The Beatles were an English Rock band Originally formed in Liverpool by John Lennon in 1956. However their original name was the “quarrymen” as he created the band with some of his friends who he met while attending the Quarry Bank high school. The lineup of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Star did not come about until 1960. Although they may not have invented rock music they were great innovators of the genre. While only being together for ten years they were able to make 13 Studio albums in total. They were considered rock and or pop music but there was something more there. Not afraid to experiment with other types of music and be creative, some of their songs can be hard to categorize even today. This is one of the many reasons that they are considered one of the greatest and most inspirational bands of all time.
The next band on our list is The Grateful Dead who were formed in 1965 in the San Francisco bay Area during the rise of counterculture in that time period. The Original Lineup of the group was Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Ron McKernan, Phil Lesh, and Bill Kreutzmann but throughout their long history they had many changes in band members. Combining a mix of Jazz, Blues, Rock, and many others styles they created an eclectic type of music many could relate to. This led to a fanbase that is still considered one of the most hardcore and dedicated out of any band of all time. Through many rough patches and configurations of band members they are still playing today and have many dedicated fans who are still excited to see them.
The Talking Heads were a band that really created a blueprint for many bands considered in the New Wave genre in the late 70’s and early 80’s to follow. They were formed in 1975 in New York and their lineup Consisted of Dadid Byrne, Chris Franz, Tina Weymouth, and Jerry harrison. All being former art students who were still in school while they met and formed the band you can see why their music is so creative. They got their big break playing at the legendary club in New York CBGB with the likes of The Ramones, The Police, and Blondie .This band did a great job combining pop and rock music while also using new sounds created during that time like synthesizers and drum machines to get a different kind of sound. You can’t deny how much you can hear similar ideas in music coming out during that time no matter what genre and have given others bands confidence to take risks while making their records.
Nirvana was a band who was formed in 1987 By high school friends Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic. Dave Grohl who became very popular in his own right later for his work in the Foo Fighters wasn’t actually the first drummer as there were many before him who didn’t make the cut so to speak. Before the craze of grunge in the early nineties the music that was getting the most airplay was Hair metal and Glam metal. Similar to the punk revolution of the seventies Nirvana was one of the bands that changed the tide of music during that time. They were one of the first bands who were considered to be grunge and with their record Nevermind released in 1991 they were able to, despite what music was popular in that time, sell around 300,000 copies a week at one point. This let other bands who were punk adjacent to somehow also get into the mainstream. Although their music was very heavy in both the tone and subject matter it was also very catchy. Combining some pop elements into their punk inspired sound for the lifetime of Nirvana they were always considered one of if not the most name recognizable bands in the world at that time and still today.
Radiohead is a band that some may be a bit confused about being on this list but their contributions to and inspiration for many modern bands is undeniable. Formed in 1985 in Abingdon England comprising of members Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O’Brien, and Philip Selway they didn’t see massive success until releasing their single “Creep” in 1993. The song has been played in countless movies and many other forms of media and is such a recognizable song even to people who may not know the actual name of it. But they have a lot more to offer and continue to offer than that song. They have become somewhat of a cult band and have many diehard fans who continue to listen to the music they are still releasing today. They combine a lot of electronic elements and sophisticated arrangements into their music which make it somewhat hard to categorize. This is probably one of the biggest reasons they are so admired by their fans because they make the music they want to make and don’t really care about the labels put on it.