3 Soon-To-Be Classic Rock Bands That Personify the 2000s

Don’t look now, but the 2000s are, well, a long time ago. When the new millennium dawned, we were all 25 years younger (and some readers here weren’t even born). Yikes. While it may seem just a short time ago, several decades have arrived since we first saw the ball drop in 2000. The good news? We can count the rock music from the 2000s era as classic rock now.

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Here below, we wanted to do just that. Let’s dive into three, ahem, “classic rock” bands from the 2000s era and show how they are sonically and culturally emblematic of the time. Indeed, these are three classic rock bands that simply personify the 2000s.

[RELATED: No Skips: 4 Classic Rock Albums You’ll Never Have to Fast-Forward]

Blink-182

Is there any band more 2000s than Blink-182? While their breakout album, Enema Of The State, was technically released in 1999, the LP carried them well into the 2000s as stars of the decade. Their irreverent music brought grins and smiles to fans’ faces. But they also helped re-launch the pop-punk genre and create a wider lane for bands to follow, like Machine Gun Kelly, Willow, and Avril Lavigne.

Those who watched MTV’s Total Request Live knew Blink well from tracks like “All The Small Things” to “What’s My Age Again?” Later in the 2000s, the trio released two more albums, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket in 2001, and the self-titled Blink-182 in 2003.

The White Stripes

While the rock duo of Jack and Meg White released their self-titled LP in 1999, it was in the 2000s that they became famous, dropping five more albums from 2000 to 2007. While bands like Blink were taking rock in a new, almost sarcastic route, The White Stripes paid homage to the rock bands and blues artists who came before them.

Jack White was as much a historian and student of the genre as he was a performer within it. This is why the band’s albums became both commercially and critically successful in that decade.

Linkin Park

When Linkin Park released their debut LP Hybrid Theory in 2000, the world opened up for them in ways unimaginable. Bridging rap and rock, the group featured two vocalists, Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington, the latter of which had a banshee voice that could reach the heavens.

Linkin Park rose up the charts and sold millions of records. That’s thanks to songs like “Crawling” and “In The End”. They also collaborated with the likes of Jay-Z on the EP, Collision Course. Sadly, Bennington passed away in 2017 at just 41 years old. The group has never been the same without him.

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