British pop group, formed in Liverpool, NW England, UK in 1960. ‘Beatlemania’ spread around the world in 1964, buoyed by international hits such as ‘She Loves You’ and ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’.
Rock singer, born in Brixton, London, UK. His career blossomed throughout the 1970s as he adopted a range of extreme stage images to suit a variety of musical styles.
Rock guitarist and singer, born in Ripley, Surrey, SE England, UK. In the 1960s he was in British rhythm-and-blues bands The Yardbirds and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, then ‘supergroups’ Cream and Blind Faith.
Musician, born in McComb, Mississippi, USA. He became one of the earliest black stars of rock ’n’ roll, making many television appearances and touring widely through the mid-1960s.
US guitarist, songwriter, and leader of the group the Grateful Dead. Closely involved with the San Francisco hippie movement and the use of drugs such as LSD, the band first played ‘psychedelic’ rock but moved on to a more diverse repertory of rock styles in the 1970s.
Singer, musician, and songwriter, born in Liverpool, Merseyside, NW England, UK. He played lead guitar and sang with the Beatles, and developed an interest in Indian music and Eastern religion.
Rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter, born in Seattle, Washington, USA. After his 1965 discharge from the army, he explored electronic tricks on his guitar at ear-splitting amplitude, to which he added stage gimmicks, playing behind his back or with his teeth.
Singer, born in Dartford, Kent, SE England, UK. He attended the London School of Economics, but left to form his own rock group, The Rolling Stones, together with Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, and Brian Jones.
Pop star, composer, songwriter, and recording artist, born in Liverpool, Merseyside, NW England, UK. He was the Beatles rhythm guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist, and a partner in the Lennon–McCartney song-writing team.
Rock group, members Mick Jagger (1943–) vocals, Keith Richards (1943–) guitar, Bill Wyman (1941–) bass, Charlie Watts (1942–) drums, Ron Wood (1947–) guitar, former member Brian Jones (1944–69) guitar, one of the longest-running and most successful popular music groups to emerge in the 1960s.
Musician, born in Freehold, New Jersey, USA. Promoted as the new Bob Dylan, his highly-anticipated debut album was released in 1973, but not until his third album, Born to Run (1975), did he enjoy widespread commercial success.
Irish rock group formed in Dublin in 1977. U2 became one of the most popular and successful rock bands of the 1980s and 1990s, managing to sustain their fan base throughout two decades by clever reinvention.
Singer, guitarist, and composer of reggae music, born in St Ann’s, near Kingston, Jamaica. He made his first record at the age of 19, and in 1965 formed the vocal trio, The Wailers, with Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingstone.
Musician, born in Kingsland, Arkansas, USA. A singer, guitarist, and songwriter, he was born into a poor cotton-farming family and became one of the greatest stars of country music.
Composer and lyricist, born in Mount Olive West, Alabama, USA. Called the ‘hillbilly Shakespeare’, he wrote simple melodies mixing gospel, blues, and country, and his words and singing evoked a powerful sense of emotion.
Musician, born in Barnwell, South Carolina, USA. One of the most significant figures in black pop music, he began his singing career in Macon, GA with the Gospel Starlighters.
Singer, pianist, and composer, born in Albany, Georgia, USA. A major influence on popular black music during his early years, he influenced both white musicians and audiences.
Musician, born in Montgomery, Alabama, USA. By 1950 he had become the first black male to attain mainstream acceptance as a popular singer, and he released a continual series of hit records over the remainder of his career.
Popular singer and actor, born in Tacoma, Washington, USA. Became one of the earliest crooners who established a clear split between classical and popular singing.
Soul singer, born in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Although she began recording at age 18, it was at Atlantic Records (1966) that she worked with experienced rhythm-and-blues musicians and was encouraged to use her gospel roots.
Singer and film actress, born in Newark, New Jersey, USA. In 1988 she broke a US chart record with seven consecutive number 1 hits, overtaking the previous record of six achieved by The Beatles and The Bee Gees.
Popular singer and songwriter. He was a child star with his brothers in a popular Motown soul group, the Jackson Five, and had his first solo hits in the early 1970s. His second solo album, Thriller (1982), sold over 30 million copies and made him a superstar.
Trombonist and bandleader, born in Clarinda, Iowa, USA. He achieved a distinctive sound with a saxophone–clarinet combination, his many successes including ‘Moonlight Serenade’ (his theme song), ‘Little Brown Jug’, and ‘In the Mood’ (1939).
Country-pop singer and songwriter, born in Vernon, Texas, USA. Had a succession of smash hits including ‘Cryin’’ (1961), ‘Blue Bayou’, ‘In Dreams’ (both 1963), and ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’ (1964).
Popular singer and film actress, born in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Lead singer of the extremely successful trio, the Supremes, she went solo in 1969, recording the hits ‘Reach Out and Touch Somebody’s Hand’ and ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ in 1970.
Pop singer, born in London, UK. Her debut solo single ‘I Only Want To Be With You’ (1964) was a UK hit, and marked a move towards a Motown-influenced style; it was the first record to be played on BBC’s television show ‘Top Of The Pops’.
From Encyclopedia of American Studies Country music has roots in various strains of folk music, including African American blues and a wide range of traditional British music.
Genre of pop music, the 1980s offspring of soul music, funk, hip hop, and disco music. The term ‘dance’ has come to cover music made by and for disc jockeys (DJs) and played to club audiences on vinyl records as a component of live sets.
Any contemporary music not categorizable as jazz or classical. Pop music contains strong rhythms of African origin, simple harmonic structures often repeated to strophic melodies, and the use of electrically amplified instruments.
Punk rock emerged in the UK and the USA in the 1970s. The music was played mainly on the guitar, to accompany loud, often provocative lyrics dealing with emotive and political issues. Punk rock was seen as both shocking and inspiring, influencing much subsequent pop music.
Essentially hybrid in origin, rock music includes elements of several black and white American music styles: black guitar-accompanied blues; black rhythm and blues, noted for saxophone solos; black and white gospel music; white country and western music; and the songs of white popular crooners and harmony groups.
From Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World: Performance and Production A ‘tribute band’ is one that markets its live performances as reproducing the sound and repertoire of a single, very well-known group.
First staged in Switzerland in 1956, the event is now transmitted in over 40 countries. Eurovision is actually the name given to the Europe-wide TV distribution network run by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
Weekly American radio program featuring live country and western music. The nation's oldest continuous radio show, it was first broadcast in 1925 on Nashville's WSM as an amateur showcase.
From Contemporary Youth Culture: An International Encyclopedia Robert Pittman—the father of MTV—had the idea of asking popular music stars to produce short films constructed around their hit songs.
Transmission or reception of electromagnetic radiation in the radio frequency range. The term is commonly applied also to the equipment used, especially to the radio receiver.
