into Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2009.
Kiss
Kiss is an American hard rock band formed in New York City in January 1973.
Easily identified by its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting, smoking guitars, and pyrotechnics.
Kiss has been awarded 24 gold albums to date in the USA. The band has sold over 40 million albums in the United States, and their worldwide sales exceeded 100 million albums.
The lineup of Paul Stanley (vocals and rhythm guitar), Gene Simmons (vocals and bass guitar), Ace Frehley (lead guitar and vocals), and Peter Criss (drums, percussion and vocals) is the most successful and identifiable.
With their makeup and costumes, they took on the personae of comic book-style characters: The Demon (Simmons), Starchild (Stanley), Spaceman (Frehley), and Catman (Criss). The band explains that the fans were the ones who ultimately chose their makeup designs.
The "Demon" makeup reflected Simmons's cynicism and dark elements, as well as his affection for comic books. Paul Stanley became the "Starchild" because of his tendency to be referred to as the "starry-eyed lover" and "hopeless romantic." Ace Frehley's "Spaceman" makeup was a reflection of him wanting to go for a ride in a space ship and supposedly being from another planet. Peter Criss's "Catman" makeup was in accordance with the belief that Criss had nine lives because of his rough childhood in Brooklyn.
Because of creative differences, both Criss and Frehley were out of the group by 1982. The band's commercial fortunes had also waned considerably by that point.
In 1983, Kiss abandoned its makeup and profited from a commercial resurgence throughout the rest of the decade. Buoyed by a wave of Kiss nostalgia in the 1990s, the band announced a reunion of the original lineup (with makeup) in 1996. The resulting Kiss Alive/Worldwide/Lost Cities/Reunion Tour was the top-grossing act of 1996 and 1997. Criss and Frehley have since left Kiss again and have been replaced by Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer, respectively.
The band continues to perform with makeup, while Stanley and Simmons have remained the only two constant members.
Kiss was named by VH1 as 10th on their list of the '100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock,' and 9th on 'The Greatest Metal Bands' list by MTV.
On 23 September 2009, Kiss was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, ten years after becoming eligible but on December 15, 2009 it was announced that Kiss did not make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The Doors
The Doors was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California. Through most of its existence, the group consisted of vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger.
They were among the most controversial rock acts of the 1960s, due mostly to Morrison's wild, poetic lyrics and charismatic but unpredictable stage persona. After Morrison's death in 1971, the remaining members continued as a trio until finally disbanding for good in 1973.
Although The Doors' active career ended in 1973, their popularity has persisted. According to the RIAA, they have sold over 32.5 million albums in the US alone.
The band has sold over 75 million albums worldwide.
Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger still tour sometimes with additional musicians as Manzarek-Krieger, performing Doors songs exclusively.
Golden Earring
Golden Earring is a Dutch rock band, founded in 1961 in The Hague as the Golden Earrings (the 's' was dropped in 1969).
They had international chart success with the songs "Radar Love" in 1973, "Twilight Zone" in 1982, and "When The Lady Smiles" in 1984. In their home country, they had over 40 hits and made over 30 gold and platinum albums.
Current members of Golden Earring are Barry Hay (vocals, guitar, flute and saxophone, member since 1968), George Kooymans (vocals and guitar, founder of band), Rinus Gerritsen (bass and keyboard, founding member), and Cesar Zuiderwijk (drums and percussion, member since 1970).
Golden Earring have sold millions of albums worldwide, and they are one of the longest existing rock bands in the world that are still performing today in the same line up.
2009 marks the return of the band to the UK and 2010 the release of a new studio album.
Europe
Europe is a Swedish hard rock band formed in Upplands Väsby in 1979 under the name Force by vocalist Joey Tempest and guitarist John Norum. Although widely associated with glam metal, the band's sound incorporates heavy metal and hard rock elements.
Since its formation, Europe has released eight studio albums, three live albums, three compilations and eight videos.
Europe rose to international fame in the 1980s with its third album The Final Countdown (1986), which became a substantial commercial success and sold over three million copies in the United States.
Europe was one of the most successful rock acts of the 80s and sold over four million albums in the United States alone and over 10 million albums worldwide.
The band has achieved two top 20 albums on the Billboard 200 chart (The Final Countdown and Out of This World) and two top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart ("The Final Countdown" and "Carrie").
Europe went on hiatus in 1992, reunited temporarily for a one-off performance in Stockholm on New Year's Eve 1999 and announced an official reunion in 2003.
Since then Europe has released three albums, Start from the Dark (2004), Secret Society (2006) and Last Look at Eden, which was released on September 9, 2009.
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American blues rock trio, formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. Its members are Billy Gibbons (vocals and guitar), Joseph Dusty Hill (vocals, bass, and keyboards), and Frank Beard (drums and percussion).
