3 of the Most Epic Movements in Music History

Music and history often coincide with each other in a cause-and-effect relationship. Whether it be that music incites something in history or the other way around, the two are inseparable and heavily connected in the greater public eye. Hence, some of the most monumental music history movements from over the last 60 years are also some of the most monumental in general history.

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Given the music and history’s inseparable relationship, music revolutions have become historical movements in and of themselves. Between influencing popular opinion and swaying public taste, it seems music history movements have just as much of an impact on history as history does on music. The following three music history movements are some of the most noteworthy.

The Flower Power Movement

Starting in 1965, The Flower Power Movement is arguably the most polarizing cultural shift in American History; especially when it comes to music. What this free-loving and mindful movement produced was an amplification of rock music that was already being made. Some of the acts that proved that to be true were The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, and so many more.

Furthermore, what this specifically did for the experimentation of music was open up the floodgates. Originally, the acts during this era were simply coined as “rock ‘n’ roll”. However, as years went by, they became more ambitious. The Flower Power Movement paved the way for psychedelic rock, folk rock, and many other subgenres of general rock ‘n’ roll.

The British Invasion

The British Invasion might have been a “perfection” of pre-existing American music. That’s debatable. But when The Beatles played on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 to screaming fans, it allowed every other British rocker with a dream to descend upon America. This is exactly what happened, as some of the biggest acts of the 1960s are a product of this cultural invasion.

In addition to The Beatles, there were The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who, The Animals, and many others who dominated America during the British Invasion. Not only did the movement show how music has no bounds, but it also showed how rock ‘n’ roll was no longer strictly an American format of music. Also, arguably, the Brits stood up to all of the American bands of the 1960s and took the crown for themselves. But, that’s just food for thought.

The Seattle Sound

Without a doubt, the Seattle Sound movement birthed some of the most formidably angry genres of music to date. If it was not for this movement, metal, heavy metal, hard rock, grunge, and so many other rock subgenres might have never seen the light of day. Or at least, they would sound quite different.

Now, it’s hard to pinpoint who exactly lit the spark for the start of grunge. However, it’s easy to acknowledge the bands that birthed from it. Some of those bands include Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, and many more who took the Pacific Northwest sound and implemented it into their style. This music movement dominated the 1990s to the point where almost all of the most famous bands from that era were direct products of the Seattle Sound.

Photo by Elaine Mayes