Some were released decades after they were first written
Music history is full of interesting phenomena, including many music genres that exploded into popularity, only to die out a few years later. While many of these music genres still exist, they are nowhere near the popularity levels they reached at their peak. Some of these were once mainstream, and now are (an important) part of music history.
In this gallery, we take you through a number of iconic moments in music history, and remember the rise and fall of some genres. Click on to learn more.
The music landscape was changing in the early 1970s, with a club scene emerging across several American cities. By the mid to late ‘70s, we had the likes of Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, Chic, Diana Ross, and many others dominating the charts.
The 1977 movie ‘Saturday Night Fever,’ with its iconic soundtrack by the Bee Gees, was a huge hit, which also contributed to the popularity of the genre, both in the US and across Europe.
By the end of the decade though, the genre lost its popularity. One event in particular marked the decline of the disco era. On July 12 1979, a MLB promotion known as Disco Demolition Night ended in a riot. White Sox fans would get a discount if they brought a disco record. Many did, and a crate filled with disco records was blown up. It was an event followed by a field invasion.
Hailing from Los Angeles in the ‘80s, some metal bands borrowed elements of glam rock and turned it into a scene. Armed with spandex, big guitar riffs, and even bigger hair, glam metal was born.
This subgenre of metal featured catchy choruses, loud guitars, and over-the-top aesthetics. While it can be said that bands such as Mötley Crüe were pioneers of the genre, it was the second wave of bands, such as Poison, Cinderella, and Warrant, that really took glam metal to the mainstream.
The genre, also known as hair metal, dominated MTV until the ‘90s, when the whole music scene changed after a few bands from Seattle emerged. There are still glam metal bands out there, and some like the satirical Steel Panther enjoyed some success. But the resurgence wasn't enough to bring the genre back to its glory days.
While hairspray sales were still going up in the late ‘80s, a bunch of kids were brewing an alternative rock subculture up in the Pacific Northwest. Bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains were about to change the musical landscape forever.
The quintessential rock music of the ‘90s was dubbed “grunge” for its unpolished, in-your-face approach, which combined elements of punk rock, metal, and rock. These new bands rejected the whole aesthetic of glam rock, and angsty kids related to them.
The death of Nirvana’s front man Kurt Cobain in 1994 marked the beginning of the end. Some bands still made it to the early 2000s, but the genre died out. The death of Alice in Chains’ Layne Staley in 2002 dictated the end of yet another iconic Seattle band. By the end of the decade, grunge was pretty much over.
While grunge was also huge in the UK, with bands such as Bush adopting a very similar sound, another scene emerged: we’re talking about Britpop.
The genre, dominated by bands such as Oasis, Blur, Suede, and Pulp, may have had “pop” in the name, but they surely rocked. These bands had big guitar songs with catchy choruses, and even an iconic feud to keep fans happy (Oasis vs. Blur). But by the end of the decade, Britpop was dead.
Melodic punk rock was nothing new. Bands such as the Ramones had been doing it for years, but in the mid ‘90s groups such as Green Day and The Offspring took it to a whole new level.
Then, lots of new bands appeared on the scene, each one poppier than the other. Blink-182, Sum 41, and our favorite sk8er girl, Avril Lavigne, had energy and catchy melodies. But it turns out kids grew tired of happy upbeat punk rock, which dictated the end of the genre in the 2000s.
Rap group N.W.A. were pioneers of the genre in the ‘80s, which was later made popular by many other hip-hop artists, including Snoop Dog, Tupac, Ice-T, and the Notorious B.I.G.
The aggressive sound and explicit lyrics of the genre reflected the violent reality these rappers were living in. Themes such as police brutality, racism, social oppression, and crime life were the first order of the day. But the genre died out in the late 2000s.