ZZ Top is ranked number 44 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock." The trio is one of the longest running rock bands to retain the same lineup, and until September 2006 had the same manager, Bill Ham.
ZZ Top was inducted by Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during the annual ceremony on March 15, 2004.
Cub Koda wrote, "As genuine roots musicians, they have few peers; Gibbons is one of America's finest blues guitarists working in the hard rock idiom ... while Hill and Beard provide the ultimate rhythm section support."
ZZ Top almost always appear in public wearing sunglasses. Gibbons and Hill wear similar black clothing (usually biker leathers) and various head gear, usually cowboy hats or baseball caps, or bandanas. Gibbons may wear black biker boots and neck chains with beer can openers.
Although Gibbons and Hill wear chest-length beards, drummer Beard sports only a trimmed mustache.
In 1984, the Gillette Company reportedly offered Gibbons and Hill $1 million each to shave their beards for a television commercial. They allegedly declined, saying "We're too ugly without 'em."
ZZ Top is the only major band today whose original lineup has been intact for over 40 years; their 41 years together are currently second among major U.S. recording acts to the Four Tops, whose original lineup remained intact from 1953 until the death of Lawrence Payton in 1997.
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guitar), Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), and Mike McCready (lead guitar).
The band's current drummer is Matt Cameron, also of Soundgarden, who has been with the band since 1998.
Formed after the demise of Ament and Gossard's previous band Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam broke into the mainstream with its debut album, Ten. One of the key bands of the grunge movement in the early 1990s, Pearl Jam was criticized early on as being a corporate cash-in on the alternative rock explosion.
However, over the course of the band's career its members became noted for their refusal to adhere to traditional music industry practices, including refusing to make music videos and engaging in a much-publicized boycott of Ticketmaster. In 2006, Rolling Stone described the band as having "spent much of the past decade deliberately tearing apart their own fame."
Since its inception, the band has sold over thirty million records in the U.S., and an estimated sixty million worldwide.
Pearl Jam has outlasted many of its contemporaries from the alternative rock breakthrough of the early 1990s, and is considered one of the most influential bands of the decade.
Allmusic refers to Pearl Jam as "the most popular American rock & roll band of the '90s."
Gary Moore
Gary Moore (born Robert William Gary Moore, 4 April 1952, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish guitarist and singer.
In a career dating back to the 1960s, Moore has played with artists including Thin Lizzy, B.B. King, Colosseum II, Greg Lake and the blues-rock band Skid Row (not to be confused with the glam metal band of the same name), as well as having a successful solo career.
Among many cameo appearances over the years, he performed the lead guitar solo on "She's My Baby" from Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3.
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy is an Irish hard rock band who formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1969. The band was led throughout their recording career by bassist, songwriter and singer Phil Lynott, and are best known for their songs "Whiskey in the Jar", "Jailbreak" and "The Boys Are Back in Town", all major international hits still played regularly on hard rock and classic rock radio stations.
After Lynott died, various incarnations of the band have emerged over the years culminating in a more stable line-up based around guitarists Scott Gorham and John Sykes. Sykes left the band in June 2009.
Thin Lizzy's leader, Lynott was composer or co-composer of almost all their songs. He was also one of the few black men to achieve significant success in hard rock.
As well as being multiracial, the band drew their members not only from both sides of the Irish border but also from both the Catholic and Protestant communities. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including country music, psychedelic rock, Irish music and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or sometimes heavy metal.
Rolling Stone describe the band as distinctly hard rock, "far apart from the braying mid-70s metal pack".
Critic for Allmusic John Dougan has written that "As the band's creative force, Lynott was a more insightful and intelligent writer than many of his ilk, preferring slice-of-life working-class dramas of love and hate influenced by Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen, and virtually all of the Irish literary tradition."
Van Morrison, Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix were major influences during the early days of the band, and later influences included American artists Little Feat and Bob Seger.
Thin Lizzy were ranked #51 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.
Dire Straits
Dire Straits was a British rock band, formed by Mark Knopfler (vocals and lead guitar), his younger brother David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and vocals), and Pick Withers (drums and percussion), and managed by Ed Bicknell, active between 1977 and 1995.
Although the band was formed in an era when punk rock was at the forefront, Dire Straits played a more bluesy style, albeit with a stripped-down sound that appealed to audiences weary of the overproduced stadium rock of the 1970s.
In their early days, Mark and David requested that pub owners turn down their sound so that patrons could converse while the band played, an indication of their unassuming demeanor. Despite this oddly self-effacing approach to rock and roll, Dire Straits soon became hugely successful, with their first album going multi-platinum globally.
Throughout the band's career Mark Knopfler was the songwriter and driving force behind the group. The band's best-known songs include "Sultans of Swing", "Money for Nothing", "Brothers In Arms", "Walk of Life", "So Far Away", and "Tunnel of Love".
Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler have sold in excess of 120 million albums to date.
Stratovarius
Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band that formed in 1984.
