List of rock and roll performers
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This is a list of rock and roll performers.
See also: Rock and roll, Popular music, List of popular music performers, Country music, List of country music performers and further links at the bottom of the sections.
Contents |
Predecessors and precursors (1900 - 1950)
- T-Bone Walker - blues guitarist; "Stormy Monday Blues", "T-Bone Shuffle"
- Ella Fitzgerald - jazz vocalist, known for scat singing; "A Tisket, A Tasket"
- Billie Holiday - jazz vocalist, "Strange Fruit"
- Les Paul - pioneer in the electric guitar
- Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five - innovative pre-rock and roll R&B music; "Saturday Night Fish Fry", "Caldonia"
- Memphis Minnie - blues guitarist
- Robert Johnson - legendary Delta blues guitarist; "Crossroad Blues"
- Stick McGhee & His Buddies - blues guitarist; "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee"
- The Treniers - swing and early rock and roll pioneers; "Rocking on Sunday Night"
- Sarah Vaughan - jazz vocalist; "Tenderly"
- See also: List of jazz musicians, List of blues musicians, List of ragtime musicians, List of boogie woogie musicians, List of swing/big band musicians, List of folk musicians, List of gospel musicians
Early North American rock and roll (1951 - 1963)
- The Beach Boys - surf-pop and early psychedelia band; Pet Sounds, "Good Vibrations"
- Bill Haley & His Comets - key contributor of the rockabilly revolution from R&B to rock and roll; "Rocket 88", "Rock Around the Clock"
- Bo Diddley - singer-songwriter, guitarist, "Bo Diddley", "I'm A Man", "Who Do You Love"
- Bobby Darin - teen idol; "Dream Lover", "Mack the Knife"
- Bobby Lewis - "Tossin' and Turnin'"
- Bruce & Terry - surf duo; "Hey Little Cobra"
- Buddy Holly - rock and roll musician; "Peggy Sue"
- Carl Perkins - rockabilly pioneer; "Blue Suede Shoes"
- The Chantays - surf band; "Pipeline"
- Chuck Berry - singer-songwriter, guitarist, "Maybellene"
- Dave "Baby" Cortez - "The Happy Organ"
- David Allan & the Arrows - soundtrack surf composer; "Blues Theme" from The Wild Angels
- Dick Dale - surf music pioneer; "Let's Go Trippin'"
- Dorsey Burnette - rockabilly singer; "Big Rock Candy Mountain"
- Johnny Burnette - rockabilly singer; "You're Sixteen"
- The Drifters - early rock and roll; "Money Honey"; "I Gotta Get Myself a Woman"
- Eddie Cochran - rockabilly guitar hero; "Summertime Blues"
- Elvis Presley - legendary popularizer of African American rock and roll; "Blue Moon of Kentucky", "Heartbreak Hotel", "Jailhouse Rock", "Are You Lonesome Tonight?"
- Fabian - teen idol; "Tiger"
- Fats Domino - popular New Orleans piano player; "The Fat Man", "Ain't That a Shame"
- Freddy Cannon, hard rock, nicknamed "Boom Boom"
- Gene Vincent - rockabilly musician; "Be-Bop-A-Lula"
- Ike Turner - influential rock and roll pioneer; "Rocket 88"
- Jackie DeShannon - pop-folk singer; "What the World Needs Now"
- Jackie Wilson - legendary soul singer; "Lonely Teardrops", "Baby Workout"
- Jan & Dean - surf and pop doo-wop duo; "Surf City", "Baby Talk"
- Jerry Lee Lewis - pianist, singer; "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On", "Great Balls of Fire"
- Johnny Burnette - rockabilly; "Train Kept A-Rollin'"
- Mr. Gasser & the Weirdos - surf music; Hot Rod Hootenanny
- Paul Anka - pop vocalist; "Lonely Boy", "Diana"
- Pat Boone - pop vocalist; "Tutti Frutti", "Ain't That a Shame"
- Ricky Nelson - an early television teen idol
- Ronnie Hawkins - rockabilly performer; "Forty Days", "Mary Lou"
- Ronny & the Daytonas - surf rock; "G.T.O."
