Generational starting years vary depending on your source. But most would say that Generation X includes those born in the mid-1960s through the late 1970s. The following iconic songwriters would be considered Gen X, and they’re some of the finest music-makers that the generation ever had to offer.
Kurt Cobain (Born February 20, 1967)
Well, I couldn’t leave Nirvana’s legendary frontman off this list, could I? Gen X birthed grunge, and grunge was easily the most noteworthy genre to take over the airwaves in the 1990s. Kurt Cobain wrote the vast majority of Nirvana’s music and took the band to the mainstream charts, right up until his untimely passing in 1994. He was so influential that his death was considered the death of the genre. Songs like “Come As You Are”, “Lithium”, “Something In The Way”, and many others remain go-tos among remaining fans of the genre. His impact on rock music probably won’t ever be forgotten.
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Fiona Apple (Born September 13, 1977)
Fiona Apple truly is the gift that keeps on giving. Maybe I’m biased because I love her so much. But Apple’s albums from Tidal (1996) to Fetch The Bolt Cutters (2020) follow a chronological timeline of her emotions, state of mind, and growth as a human being so beautifully. Listening to her work is like reading someone’s journal, but that journal is full of the greatest poetry a person could write. Her vulnerability and delivery have never faltered after all these years. It’s crazy to think that Apple hasn’t topped the charts more often. Though, I’d say she’s quite far from being underrated.
Billy Corgan (Born March 17, 1967)
Smashing Pumpkins touched on every genre from alternative rock to alt-metal to psych-rock to grunge. And at the forefront of it all was frontman Billy Corgan, who wrote the majority of the band’s music. Corgan is one of the few Gen X songwriters who tangibly helped popularize alternative rock as a genre in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Records like Siamese Dream (1993) and Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (1995) still pull in new fans across generations today. And Corgan’s solo work is nothing to sneeze at, either.
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More The List
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Stevie Nicks, who wrote one of the biggest hit songs of 1977 -
American rock group The Doors L-R John Densmore, Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger pose for an Electra Records publicity still circa 1969. (Photo by Electra Records/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) -
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – OCTOBER 14: Toby Keith performs at Shoreline Amphitheatre on October 14, 1993 in Mountain View California. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images) -
Photo by Mark Hayward Archive/Redferns -
UNSPECIFIED – CIRCA 1970: Photo of Surfaris Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images -
NEW YORK, NY – CIRCA 1984: Michael Jackson performing circa 1984 in New York City. (Photo by Robin Platzer/Images/Getty Images) -
OLLYWOOD – DECEMBER 13, 1975: Disco singer Gloria Gaynor performs a song on December 13, 1975, in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