Their material contains elements of power metal and symphonic metal. To this day the band has sold over 2.5 million records worldwide. They have been since the 80's, alongside with Helloween & Blind Guardian, one of the pioneers and most influential bands of power metal.
Helloween
Helloween is a German power metal band founded in the mid 1980s by members of Iron Fist and Powerfool.
The band is known as one of the pioneering power metal bands, being part of the German heavy/speed/power metal scene. Through the years they have influenced many bands, such as Edguy, HammerFall, Crystal Eyes, Celesty and Highland Glory.
Nightwish
Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee, Finland, formed in 1996 by songwriter/keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former vocalist Tarja Turunen.
Nightwish is one of Finland's most successful bands with more than 7 million albums & singles sold worldwide, 1 silver award, 11 gold awards, and 31 platinum awards.
Although Nightwish has been prominent in their home country since the release of their first single, “The Carpenter” (1997) and debut album Angels Fall First, they did not achieve worldwide fame until the release of the albums Oceanborn, Wishmaster and Century Child, which were released in 1998, 2000 and 2002 respectively.
Their 2004 album, Once, which has sold more than 1 million copies, led to Nightwish video clips being shown on MTV in the United States and inclusion of their music in US movie soundtracks.
Their biggest US hit single, “Wish I Had an Angel” (2004), made it onto three US film soundtracks as a means to promote their North American tour. The band produced three more singles and two music videos for the album, as well as “Sleeping Sun”, from the 2005 “best of” compilation album, Highest Hopes, prior to vocalist Tarja Turunen’s dismissal.
In May 2007, former Alyson Avenue frontwoman, Anette Olzon, was revealed as Turunen’s replacement, and in the autumn, the band released a new album - Dark Passion Play, which has sold almost 2 million copies.
The supporting tour started on October 6, 2007 and ended on September 19, 2009.
A new E.P./live album, Made in Hong Kong (And in Various Other Places), was released in March 2009 as a MCD/DVD, and a seventh studio album is in production, set for release in 2011.
Within Temptation
Within Temptation is a Dutch metal/rock band founded in 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt.
Their music is described as symphonic metal and gothic metal, although in an interview, Den Adel said they fell into a symphonic rock genre with various influences.
In a later interview with 3VOOR12, Sharon stated that "we consider ourselves more a symphonic rock band ... we are in my opinion no gothic band".
After the release of their first album Enter, the band became prominent in the underground scene.
It was not until 2001 that they became known to the general public, with the single "Ice Queen" from the album Mother Earth, which reached #2 on the Dutch charts.
Since then, the band won the Conamus Exportprijs five years in a row.
Their next album The Silent Force debuted at #1 on the Dutch charts, as did their latest, The Heart of Everything. In 2008, they released a live DVD and CD, Black Symphony, recorded with the Metropole Orchestra. This collection was followed in 2009 with An Acoustic Night at the Theatre.
Kamelot
Kamelot is an American power metal from Tampa, Florida.
The band was formed by Thomas Youngblood and Richard Warner in 1991. Norwegian vocalist Roy Khan joined for the album Siége Perilous, and has shared song-writing duties with Youngblood since.
As of 2009, Kamelot has released eight studio albums, three live albums, one live DVD, six music videos and a reissue of Ghost Opera.
They are currently working on a new studio album, schedueled for release in late summer 2010.
Vandenberg
n 1981 van den Berg worked with vocalist Jos Veldhuizen, bassist Griff "Studly" McGrath, and drummer Bico De Gooijer in a band called Teaser. He auditioned for Thin Lizzy, without success.
With a new line-up (Bert Heerink (vocals), van den Berg (guitar), Dick Kemper (bass), and Jos Zoomer on drums), Teaser recorded a demo that fell into the hands of pop-journalist Kees Baars. Baars offered to manage the group, and contracted the band at Atlantic Records in the U.S.
Their debut album was recorded at the former Led Zeppelin's guitarist Jimmy Page's studio, Sol Studios, and in 1983 their first single "Burning Heart" reached #39 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts.
Vandenberg toured the U.S. as opening act for Ozzy Osbourne and KISS, and toured independently in Japan in 1984. "Different Worlds" from their second album also did fairly well in the charts, but did not equal the success of "Burning Heart".
The band's third album was recorded in the Netherlands, produced by Jaap Eggermont, manager of the Golden Earring. The album flopped, and not long after the band parted ways with lead singer Heerink. Demos with new lead singer Peter Struyk were not well received by Atlantic.
Around that time, van den Berg (who often uses an Anglicized version of his Dutch name: Adrian Vandenberg) played as a guest soloist on a Whitesnake album, and in 1987 Whitesnake vocalist David Coverdale asked him to join the band permanently. With the band Vandenberg amounting to nothing, the guitarist accepted the invitation.
