From electrifying solo artists like Elvis Presely, Chuck Berry, Michael Jackson and Madonna to popular bands like Queen, Beatles, Dire Straits and U2, the 20th century witnessed a revolution in the music industry with the inception of Rock music. Rock music has widely influenced music and society and continues to do so today.
Before the emergence of rock music in the late 1950s, there was a lot of racism and discrimination prevalent in society. The big orchestras did not include any performers from the marginalized sections of society. However, people from these sections preferred listening to blues and jazz music.The music industry was segregated until the arrival of artists like Elvis Presely and Chuck Berry. These artists produced Rock n Roll music-a genre which appealed to a much wider audience which included people of different colours and ethnicities and thus contributed to reducing racism.
Although the USSR had banned Western Music during the cold war, people found a way to get access to the latest rock albums. The songs of famous bands such as the Beatles promoted a cultural revolution in the USSR that played a major part in the demolition of communism there.
The famous Live Aid concert performed at the Wembley Stadium and at Philadelphia in 1885 by the greatest rock artists at the time is another instance when rock music helped make a difference to the world. 127 million pounds were raised through the concert for relief from the devastating famines in Ethiopia. The concert was regarded as the biggest cultural event in history and it brought musicians from all over the world together.
In the era of rock, female artists, such as Madonna, Joan Jett and Stevie Nicks, were able to pursue solo careers for the first time. Over the years, rock music evolved into the pop music most of us enjoy listening to today.
Rock is not just an entertaining genre, it is a genre that has influenced the world and is a genre that everyone must listen to. In the words of the legendary band AC/DC-"For those about to rock, we salute you."
AC/DC Band Logo
~Mallika Dasgupta- Batch 2021-21
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