Pop Rock Music Guide: A Brief History of Pop Rock

Pop rock music is the intersection of mainstream pop music with rock music, which is often driven by guitars and drums. The term "pop" can refer to all sorts of popular music, including hip-hop, country, R&B, bubblegum pop, jangle pop, folk, singer-songwriter, K-Pop, and kids music. Yet the specific pop rock music genre stems from the traditions started by rock 'n' roll pioneers like Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and the Beatles.

Likewise, rock music has spawned many subgenres—including hard rock, heavy metal, alternative rock, indie rock, country rock, folk rock, modern rock, emo, punk rock, new wave, soft rock, and fusion genres. The pop rock category represents some of the genre's most commercially successful offerings.

Early rock ‘n’ roll music grew quickly in popularity, which makes pop rock music as old as rock itself.

• 1950s origins: Early pop music derived from show tunes, gospel, and folk music. This changed with the advent of rock ‘n’ roll. While music historians often trace rock music to the late 1940s, the genre took off rapidly in the 1950s. Almost immediately, artists like Little Richard, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Buddy Holly gained traction on commercial radio, which made rock music a form of pop music.
• The classic rock era: Perhaps no era showed a greater merger of pop music and rock music than the 1960s and 1970s. Rock 'n' roll artists like the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Rolling Stones dominated popular music charts, much in the same way hip-hop, R&B, and mainstream country artists do today. Rock albums like the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Van Morrison's Moondance, and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon were bestsellers, but they also helped define the art movement of an entire era. Mainstream labels like Motown Records retained rock instrumentation, which made acts like Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder both R&B acts and pop rock acts.
• Competition with other styles: As the 1970s gave way to the 1980s, rock music had competition in the pop world. First disco, then hip-hop and electronic music surged in popularity, pushing rock songs down from their pedestal at the top of the charts. Classic rockers like Paul McCartney and Joni Mitchell endured but without the broad, mainstream appeal they had enjoyed in the 1960s. Meanwhile, new rock styles emerged like punk rock, new wave, and heavy metal—albeit without the same market dominance of their forebears. Some of the most successful pop rock music of the 1980s was synth pop, which groups like Depeche Mode and Tears for Fears pioneered. The jangle pop of the Bangles and R.E.M. also scored crossover success.
• A revival in the 1990s: Hip-hop, R&B, and mainstream country music continued to grow in the 1990s, but thanks to groups like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, new forms of pop rock music reached mainstream audiences. Pop punk—as exemplified by Green Day and the Offspring—also found ample attention from FM radio and MTV. Power pop groups like Gin Blossoms and Toad the Wet Sprocket combined gritty guitars with big pop hooks. Former indie pop rock groups like R.E.M. and 10,000 Maniacs enjoyed mainstream success despite competing with non-rock genres.
• Twenty-first-century shift away from pop rock: Rock music has waned in popularity in the twenty-first century. Although mainstream acts like Taylor Swift, Adele, and Lana del Rey use rock idioms in their work, they do not fully embrace rock 'n' roll to the degree of past chart-toppers like the Beatles and Nirvana. Nonetheless, pop rock audiences remain dedicated to both commercial bands (like Foo Fighters and Bruce Springsteen) and indie pop rockers (like Belle and Sebastian and Fleet Foxes).

In pop rock music, bands tend to share several aesthetic similarities.

1. 1. Focus on songwriting: While some rock styles like prog and heavy metal might emphasize instrumental virtuosity, pop rock artists focus heavily on song form and hooks.
2. 2. Concise song form: Most pop rock songs are short enough to receive airplay on FM radio and in pop-focused streaming playlists. The long, epic song forms of the 1970s do not translate to the pop rock style.
3. 3. High-quality lead vocals: Pop rock music almost always features sung melodies, often by highly accomplished singers. This stands in contrast to some indie rock and punk rock groups that do not emphasize virtuosic singing.
4. 4. Driven by guitars and drums: Electric guitar, electric bass, and a drum kit are the standard instruments in rock music. (Many bands also feature keyboards.) These instruments feature prominently in most pop rock songs.

Pop rock artists have existed for as long as rock music has existed. Their styles have varied over time in accordance with mainstream trends.

1. 1. Elvis Presley: In the 1950s, Elvis brought rock music to mainstream America, becoming one of the nation's biggest celebrities in the process.
2. 2. The Beatles: The Beatles, who came from Liverpool, England, were the first international act to dominate pop rock music.
3. 3. The Beach Boys: Many core elements of pop rock music—top-notch vocals, concise songs, endless hooks—were pioneered by the Beach Boys in the 1960s.
4. 4. Fleetwood Mac: The bandmates of Fleetwood Mac were soft-rock pioneers who built a career on mainstream pop hits penned by Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, and Lindsey Buckingham. Their songs also feature rock guitar played by Buckingham and band founder Peter Green.
5. 5. Bruce Springsteen: In 1975, Bruce Springsteen broke through with his third album, Born to Run, and has been one of the most successful pop rock musicians ever since.
6. 6. Cyndi Lauper: Along with Pat Benatar and Linda Ronstadt, Cyndi Lauper proved that female solo artists could thrive in the pop rock genre.
7. 7. R.E.M.: The Athens, Georgia, quartet R.E.M. was well known on the indie pop rock scene throughout the 1980s, but they became mainstream artists thanks to the 1991 mega-hit "Losing My Religion."
8. 8. Maroon 5: Although pop rock has waned in influence in the twenty-first century, some mainstream acts keep rock music as part of their sound. Maroon 5 exemplifies the trend.
9. 9. Billie Eilish: Billie Eilish has helped update the pop rock tradition for a new generation, combining rock idioms with synthesizers and drum machines.

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