The other members also started or joined other projects: Zoomer and Struyk joined Avalon, and Kemper started a new band, No Exqze. Bert Heerink joined Picture for their Marathon album.
In 2004 there was a reunion session of Vandenberg, and they released a double CD The Definitive Vandenberg, a compilation of the band's best songs and featuring a newly-recorded version of "Burning Heart". In January, 2005 the band released a DVD with footage of a 1984 Tokyo concert.
The Cure
The Cure is an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976.
The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member.
The Cure first began releasing music in the late 1970s with their debut album Three Imaginary Boys (1979); this, along with several early singles, placed the band as part of the post-punk and New Wave movements that had sprung up in the wake of the punk rock revolution in the United Kingdom.
During the early 1980s, the band's increasingly dark and tormented music helped form the gothic rock genre.
After the release of Pornography (1982), the band's future was uncertain and Smith was keen to move past the gloomy reputation his band had acquired. With the 1982 single "Let's Go to Bed" Smith began to inject more of a pop sensibility into the band's music.
The Cure's popularity increased as the decade wore on, especially in the United States where the songs "Just Like Heaven", "Lovesong" and "Friday I'm in Love" entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart. By the start of the 1990s, The Cure were one of the most popular alternative rock bands in the world.
The band is estimated to have sold 27 million albums as of 2004.
The Cure has released thirteen studio albums and over thirty singles during the course of their career.
Marillion
Marillion a British rock group, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England in 1979.
Their recorded studio output comprises sixteen albums (2009's 'Less is More' is primarily reinterpretations of existing tracks) and is generally regarded as comprising two distinct eras, delineated by the departure of original vocalist & frontman Fish in late 1988 after their first four albums, and the subsequent arrival of replacement Steve Hogarth ("h") in early 1989.
Marillion has thus far released twelve albums with Hogarth.
Dream Theater
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts, before they dropped out to support the band.
Though a number of lineup changes followed, the three original members remain today along with James LaBrie and Jordan Rudess.
Dream Theater has become a successful progressive metal band. Although the band has had one successful hit ("Pull Me Under" in 1992, which received extensive MTV rotation), they have remained relatively low in mainstream music sales.
The band is well known for the technical proficiency of its instrumentalists, who have won many awards from music instruction magazines.
Dream Theater's members have collaborated with many other notable musicians. Guitarist John Petrucci has been named as the third player on the G3 tour six times, more than any other invited guitarist, following in the footsteps of Eric Johnson and Robert Fripp.
Drummer Mike Portnoy has won 23 awards from Modern Drummer Magazine and is also the second youngest person (at the age of 37) to be inducted into the Rock Drummer Hall of Fame.
The band's highest selling album is the gold selling Images and Words (1992), which reached #61 on the Billboard 200 charts.
Both the 1994 release Awake and their 2002 release Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence also entered the charts at #32 and #46 respectively and received mostly positive reviews. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence also led to Dream Theater becoming the initial band reviewed in the Music Section of Entertainment Weekly during its opening week of release, despite the magazine generally preferring more mainstream music.
In 2007, Systematic Chaos entered US Billboard 200 at #19.
Dream Theater has sold over 2.1 million albums in the U.S., and over 8 million records worldwide.
The band's tenth studio album, Black Clouds & Silver Linings, was released on June 23, 2009. It entered the US Billboard 200 at #6 and Eurochart Hot 100 at #1, marking their highest entry on either chart.
Rainbow
Rainbow was an English rock band formed by former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore in 1975.
In addition to Blackmore, the band originally consisted of former Elf members; lead singer Ronnie James Dio (later to join Black Sabbath), keyboardist Mickey Lee Soule, bassist Craig Gruber, and drummer Gary Driscoll.
Over the years Rainbow went through many lineup changes.
Rainbow were ranked #90 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.
Ronnie James Dio
Ronnie James Dio (July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010) was an American heavy metal vocalist and songwriter of Italian descent.
He performed with, amongst others, Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, and his own band Dio. Other musical projects include the collective fundraiser Hear 'n Aid.
He was widely hailed as one of the most powerful singers in heavy metal, renowned for his consistently powerful voice and for popularizing the "devil horns" hand gesture in metal culture. Prior to his death, he was collaborating on a project with former Black Sabbath bandmates Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Vinny Appice, under the moniker Heaven & Hell, whose first studio album, The Devil You Know, was released on April 28, 2009.
Dio died of stomach cancer on May 16, 2010. One of the last songs he had a chance to record was titled "Metal Will Never Die".
Judas Priest
Judas Priest is a Grammy Award winning English heavy metal band from Birmingham, formed in 1969.
Judas Priest's core line-up consists of vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing, and bassist Ian Hill. The band has gone through several drummers over the years, though Scott Travis has held the position since 1989.
They have been cited as an influence on many heavy metal musicians and bands. Their popularity and status as one of the definitive heavy metal bands has earned them the nickname "Metal Gods" from their song of the same name.
