ClassicRockHistory.com

5 Seconds of Summer formed in Sydney, Australia, in 2011, bringing together Luke Hemmings on vocals and guitar, Michael Clifford on guitar and vocals, Calum Hood on bass and vocals, and Ashton Irwin on drums and vocals. The band built an online audience before its early independent releases and touring turned that following into something much larger. By the time the group re...

311 built one of the most distinctive catalogs in alternative rock by refusing to stay inside one style for very long. Formed in Omaha, Nebraska, the band developed a sound that mixed hard rock, reggae, funk, hip-hop, punk, metal, and melodic pop without treating any of those influences as a novelty. Nick Hexum, Chad Sexton, Aaron “P-Nut” Wills, Tim Mahoney, and Doug “SA” Mar...

If there’s one thing music does, it brings you back to another time. There’s a word for that. It’s called nostalgia. Now, of course, a song doesn’t have to have anything to do with nostalgia to bring you back to your high school days. It’s the songs you remember hearing in high school, like the KISS song “Rock and Roll All Night”; that has nothing to do with nostalgia, but it...

Rock and roll has always been about momentum, whether it comes from the forward thrust of a driving beat, the restless spirit of the lyrics, or the cultural shifts the music helped ignite. Songs built around move, movin’, moving, and moves can turn that idea into physical freedom, emotional change, determination, escape, or pure rock and roll motion. These ten songs take that...

The word “love” is arguably one of the most iconic and frequently used words in the history of rock and roll music. Songwriters have turned to love to explore passion, heartbreak, unity, longing, and just about every emotion in between. It is no surprise that so many unforgettable songs have been built around this one simple word. This list celebrates ten great songs with “lo...