- Roy Orbison - legendary soul and rock and roll singer; "Oh, Pretty Woman"
- Jack Scott - pop balladeer, "Burning Bridges"
- The Surfaris - surf band; "Wipeout"
- Tommy James & the Shondells - pop-rock; "Crimson and Clover", "Hanky Panky", "I Think We're Alone Now"
- Wilbert Harrison - "Kansas City"
- See also: List of doo wop musicians, List of R&B musicians, List of girl groups, List of surf rock musicians, List of soul musicians
The "British Invasion" (1962 - 1969)
- The Animals - British blues; Animalism
- The Beatles - psychedelic rock band; Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Abbey Road, The White Album
- The Jeff Beck Group pioneers in heavy blues; Truth and Beck Ola
- The Dave Clark Five - British blues; Coast to Coast
- Gerry & the Pacemakers - merseybeat; Ferry Cross the Mersey, Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying
- Herman's Hermits - pop merseybeat; "I'm Into Something Good"
- The Kinks (Village Green Preservation Society)
- Marianne Faithfull - blues-rock; "As Tears Go By"
- The Moody Blues - psychedelia and early progressive rock; Days of Future Passed, On the Threshold of a Dream
- Peter & Gordon - merseybeat; "A World Without Love"
- The Rolling Stones - long-running blues-rock band; Beggar's Banquet, Let It Bleed, Exile on Main Street
- The Small Faces - psychedelic mod band; Ogden's Nut Gone Flake, There Are But Four Small Faces
- Van Morrison & Them - folk-rock; Astral Weeks, Moondance
- The Who - mod and rock; Who's Next?, The Who Sings My Generation, The Who Sell Out
- The Yardbirds - psychedelic blues rock; Five Live Yardbirds, Roger the Engineer
- See also: List of British blues musicians
Psychedelia, progressive rock and early hard rock (1968 - 1974)
- 13th Floor Elevators - psychedelia
- Aerosmith - early heavy metal
- The Allman Brothers Band - early country rock, jam band
- Badfinger - power-pop
- The Band - folk and rock and roll fusion
- Big Brother & the Holding Company
- Black Sabbath - early heavy metal
- Blue Cheer - early heavy metal
- Blue Öyster Cult - early heavy metal
- Buffalo Springfield
- The Byrds - country rock and psychedelic rock
- Canned Heat
- Captain Beefheart - blues and psychedelia
- Cream - blues and psychedelia
- Creedence Clearwater Revival, country rock
- Crosby, Stills and Nash (and Young)
- David Bowie - glam rock
- Deep Purple
- The Doors - hard psychedelia, forerunner of heavy metal
- The Eagles - country rock
- The Electric Light Orchestra
- The Electric Prunes
- The Fabulous Thunderbirds
- The Facesunbelievable fun and hard
- The Flying Burrito Brothers - country rock
- Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention
- Genesis - progressive rock
- Gram Parsons - country rock
- The Grateful Dead - psychedelia
- Harry Nilsson
- Hot Tuna
- Humble Pie
- Iron Butterfly - psychedelia, early heavy metal
- Janis Joplin
- Japan
- Jefferson Airplane - psychedelia
- Jethro Tull
- Jimi Hendrix - psychedelia
- Kansas
- King Crimson - early heavy metal, progressive rock
- Kris Kristofferson
- Led Zeppelin - hard rock
- Love
- Lynyrd Skynyrd - Southern rock
- Moby Grape
- The Monkees
- Moving Sidewalks
- Nirvana
- The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
- Pink Floyd - progressive rock, pioneer of the concept album
- Roxy Music
- Sly & the Family Stone - psychedelic soul, instrumental in the development of funk music
- Steppenwolf
- Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel
- Rod Stewart - Gasoline Alley, Every Picture Tells a Story, Never a Dull Moment
- The Stooges - blues-rock and early punk music
- T. Rex - glam rock
- Terry Reid
- Traffic
- The Velvet Underground
- Yes - progressive rock
- See also: List of surf rock musicians, List of psychedelic musicians, List of R&B musicians, List of hard rock musicians, List of country rock musicians, List of progressive rock musicians, List of soul musicians