They have sold over 35 million albums worldwide.
Status Quo
Status Quo, also known as The Quo or just Quo, is an English rock band whose music is characterized by their distinctive brand of boogie rock.
The group's origins were in "The Spectres" founded by schoolboys Francis Rossi and Alan Lancaster in 1962. After a number of lineup changes, the band became "The Status Quo" in late 1967, finally settling on the name "Status Quo" in 1970.
They have recorded over 60 chart hits in the UK, more than any other rock group in history. 22 of these have reached the UK Top Ten.
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter.
He is often considered to be the greatest electric guitarist in the history of rock music by other musicians and commentators in the industry, and one of the most important and influential musicians of his era across a range of genres. After initial success in Europe, he achieved fame in the United States following his 1967 performance at the Monterey Pop Festival.
Later, Hendrix headlined the iconic 1969 Woodstock Festival and the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. Hendrix often favored raw overdriven amplifiers with high gain and treble and helped develop the previously undesirable technique of guitar amplifier feedback.
Hendrix was one of the musicians who popularized the wah-wah pedal in mainstream rock which he often used to deliver an exaggerated pitch in his solos, particularly with high bends and use of legato. He was influenced by blues artists such as B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Albert King, and Elmore ames, rhythm and blues and soul guitarists Curtis Mayfield, Steve Cropper, as well as by funk and some modern jazz.
In 1966, Hendrix, who played and recorded with Little Richard's band from 1964 to 1965, said, "I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice."
As a record producer, Hendrix also broke new ground in using the recording studio as an extension of his musical ideas. He was one of the first to experiment with stereophonic and phasing effects for rock recording.
Hendrix won many of the most prestigious rock music awards in his lifetime, and has been posthumously awarded many more, including being inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005.
An English Heritage blue plaque was erected in his name on his former residence at Brook Street, London, in September 1997. A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (at 6627 Hollywood Blvd.) was dedicated in 1994. In 2006, his debut US album, Are You Experienced, was inducted into the United States National Recording Registry, and Rolling Stone named Hendrix the top guitarist on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all-time in 2003.
He was also the first person inducted into the Native American Music Hall of Fame.
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden is an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975.
The band is directed by founder, bassist and songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the group has released a collective total of thirty albums: fourteen studio albums; seven live albums; four EPs; and five compilations.
Pioneers of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Iron Maiden's original sound achieved success during the early 1980s and, after several lineup changes, the band went on to release a series of platinum and gold albums.
These include the US platinum-selling landmarks The Number of the Beast in 1982, Piece of Mind in 1983, Powerslave in 1984, the acclaimed live album Live After Death in 1985, Somewhere in Time in 1986, and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son in 1988. Their second most recent studio effort, A Matter of Life and Death, was released in 2006 and peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 and at number 4 in the UK and is also one of the few rock albums to be certified platinum in India.
Their newest album, The Final Frontier, will be released on August 16, 2010.
As one of the most successful heavy metal bands in history, Iron Maiden has sold over 75 million records under EMI and a total of over 100 million records worldwide. The band won the Ivor Novello Award for international achievement in 2002, and was also inducted into the Hollywood RockWalk in Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California during their United States tour in 2005. As of October 2009, the band has played just over 2000 live shows during their career. For the past 30 years, the band has been supported by their famous mascot, "Eddie the Head", who has appeared on almost all of their album and single covers, as well their live shows.
W.A.S.P.
W.A.S.P. is an American heavy metal band formed in 1982.
They emerged from the same Los Angeles scene that spawned Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Quiet Riot and others. The band's popularity peaked in the 1980s, yet they continue to record and tour, making them one of the most enduring of the West Coast heavy metal bands.
W.A.S.P. gained notoriety for their shock rock themed image, lyrics and live performances. They have sold over 12 million albums.
The band was a prominent target in the mid-1980s of the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) led by Tipper Gore, wife of then-Senator Al Gore (D-TN), an organization that pushed for warning labels on recorded music. The band immortalized its fight with the PMRC on the song "Harder, Faster" from their 1987 live album, Live...In the Raw.
In October 2007, W.A.S.P. embarked on The Crimson Idol Tour, to celebrate that album's 15th anniversary. It is the first time that the album, often regarded to be among the band's finest work, was to be played in full from start to finish.
The tour kicked off in Greece, in Thessaloniki at the Principal Club Theater on October 26, 2007. It was also announced that this tour would be W.A.S.P.'s last tour for some time. However, the band already confirmed some European festival appearances for summer 2009.
Blackie Lawless remains the only member from the original line-up. They released their most recent album in October 2009, entitled Babylon.
Def Leppard
Def Leppard is a hard rock and heavy metal band from Sheffield, England, which formed in 1977 as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement.
