What are the best rock groups in history?

The Beatles is one of the oldest and most acclaimed rock groups, but this band is accompanied by other great groups such as The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, U2, Pink Floyd, etc. Perhaps not all of them are your favourites, but they have broken international sales records, so they deserve a place on this list.

60’s rock bands

We cannot begin this list without mentioning the famous British band The Beatles, which, although it was only active in the 1960s, never disappointed its followers. His style was influenced by 1950s rock and roll, classical music, and skiffle. Even among his songs you can enjoy a bit of the hard rock of the time.

George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were the members of this group. Unfortunately, Lennon and Harrison have already left for the other world, so only McCartney (bass and vocals) and Starr (drums and vocals) are alive. In their time of fame they made several international tours and recorded several albums. They became a popular group thanks to their song “Love Me Do”.

The Beatles won 7 Grammy Awards and received a total of 15 Ivor Novello. Also, in 2004, the prominent Rolling Stone magazine placed this band at number one on its list of “The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.”

Another outstanding band was The Rolling Stones, of English origin. It was founded in 1962 and is still active in 2022. Its style had a mixture of rock and roll, blues rock, as well as pop and psychedelic rock. In addition to this, it was one of the most influential pop rock groups not only in the 60s, but also in the 70s and 80s.

Its current members are Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood. Also, some of his masterpieces were the albums Beggars Banquet (1968), Let It Bleed (1969).

And, of course, it was with their 1965 song “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” that they achieved international fame. Similarly, The Rolling Stones have released twenty-five studio albums. Even 32 songs of the group have been among the ten most popular in the United States and the United Kingdom.

70’s rock bands

Certainly, there are many groups of note, but Pink Floyd were one of the most iconic British rock bands of the 1970s. Among their most popular albums were The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) and Wish You Were Here (1975). In addition, in 1977 they stood out in the world of rock with the album “Animals”.

This band was founded in 1965 and was active until 1995. However, they met again in 2005 and 2014. In this last year they recorded the album “The Endless River”, which in Spanish means “The river without end”. In total, the band recorded 15 studio albums. All of them inspired by progressive and psychedelic rock, blues rock, symphonic rock, space rock, etc. Some songs even have touches of hard rock, art rock and experimental rock.

Another band that was very successful in the 1970s was The Who, with their albums “Live at Leeds” (1970), “Quadrophenia” (1973), “The Who By Numbers” (1975) and “Who Are You” (1978).

This British band had excellent reviews, for example, Time magazine wrote: “There is no other group that has taken rock this far”. Similarly, Rolling Stones magazine said: “With The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, The Who completes the holy trinity of British rock.”

On the other hand, the band Led Zeppelin also became very famous in the 1970s and, of course, in the 1980s. In 1971 the band released their album Led Zeppelin IV, also known as “Untitled”. It was so well received that it had more sales compared to the band’s other albums. Today it is in the 4th position regarding the best-selling albums in history, according to the RIAA. Many songs on this album became rock classics. For example, “Stairway to Heaven”, “Black Dog” and “Going to California”.

80’s rock bands

Guns N’ Rose was one of the most emblematic American rock groups of the 80’s. This group was founded in Hollywood, specifically, in the Sunset Strip area. Although the members of this group have changed several times in their career, it is still active today, with vocalist Axl Rose, drummer Duff MacKagan and guitarist Slash. These are the oldest members of the band, but they are also joined by Richard Fortus, Dizzy Reed, Frank Ferrer and Melissa Reese.

This is also one of the best groups in history, with more than 150 million records sold. In addition, he is part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. One of his most famous songs is “Sweet Child o’ Mine”.

Also, there are other bands that stood out in this decade, for example, Metallica, one of the best metal groups. Its current musicians are Lars Ulrich (drums), James Hetfield (vocals and guitar), Kirk Hammett (lead guitar), and Robert Trujillo (bass). The sales of their albums exceed 120 million, being one of the 4 best thrash metal bands, along with Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer.

Rock bands for all time

There are many groups that composed rock classics, that is, songs for all time. Among them are the bands mentioned above, plus U2, Radiohead, Nirvana, The Doors, The Police, Oasis, Queen and many more.

Likewise, REM, Deep Purpley and AC/DC cannot be missing from the list. The latter specialized in different types of rock such as heavy metal, rock and roll and hard rock.

Likewise, The Smiths is another of the best rock bands, thanks to their classic songs “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”, “William, It Was Really Nothing”, “Barbarism Begins at Home”, among others.

And, as it could not be missing, we mention some of the best Spanish rock groups. For example, Heroes of Silence, The Last of the Row, Radio Futura, Mecano, Los Brincos and La Oreja de Van Gogh. In addition, Maná continues to be one of the most prominent current rock groups in the Hispanic world, so it must also be mentioned.

If you want to listen to some of these bands, we recommend you buy the best mp3 player, so you can enjoy all the verses, guitar effects and drum beats more clearly.