Punk, metal, and other trends (1975 - 1988)
- Lee Aaron
- AC/DC
- Aerosmith - heavy metal
- Alice Cooper
- Bad Brains
- Bad Religion
- The Bangles
- Blondie
- Bon Jovi
- Boomtown Rats
- Bryan Adams
- Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band
- Budgie
- Camper Van Beethoven
- Cheap Trick
- The Clash - punk music
- The Cult
- The Damned
- Danzig, heavy metal
- Dave Edmunds
- David Bowie - glam, early electronic music
- Dead Kennedys - punk music
- Dead Milkmen - punk/pop
- Depeche Mode - New Wave
- Donna Summer - disco
- Duran Duran - New Wave
- Elvis Costello
- Erasure - New Wave
- Eric Clapton
- The Cure - Goth music
- The Fall
- Graham Parker
- Guns n' Roses
- Hüsker Dü - alternative rock
- The Indigo Girls
- The Jam - punk rock
- Jimmy Page
- Joe Jackson
- John Paul Jones
- Kiss, heavy metal
- The Knack
- Meat Loaf
- Metallica, heavy metal
- Midnight Oil
- Minor Threat
- The Misfits
- The Modern Lovers
- Mötley Crüe
- New York Dolls
- Nick Lowe
- Ozzy Osbourne
- Patti Smith
- The Plasmatics
- Poison
- The Police
- Prism
- Queen
- The Ramones - punk music
- Rockpile
- The Romantics
- Red Hot Chili Peppers - funk, heavy metal, punk music
- REM
- Rick Springfield
- Rush
- The Sex Pistols - punk music
- The Slits
- The Scorpions
- Sonic Youth
- Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes
- Squeeze
- Stevie Ray Vaughan
- Steve Miller Band
- Talking Heads
- Television
- Thin Lizzy - heavy metal
- Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
- Tom Waits
- Triumph
- U2
- UFO
- Uriah Heep
- Van Halen
- Van der Graaf Generator
- The Violent Femmes
- Wishbone Ash
- Whitesnake - heavy metal
- X (US) - punk music
- X (Australia) - punk music
- XTC
- See also: List of forerunners of punk music, List of musicians in the first wave of punk music, List of musicians in the second wave of punk music, List of heavy metal musicians, List of progressive rock musicians, List of alternative rock musicians, List of folk musicians, List of funk musicians, List of soul musicians
Contemporary rock (1988 to the present)
- 10,000 Maniacs
- Alanis Morissette
- Alice In Chains
- Anthrax
- Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
- Blink 182
- The Bloodhound Gang
- Blues Traveler
- Blur
- bob hund
- The Breeders
- The D4
- Dave Matthews Band
- The Datsuns
- Echo & the Bunnymen
- Energy Orchard
- Evanescence
- Everon
- The Faint
- Faith Hill
- Fishbone
- Foo Fighters
- Fountains Of Wayne
- Franz Ferdinand
- Goldfinger - ska-punk
- Green Day
- Hazerfan
- Hole
- Hootie and the Blowfish
- Hot Hot Heat
- The Jesus and Mary Chain
- Joan Osborne
- Kid Rock - rap-rock
- Korn
- Less
- Limp Bizkit - nu metal
- Linkin Park - nu metal
- Living Colour
- Manic Street Preachers
- The Mighty, Mighty Bosstones - ska
- The Mooney Suzuki
- Morissey
- MxPx, punk
- Nirvana (grunge music)
- No Doubt - alternative rock with ska and new wave influences
- NOFX
- Oasis
- The Offspring
- Pearl Jam, grunge music
- Pennywise
- Phish
- Pixies - alternative rock
- PJ Harvey
- Placebo
- Primus
- Radiohead
- Rammstein
- Rusted Root
- Sarah McLachlan
- Sepultura
- The Shins
- Sinombre
- Sleater-Kinney
- The Smashing Pumpkins
- The Smiths
- Soundgarden - grunge music
- Skin Games
- Stereolab
- Stereophonics
- The Stone Roses
- Stone Temple Pilots
- The Strokes
- Sublime
- Superchunk
- System of a Down
- Suzanne Vega
- The Oblivians
- Offspring
- Third Eye Blind
- Tool
- Tori Amos
- The Vandals
- The Verve
- Weezer
- Wheel of Doom
- The White Stripes
- See also: List of heavy metal musicians, List of rappers, List of Britpop musicians, List of jam bands, List of alternative rock musicians, List of electronic musicians, List of musicians in the second wave of punk music