The band consists of Joe Elliott (vocals), Phil Collen (lead guitar), Vivian Campbell (rhythm guitar), Rick Savage (bass guitar), and Rick Allen (drums).
The band has sold over 65 million albums worldwide, and have two albums with RIAA diamond certification, Pyromania and Hysteria.
The Scorpions
Scorpions is a German heavy metal/hard rock band from Hannover, Germany, known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and their singles "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel, "Still Loving You", and "Wind of Change".
The band has sold over 100 million albums worldwide, and they were ranked #46 on VH1's Greatest Artists of Hard Rock program. "Rock You Like a Hurricane" is also #18 on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs.
After 45 years of performing, the band continues to tour and record music.
On January 24, 2010, the band announced that they will be retiring after touring in support of their new album Sting in the Tail.
Electric Light Orchestra
Electric Light Orchestra, commonly abbreviated ELO, was a symphonic rock group from Birmingham, United Kingdom, who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001.
ELO was formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones.
After Wood's departure following the band's debut record, Lynne wrote and arranged all of the group's original compositions and produced every album.
Despite early singles success in the UK the band were initially more successful in the United States, billed as 'The English guys with the big fiddles'.
They soon gained a cult following despite lukewarm reviews back in their native United Kingdom. They were managed by agent Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourne.
By the mid-1970s, they had become one of the biggest selling bands in music.
From 1972 to 1986, ELO accumulated 27 Top 40 hit singles in both the UK and the US. The group also scored 20 Top 20 U.K. hit singles, as well as 19 Top 20 hit singles in the U.S. Billboard charts.
The band also holds the record for having the most Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 hits of any band in US chart history without ever having a #1 single.
ELO collected 21 RIAA awards, 38 BPI awards, and sold well over 50 million records worldwide, not including singles.
REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon is an American rock band from Champaign, Illinois, United States.
Formed in 1967, the band grew in popularity during the 1970s and peaked in the early 1980s. Some of their more well-known songs are the 70's rock staples Ridin' the Storm, Out and Roll with the Changes, as well as 80's power-ballads Keep On Loving You and Can't Fight This Feeling.
Their 1980 album Hi Infidelity is the group's most commercially successful album, selling over 10 million copies and charting four Top 40 hits in the US.
Over the course of its career, the band has sold more than 40 million records and has charted 13 Top 40 hits. REO Speedwagon's popularity has declined over the years but the band still tours regularly and remains popular on the fair and casino circuits and teams up with other acts to play larger venues.
Journey
Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco, California, with former members of Santana.
The band has gone through several phases, but its strongest commercial success came in the late 1970s to the early 1980s. During this period, they had hits with a series of power ballads and rock songs, including "Don't Stop Believin'", "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)", "Faithfully", "Any Way You Want It", "Open Arms", "Send Her My Love", "Wheel in the Sky", "Who's Crying Now", "Stone In Love", "Lovin,' Touchin,' Squeezin;'", and "Lights".
The group enjoyed a successful reunion in the mid-1990s with a major Grammy-nominated hit, "When You Love a Woman." Sales have resulted in two gold albums, eight multi-platinum albums, and one Diamond album (including seven consecutive multi-platinum albums between 1978 and 1987).
They had 19 Top 40 singles, six of which reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Their signature song, "Don't Stop Believin'", is the top-selling catalog track in iTunes history, at more than three million downloads.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Journey has sold 47 million albums in the United States, making them the 28th best selling band. Their worldwide sales have reached over 75 million albums.
A USA Today opinion poll in 2005 asked respondents to weigh in on who they thought was the best American rock band in history; Journey came in fifth place.[6][7]
Journey has been eligible for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame since 2000, but Gregg Rolie is the only current or former member of Journey who has been inducted — as a member of parent band Santana.
Steve Perry, the band's best-known lead vocalist, has been eligible for induction as a solo artist since 2009.
Cinderella
Cinderella is an American heavy metal band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
They emerged in the mid-1980s with a series of multi-platinum albums and hit singles whose music videos received heavy MTV rotation. They were famous for being a glam metal band, but then shifted over towards a more hard rock/blues-rock sound.
By the mid-1990s, the band's popularity declined severely due to personal setbacks and public changes in musical tastes.
Nonetheless, after a period of hiatus the band reunited and is still active at present.
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1965.
A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success.
The band performed at all three of the most famous American rock festivals of the 1960s — Monterey (1967), Woodstock (1969) and Altamont (1969), as well as headlining the first Isle of Wight festival.
Their recordings were internationally successful, and they scored two US Top 10 hit singles and a string of Top 20 albums. Their 1967 record Surrealistic Pillow is regarded as one of the key recordings of the so-called Summer of Love and brought the group international recognition (as well as two chart hits: "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit" both of which are listed in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time").
Successor bands to Jefferson Airplane include Jefferson Starship, and Starship; spinoffs include Hot Tuna and KBC Band.
