The year 1973 was a great one for music and seemingly a good luck charm to bands who formed during that time. It’s no easy feat for a group to garner the status of iconic. It’s even harder for them to withstand the test of time.
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A band lasting a decade is commendable, but five?! That’s a relationship something worthy of a standing ovation. Here are 10 iconic bands still going strong and celebrating their 50th year together in 2023.
1. KISS
The New York City-formed glam metal outfit, Kiss, has been rocking hard since 1973 and continues to wow audiences with their shock rock theatrics to this day. While their final tour is in full swing, the band’s founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have discussed the potential for Kiss 2.0 to carry on the legacy once they’ve officially called it quits.
2. AC/DC
Australian hard rockers AC/DC have seen a massive amount of success since their formation 50 years ago. Across five decades, dozens of albums, and more than 200 million records sold, they’re still making rock and roll dreams come true. For the band that’s still rocking, we salute you.
3. Heart
Led by two sisters and one of rock’s greatest power couples, Ann and Nancy Wilson, the band Heart rose to fame half a century ago on their hard rocking chops and spellbinding songcraft. While Heart has had various hiatuses and reunions over their tenure together, they reunited in 2019 and are still going steady.
4. KC and the Sunshine Band
Disco-funk elites KC and the Sunshine Band helped to usher in a decade that boogied nonstop, and for fifty years they’ve done the same, continuing to shake, shake, shake it. The lineup has seen a number of evolutions, but the group’s musical dynamic has not changed as they continue to spread disco to this day.
5. Journey
Their biggest commercial successes may not have come until the 1980s, but Journey was making music well before then and have continued to do so fifty years later. They formed in San Fransisco in 1973, and while founder member Neil Schon is the only original player in the lineup today, Journey still exists to play hits new and old.
[RELATED: 5 Deep Cuts From Journey That You Should Be Listening To]
6. Los Lobos
Since the band’s inception fifty years ago, Los Lobos has stayed true to their Mexican American heritage, carrying Chicano music into the mainstream. By integrating the traditional sounds of cumbia, boleros, and norteños into the blues, rock, and R&B music that also influenced them, Los Lobos’ sound became the soundtrack of their East Los Angeles home and beyond. The band continues to gift us hit after beloved hit.
7. Bad Company
While English rock outfit Bad Company has been on-and-off for the last five decades, they’ve been consecutively on for the past 15 years and this year marks half a century for the band. They still tour today with original members Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirk at the helm.
8. Kansas
Kansas-formed prog-rockers Kansas are celebrating their half-century together after gifting fans decades worth of inventive arena rock that has withstood time, fads, and personnel changes. Their most recent studio album came in 2020 when the group released The Absence of Presence. They continue to perform today, led by founding member Phil Ehart.
9. Devo
Synth-pop geek rockers Devo has been grooving since 1973. For fifty years, they’ve shared their trademark tongue-in-cheek social commentary and almost mathematical compositions with the masses. And they continue to do so today after a near-decade-long hiatus in the late 1990s and early 2000s. A documentary about the band and their storied career was also recently announced.
[RELATED: Devo Documentary in Production with Director Chris Smith]
10. Quiet Riot
Heavy metal legends Quiet Riot are also celebrating the big 5-0 this year. For five decades, they’ve rocked and they’ve rocked hard. Even though none of the band’s founding members are leading the charge today, longtime bassist Rudy Sarzo is currently keeping the Quiet Riot legend loud and proud.
Photo by Michael Ochs/gettyimges.com
