Timeline of alternative rock

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

This is a timeline of alternative rock, from its beginnings in the 1970s to the present.


1976 - 1977 - 1978 - 1979 - 1980 - 1981 - 1982 - 1983 - 1984 - 1985 - 1986 - 1987 - 1988 - 1989 - 1990 - 1991 - 1992 - 1993 - 1994 - 1995 - 1996 - 1997 - 1998 - 1999 - 2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - See also

[edit] 1976

[edit] 1977

[edit] 1978

[edit] 1979

[edit] 1980

[edit] 1981

[edit] 1982

[edit] 1983

  • Disbandments
    • Bauhaus
    • Mission of Burma
  • Events
    • WFNX, one of the first commercial stations to play alternative rock, begins broadcasting.
    • WOXY, located outside of Cincinnati in Oxford, Ohio, begins broadcasting alternative rock in September 1983, billing itself as "97X: The Future of Rock and Roll". According to WOXY's website, it was the nation's sixth alternative rock station.
    • 91X, in San Diego, Ca. begins broadcasting alternative rock in October, tho it was located in Tijuana, Mexico. The station is one of the most popular in southern California.
    • R.E.M.'s album Murmur is named Rolling Stone's best album of 1983.
    • Creation Records is founded by Alan McGee.

[edit] 1984

[edit] 1985

  • Disbandments
    • Minutemen
  • Events
    • The Minutemen's D. Boon dies in a car crash on December 22.
    • The Feelies reunite.

[edit] 1986

  • Events
    • MTV begins airing 120 Minutes, a program devoted to videos by alternative artists
    • NME magazine in the UK releases the C86 cassette compilation, which becomes a seminal release in British indie rock.

[edit] 1987

  • Disbandments
    • Hüsker Dü
    • The Smiths
  • Events
    • R.E.M.'s "The One I Love" unexpectedly becomes a Top Ten hit on the America pop charts, helping to increase alternative rock's mainstream profile and earning the band a major label deal.

[edit] 1988

  • Disbandments
    • Big Black
    • Green River
    • The Housemartins
  • Events
    • Mother Love Bone and Mudhoney form from members of Green River after they break up.
    • Sub Pop begins the Sub Pop Singles Club
    • Hillel Slovak, guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers dies from a heroin overdose
    • Rolling Stone names R.E.M. "America's Best Rock 'n' Roll Band" and places them on the cover.

[edit] 1989

  • Disbandments
    • Guadalcanal Diary
    • Dream Syndicate
  • Events

[edit] 1990

  • Disbandments
    • Camper Van Beethoven
    • Mother Love Bone

[edit] 1991

  • Disbandments
    • Galaxie 500
    • Jane's Addiction
    • The Replacements
    • Spacemen 3

[edit] 1992

  • Disbandments
    • The Feelies
    • The Happy Mondays
    • Pixies
    • The Sugarcubes

[edit] 1993

  • Disbandments
    • Public Image Ltd.
  • Events
    • The first ever KROQ Weenie Roast concert airs for the first time.
    • Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder appears on the cover of the October 25 issue of TIME Magazine as part of their feature article on the rising popularity of the grunge movement
    • Nirvana plays MTV Unplugged on November 18.
    • Mazzy Star has some success with the single "Fade Into You", becoming the biggest hit for dream pop in the mainstream.

[edit] 1994

  • Disbandments
    • Nirvana
    • Uncle Tupelo
  • Events
    • Kurt Cobain of Nirvana dies on April 5; his body is found April 8.
    • Kristen Pfaff of Hole dies on June 16.
    • Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" becomes a hit single; some cite it as the last major hit of the grunge era.
    • Beck's "Loser" becomes a hit single.
    • The Offspring releases Smash, becoming one of the best selling albums from an independent record label of all time. Along with the release of Green Day's Dookie, it repopularizes punk rock in the mainstream.
    • The term post-rock is coined by Simon Reynolds to describe the music of the likes of Stereolab and Disco Inferno
    • Manic Street Preachers' Richey James Edwards is admitted to a psychiatric hospital around the release of The Holy Bible and misses some shows.
    • The acclaimed Anderson/Butler songwriting partnership of Suede is ended when Butler is fired from the band by Anderson.
    • Weezer hits it big with "Undone (The Sweater Song)" and "Buddy Holly". The music video for Buddy Holly is included on the Windows 95 operating system disc.