Jefferson Airplane was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
Boston
Boston is an American rock band from Boston, Massachusetts that achieved its most notable successes during the 1970s and 1980s.
Centered on guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, and producer Tom Scholz, the band is a staple of classic rock radio playlists. Boston's best-known works include the songs "More Than a Feeling", "Peace of Mind", "Foreplay/Long Time", "Rock and Roll Band", "Smokin'", "Don't Look Back" and "Amanda".
They have sold over 31 million albums in the United States, of which 17 million are their self-titled album and 7 million are their second album, Don't Look Back.
The Smiths
The Smiths was an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982.
Based on the songwriting partnership of Morrissey (vocals) and Johnny Marr (guitar), the band also included Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (drums). Critics have called them the most important alternative rock band to emerge from the British independent music scene of the 1980s.
The group were signed to the independent record label Rough Trade Records, for whom they released four studio albums and several compilations, as well as numerous non-LP singles. Although they had limited commercial success outside the UK while they were still together, and never released a single that charted higher than number 10 in their home country,
The Smiths won a growing following, and remain cult and commercial favourites.
The band broke up in 1987 amid disagreements between Morrissey and Marr and have turned down several offers to reform since then.
Boston is an American rock band from Boston, Massachusetts that achieved its most notable successes during the 1970s and 1980s.
Centered on guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, and producer Tom Scholz, the band is a staple of classic rock radio playlists. Boston's best-known works include the songs "More Than a Feeling", "Peace of Mind", "Foreplay/Long Time", "Rock and Roll Band", "Smokin'", "Don't Look Back" and "Amanda".
They have sold over 31 million albums in the United States, of which 17 million are their self-titled album and 7 million are their second album, Don't Look Back.
The Smiths
The Smiths was an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982.
Based on the songwriting partnership of Morrissey (vocals) and Johnny Marr (guitar), the band also included Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (drums). Critics have called them the most important alternative rock band to emerge from the British independent music scene of the 1980s.
The group were signed to the independent record label Rough Trade Records, for whom they released four studio albums and several compilations, as well as numerous non-LP singles. Although they had limited commercial success outside the UK while they were still together, and never released a single that charted higher than number 10 in their home country,
The Smiths won a growing following, and remain cult and commercial favourites.
The band broke up in 1987 amid disagreements between Morrissey and Marr and have turned down several offers to reform since then.
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English alternative rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985.
The band consists of Thom Yorke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, beats), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboard, other instruments), Ed O'Brien (guitar, backing vocals), Colin Greenwood (bass guitar, synthesizers) and Phil Selway (drums, percussion).
Radiohead released their first single, "Creep", in 1992. The song was initially unsuccessful, but it became a worldwide hit several months after the release of their debut album, Pablo Honey (1993).
Radiohead's popularity rose in the United Kingdom with the release of their second album, The Bends (1995). Radiohead's third album, OK Computer (1997), propelled them to greater international fame. Featuring an expansive sound and themes of modern alienation, OK Computer has often been acclaimed as a landmark record of the 1990s.
Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001) marked an evolution in Radiohead's musical style, as the group incorporated experimental electronic music, Krautrock, post-punk and jazz influences.
Hail to the Thief (2003), a mix of guitar-driven rock, electronics and lyrics inspired by war, was the band's final album for their major record label, EMI. The band's first six albums, released via EMI, had sold more than twenty-five million copies by 2007.
Radiohead independently released their seventh album, In Rainbows (2007), originally as a digital download for which customers could set their own price, and later in physical form to critical and chart success.
Radiohead's work has appeared in a large number of listener polls and critics' lists.
For example, in 2005 Radiohead were ranked number 73 in Rolling Stone's list of "the greatest artists of all time".
While the band's earlier albums were particularly influential on British rock and pop music, their later albums brought them a wide audience.
Yes
Yes is an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968, generally regarded as one of the archetypal bands of the genre.
Despite many lineup changes, occasional splits within the group and the ever-changing trends in popular music, the band has continued on for over forty years and still retains a large following.
The band's music blends symphonic and other 'classical' structures with their own brand of rock music, which is marked by sharp dynamic contrasts, long songs, abstract lyrics, and an integrated showcasing of instrumental prowess.
Although the band's sole consistent member has been bass player Chris Squire (noted for his highly melodic and discursive playing as well as his early use of electronic effects), Yes is also generally noted for the distinctive high-register vocals of lead singer Jon Anderson and the eclectic musical stylings of a succession of guitarists (Peter Banks, Steve Howe, Trevor Rabin, Billy Sherwood), keyboard players (Tony Kaye, Rick Wakeman, Patrick Moraz, Geoff Downes, Igor Khoroshev) and drummers (Bill Bruford and Alan White). Several band members became celebrated musicians and/or bandleaders in their own right, and a 1980 lineup of the band was briefly fronted by future production star Trevor Horn. They have sold over 30 million records in over 40 years of activity.