UK garage, or UKG, is a genre of electronic music hailing from the UK in the 1990s. It featured elements of jungle, R&B, and uptempo dance-pop. UKG subgenres speed garage and 2-step were also popular at the time. UKG went on to influence a wide range of urban music genres in the 2000s, including grime, dubstep, and UK funky. UK garage, strictly speaking, died out as a genre.
The late ‘90s witnessed yet another musical phenomenon. A new genre that mixed elements of metal, hip hop, alternative rock, and punk rock: nu metal had arrived.
Korn and Limp Bizkit were the flagship bands of the movement, but many more groups jumped on the bandwagon. Their guitars were heavy, often downtuned, and their lyrics were aggressive, angry, and emotional—it’s easy to see why it appealed to teens, right?
Woodstock ’99 is often mentioned as a defining moment that dictated the beginning of the end for nu metal. The event was a huge disaster, and many nu metal bands played the show, so they got stuck with the bad reputation. The genre died down in the mid-2000s.
Ska is one of the music genres to come out of Jamaica. Third wave ska is not quite like the sound they were making in the Caribbean in the 1950s though. This genre had large horn sections and a lot more (and heavier) guitars.
Bands like Sublime, Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and No Doubt (in their early years) dominated the genre and found commercial success in the 1990s. But the genre then died out in the early 2000s. Though some of these groups still managed to continue their successful careers.
New wave was born after the rise and fall of punk rock in the late ‘70s. Music artists started to experiment with electronic sounds and blending different elements of rock and pop. Other subgenres were born as part of new wave, including synth-pop.
Bands such as New Order, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Spandau Ballet, The Human League, and The Cars are some examples of the genre. New wave eventually mutated into other genres and eventually died out.
Some bands were going darker with their music after punk rock died out. But instead of the more pop-oriented synth sounds of new wave, these artists kept their music more aligned with the sound and the DIY ethos of punk.
Bands such as Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, Talking Heads, Devo, and The Cure are some examples. Like new wave, the genre evolved into the larger umbrella of alternative rock.
Emo has its roots in hardcore punk, more specifically in the lyrics about personal, emotional themes. Then in the 2000s, it became a genre of its own. Bands such as Jimmy Eat World, AFI, My Chemical Romance, and Fall Out Boy are a few examples of the genre.
Kids eventually overcame their angst and grew out of skinny jeans, black eyeliner, and black hair. The genre died out in the early 2010s.
A heavy, dark, syncopated half‑step rhythm bass and drum is what made dubstep so unique in the early 2010s. The sound, which originated in London, mixed elements of UK garage and borrowed sounds from dub, broken beat, and drum and bass, to name a few. It went on to influence the American Brostep scene, but the original dubstep eventually died out.
During the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, a new genre emerged in Bristol, England. Trip hop was characterized by slow tempo and mixed elements of hip hop, breakbeat, and electronica, among others. Music artists such as Massive Attack, Tricky, and Portishead were among the biggest acts back then. The genre died out at the end of the ‘90s.
Grime emerged in London in the early 2000s. This genre of electronic urban music combined elements of UK garage, 2-step, dancehall, and hip hop. By the middle of the decade, artists such as Lethal Bizzle, Wiley, Kano, and Dizzee Rascal were dominating the scene. By the late aughts, however, grime started to decline in popularity.
While not quite a genre as such and perhaps more of a trend, most boy bands made the same kind of music. There are three main boy band waves: in the 1960s, the 1990s, and early 2000s. Sure, we had/have quite big ones such as One Direction or BTS, but there aren’t as many bands as there were during the aforementioned waves.
See also: The best boy bands of all time
Do you remember these music genres that died out?
Disco, grunge, and nu metal are just a few examples
MUSIC Music history
Music history is full of interesting phenomena, including many music genres that exploded into popularity, only to die out a few years later. While many of these music genres still exist, they are nowhere near the popularity levels they reached at their peak. Some of these were once mainstream, and now are (an important) part of music history.
In this gallery, we take you through a number of iconic moments in music history, and remember the rise and fall of some genres. Click on to learn more.