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Classic rock. There are usually few people who would deny that this genre has some of the best music ever, especially with legendary bands like The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and The Doors.

But one debate about classic rock still lingers on... and that is about the actual definition of classic rock. Some people say it's a style of sound. Some people say it's rock music that is older than 25 years old. Its often mentioned on this site, and people often ask my opinion. So I thought I would shed some more light on this long standing debate regarding the definition of classic rock.

To quote Wikipedia, here is their rather too detailed definition of classic rock:

Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the 1970s. The first station to broadcast the format full time, and the first station to use the term "classic rock" on the air was KRBE-AM (Houston) in 1983. Program director Paul Christy designed the format to play only early album rock, from the 1960s and early 1970s, without any current music or Top 40 material. In the United States, this rock music format now features a playlist of songs ranging from the 1960s and 1970s. The traditional classic rock genre usually ends in the early 1980s, with mid-80s additions from the hair metal genre only recently being considered "classic rock." Some stations continue to (wrongly?) include a limited number of current releases.

Unfortunately in my opinion this doesn't address a few key issues with this definition, which I have attempted to address with my very own definition of classic rock.


Here is my very own definition of classic rock which helps clarify things:

'Classic rock is a genre of music that combines a particular guitar-driven rock sound with a particular era of time. The classic rock era began in early 1960's with rock n' roll based bands like The Beatles and Rolling Stones, diversifying into bands like Led Zeppelin and The Doors.

The classic rock era ended in the early 80s, with the rise of modern pop music. It should not be confused with other rock genres like glam rock (e.g. David Bowie), heavy metal (e.g. Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica) and hair metal (e.g. Poison and Motley Crue). Even though new bands sometimes mimic the classic rock sound (e.g. The Black Crowes), they are not considered a true classic rock band because they are in the wrong era (not early 60s to early 80s). However, classic rock bands from the original era who still produce new music outside of that classic rock era (like The Rolling Stones) are grandfathered in and are still defined as classic rock (as long as their style hasn't changed).

To help further define the term 'classic rock', here are some examples of bands and what they should be interpreted as:

Major bands that are definitely considered classic rock:

  • Led Zeppelin
  • The Beatles
  • Rolling Stones
  • The Doors
  • Jimi Hendrix
  • The Who
  • Pink Floyd
  • The Eagles
  • Rush
  • Aerosmith
  • Janis Joplin
  • The Allman Brothers
  • Eric Clapton (including Cream and Derek and the Dominoes)
  • Creedence Clearwater Revival
  • Yes
  • Peter Frampton
  • Love
  • Santana
  • Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
  • Steppenwolf
  • Queen
  • Black Sabbath
  • Lynard Skynyrd
  • Deep Purple

Bands some consider as classic rock (due to a varied sound/overlapping era):

  • Bob Dylan
  • Fleetwood Mac
  • The Police
  • Steely Dan
  • Journey
  • Grateful Dead
  • AC/DC
  • Van Halen (mostly heavy metal though)
  • Bruce Springsteen
  • David Bowie (mostly glam rock though)
  • Def Leppard
  • ELO
  • Iron Maiden (mostly heavy metal though)
  • Kiss
  • Styx
  • Crosy, Stills & Nash (and Neil Young)

Newer bands that are wrongly classified as classic rock:

  • Nirvana
  • Pearl Jam
  • Guns 'N Roses
  • U2

Bands from the 60's & 70s that definitely aren't classic rock (wrong sound):

  • The Beach Boys
  • Bob Marley
  • The Clash
  • James Brown
  • Stevie Wonder

Hopefully this article helps clear up some confusion regarding what classic rock is and this long standing debate. Feel free to comment below to debate, so we can fine tune this definition and discussion further.

Keep on rockin'!

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There is one band that hasn't been mentioned...Jefferson Airplane!..and Jefferson Starship too.

ABSOLUTELY RIGHT...at least for the Airplane...

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