[edit] 1995

  • Disbandments
    • American Music Club
    • Kyuss
    • Mad Season
    • Meat Puppets

[edit] 1996

  • Disbandments
    • The Pogues
    • Siouxsie & the Banshees
    • The Stone Roses
  • Events
    • The Smashing Pumpkins' touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin dies of an overdose on July 12 while using heroin with drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. Chamberlin is subsequently fired and the band continues as a three-piece until his return in 1999.
    • Alice in Chains makes their last appearance on MTV Unplugged.
    • Hype!, a documentary about the grunge scene of the early 1990s, is released.
    • R.E.M. sign a new deal with Warner Bros. worth $80 million. At the time, it was the largest record contract in history.
    • Bradley Nowell of the third-wave ska band Sublime dies of a heroin overdose. The band splits up soon after Nowell's death.

[edit] 1997

  • Disbandments
    • Cocteau Twins
    • Porno for Pyros
    • Soundgarden - believed by many to signal the end of grunge's mainstream success[1]
    • Throwing Muses
  • Events
    • Jane's Addiction reunites; later that year, they disband again.
    • On hiatus while Scott Weiland is in rehab, members of Stone Temple Pilots form Talkshow; the new band lasts for only a short time.
    • Solo artist Jeff Buckley dies on 29 May as a result of accidental drowning in the Mississippi River.
    • R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry announces his retirement; the rest of the band continue as a three-piece.
    • Oasis's Be Here Now becomes the UK's fastest selling album

[edit] 1998

  • Disbandments
    • Black Grape
    • Faith No More
    • Lush
  • Events
    • For the first year since it began, Lollapalooza does not take place, and goes on hiatus for 6 years.
    • Bauhaus reunite.

[edit] 1999

  • Disbandments
    • Blind Melon - after years of struggling to continue on without Shannon Hoon.
    • The Jesus Lizard
    • The Jesus and Mary Chain
    • Love and Rockets
    • Luscious Jackson
    • Pavement
    • The Verve
  • Events
    • Despite rumors of disbanding, Stone Temple Pilots return to recording.
    • The No WTO Combo attempts to play at the WTO Meeting of 1999, but are unable to do so due to conflicts with the police.

[edit] 2000

  • Disbandments
    • Rage Against the Machine
    • The Rentals
    • Screaming Trees
    • The Smashing Pumpkins
    • Soul Coughing
  • Events
    • The Smashing Pumpkins have their last concert on December 2.
    • The Smashing Pumpkins release Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music for free to music downloaders on the internet.
    • The Meat Puppets reunite.

[edit] 2001

  • Disbandments
    • The Afghan Whigs
    • Elastica
    • Fastbacks
    • Toadies

[edit] 2002

  • Disbandments
    • Hole
    • Alice in Chains
  • Events
    • Layne Staley of Alice in Chains dies on April 5, the 8th anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death.
    • Jane's Addiction reunites again.
    • Nirvana's "You Know You're Right", a previously unreleased song, becomes a hit single.

[edit] 2003

  • Disbandments
    • Zwan
    • Stone Temple Pilots
  • Events
    • The first Lollapalooza in 6 years takes place.
    • Elliott Smith dies

[edit] 2004

  • Disbandments
    • The Libertines
    • The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
    • Phish
    • Suede
  • Events
    • Influential British DJ John Peel, whose advocacy helped increase the profiles of many punk and alternative acts, dies on October 25.
    • The Pixies reunite and release a new single entitled "Bam Thwok".
    • Lollapalooza is cancelled due to low ticket sales.
    • Brett Anderson quits Suede and reunites with former Suede bandmate Bernard Butler to form The Tears.

[edit] 2005

  • Disbandments
    • Guided by Voices
    • Luna

[edit] 2006

  • Disbandments
    • Sleater-Kinney
    • Grandaddy

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ St. Peter Times staff writer (1997). "Soundgarden's Een Called the End of Grunge" Stargate.net (accessed September 27, 2006)

[edit] See also

Alternative rock
Alternative metal - Britpop - C86 - College rock - Dream pop - Dunedin Sound - Geek rock - Gothic rock - Grebo - Grunge - Indie pop - Indie rock - Industrial rock - Lo-fi - Madchester - Math rock - Noise pop - Paisley Underground - Post-grunge - Post-punk revival - Post-rock - Riot Grrrl - Shoegazing - Slowcore - Space rock - Twee pop
Other topics
Artists - College radio - History - Indie (music) - Lollapalooza
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../t/i/m/Timeline_of_alternative_rock.html"