Classic rock's having (yet another) resurgence. Why is that the case? Will AC/DC, The Beatles, Eagles, or...even Coldplay...ever age out of favor?
Luminate data shows classic rock is occasionally surpassing modern pop in popularity.
Don’t look now, but on any given day, it’s not Geese, Turnstile, or YUNGBLUD that are rock artists and bands that might unexpectedly break into pop.
If you’re mentioning Fleetwood Mac as a band worth adding to a playlist, with their 17 studio albums released over 35 years, featuring two out of every five singles being a top-10 hit, you’re not alone.
Interestingly, this trend has been evident since compact disc sales overtook vinyl and cassettes in the early 1990s, only to decline by 2015 as streaming took over.
Why? Because classic rock satisfies our human urge to indulge in emotional nostalgia.
Emotional nostalgia naturally enhances mood. It elevates spirits, encourages social bonds, and offers meaning during stressful or transitional periods.
Pop’s rapid rise shifted CD sales away from all-time greatest hits compilations by The Eagles, Queen, Journey, and Bon Jovi; however, The Beatles’ 2000 release, "No. 1," remains a top seller, ranking among the top 20 best-selling CDs of all time.
As ways to access music—when, where, and how—have changed, classic rock has remained a steady presence.
Over five decades, albums like Iron Butterfly’s pioneering “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” (1969), Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” AC/DC’s “Back in Black” (1980), Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill,” Linkin Park’s “Hybrid Theory,” and Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” have shaped eras of pop culture and music through rock’s lasting influence.
Sometimes it’s clever licensing (you can’t see Dana Carvey and Mike Myers in “Wayne’s World” without imagining them lip-syncing Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”) or a documentary or film about the band keeping them in the spotlight (The Beatles, Journey, and Led Zeppelin have all been featured this way).
And there’s always the unpredictable surge of memes that catch on for a few months. Considering TikTok, in its current seven-year run, has seen around 30 rock bands potentially benefiting from this trend.
Some acts rock forever, remaining consistently relevant.
Fleetwood Mac is among those.
Are they heavy? Absolutely. Judas Priest and Metallica favor the 1970 track "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown),” a metal precursor with crashing guitars, thumping drums, and Peter Green singing, "Now when the day goes to sleep and the full moon looks / The night is so black that the darkness cooks."
There are grooves, from “Rhiannon” to “Tusk,” especially on the 1977 album “Rumors,” featuring band members Lindsay Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Christine and John McVie’s stylings, which has sold over 35 million copies. Robert Christgau praised its “beguilingly bluesy rhythms” that “jump out of the speakers." He’s right.
Lead vocalist Stevie Nicks is legendary for embodying an ethereally witchy frontwoman, feeling, looking, and sounding like forever. Tavi Gevinson in the New Yorker noted she “frequently asks questions of herself and of some higher power, as if in constant conversation with her own intuition."
Again, it bears repeating: classic rock remains popular because we love being high on emotional nostalgia.