Long-term band members Squire, Howe and White have most recently been touring (on the In The Present Tour from late 2008 to early 2010) with a Yes lineup featuring vocalist Benoît David and keyboardist Oliver Wakeman.
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman; May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and musician.
He has been a major figure in popular music for five decades.
Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was at first an informal chronicler, and later an apparently reluctant figurehead of social unrest. A number of his songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" became anthems for the civil rights and anti-war movements. His early lyrics incorporated a variety of political, social and philosophical, as well as literary influences. They defied existing pop music conventions and appealed hugely to the then burgeoning counterculture.
Dylan has both amplified and personalized musical genres, exploring numerous distinct traditions in American song—from folk, blues and country to gospel, rock and roll, and rockabilly, to English, Scottish, and Irish folk music, embracing even jazz and swing.
Dylan performs with guitar, keyboard, and harmonica. Backed by a changing line-up of musicians, he has toured steadily since the late 1980s on what has been dubbed the Never Ending Tour.
His accomplishments as a recording artist and performer have been central to his career, but his greatest contribution is generally considered to be his songwriting.
He has received numerous awards over the years including Grammy, Golden Globe, and Academy Awards; he has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In 2008 a Bob Dylan Pathway was opened in the singer's honor in his birthplace of Duluth, Minnesota.
The Pulitzer Prize jury in 2008 awarded him a special citation for what they called his profound impact on popular music and American culture, "marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power."
The Animals
The Animals was an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London.
Known for their gritty, bluesy sound and deep-voiced frontman Eric Burdon – as exemplified by their number one signature song "The House of the Rising Sun" as well as by hits such as "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" and "It's My Life" – the band balanced tough, rock-edged pop singles against rhythm and blues-oriented album material.
They became known in the United States as part of the British Invasion.
The Animals underwent numerous personnel changes in the mid-1960s and suffered from poor business management. Under the name Eric Burdon and the Animals, they moved to California and achieved commercial success as a psychedelic rock band, before disbanding at the end of the decade.
Altogether, the group had ten Top Twenty hits in both the UK and US.
The original lineup had a brief comeback in 1977 and 1983. There have been several partial regroupings of the original era members since then under various names.
Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull is a British rock group formed in 1967.
Their music is characterized by the lyrics, vocals and flute work of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and guitarist Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.
Initially playing blues rock with an experimental flavour, they have also incorporated elements of classical music, folk music, jazz and art rock into their music.
The band has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide in a career that has spanned five decades.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival (often abbreviated CCR) was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums.
The group consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty, his brother and rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty, bassist Stu Cook, and drummer Doug Clifford. Their musical style encompassed rock and roll and swamp rock genres.
Despite their San Francisco Bay Area origins, they are sometimes also cited as southern rock stylists.
CCR's music is still a staple of American and worldwide radio airplay and often figures in various media. The band has sold 26 million albums in the United States alone.
CCR was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
Cosby, Stills, Nash And Young
Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) are a folk rock supergroup made up of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, also known as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY) when joined by occasional fourth member Neil Young.
They are noted for their intricate vocal harmonies, often tumultuous interpersonal relationships, political activism, and lasting influence on music and culture.
All four members of CSNY have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, though Young's multiple inductions were for work not involving the group.
Emerson, Lake and Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer (sometimes abbreviated as ELP) were an English rock supergroup.
In the 1970s, the band was extremely popular, selling over 40 million albums and headlining huge concerts. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (guitar, bass guitar, vocals) and Carl Palmer (drums, percussion).
The Cult
The Cult is an English rock band, formed in 1983.
They gained a dedicated following in Britain in the mid 1980s as a post-punk and gothic rock band with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love Removal Machine".
The band fuses a "heavy metal revivalist" sound with the "pseudo-mysticism ... of The Doors and the guitar-orchestrations of Led Zeppelin while adding touches of post-punk goth rock". Since their earliest form in Bradford during 1981, the band has had various line-ups, and the longest serving members are vocalist Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, the band's two songwriters.
After moving to London, the band released the album Love in 1985, which charted at #4 in the United Kingdom, and which included singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary" and "Rain".
In the late 1980s, the band dropped their post-punk sound in favour of hard rock with their third album, Electric, and their fourth album, Sonic Temple, which enabled them to break into the North American market. By the early 1990s, the band was fraying behind the scenes, due to alcohol abuse and off-stage tensions, leading to a split-up in 1995.
The band reunited in 1999 and recorded the album Beyond Good and Evil, and they reissued all of their albums in Asia and Eastern Europe in 2003 and Japan in 2004. In 2006, the band reformed again to perform a series of worldwide tours. In October 2007, the band released the album Born into This, on the Roadrunner Records label.
According to a July 2009 interview with Astbury, The Cult may never release any more studio albums.