Rock is a form of popular music that emerged in the 1950s and that by the end of the 20th century was the world’s dominant form of popular music. It originated in the United States and spread to other English-speaking countries and across Europe in the 1960s.
Rock - Pioneers, Genres, Legends: For lexicographers and legislators alike, the purpose of definition is to grasp a meaning, to hold it in place, so that people can use a word correctly—for example, to assign a track to its proper radio outlet (rock, pop, country, jazz). The trouble is that the term rock describes an evolving musical practice informed by a variety of nonmusical arguments ...
Rock, in geology, naturally occurring and coherent aggregate of one or more minerals. Such aggregates constitute the basic unit of which the solid Earth is composed and typically form recognizable and mappable volumes. The three major classes of rock are igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rock.
Rock became the most inclusive of musical genres; if other kinds of music—e.g., classical, jazz, easy listening, country, folk, etc.—are marketed as minority interests, rock defines the musical mainstream. Rock's origins lie in rock and roll, a new form of American popular music in the 1950s that was personified early on by Elvis Presley.
Rock - 1960s, British Invasion, Psychedelic: Whatever the commercial forces at play (and despite the continuing industry belief that this was pop music as transitory novelty), it became clear that the most successful writers and producers of teenage music were themselves young and intrigued by musical hybridity and the technological possibilities of the recording studio. In the early 1960s ...
Rock - 80s, 90s, Pop: The music industry was rescued from its economic crisis by the development in the 1980s of a new technology, digital recording. Vinyl records were replaced by the compact disc (CD), a technological revolution that immediately had a conservative effect. By this point the most affluent record buyers had grown up on rock; they were encouraged to replace their records, to ...
Rock and roll, style of popular music that originated in the United States in the mid-1950s and that evolved by the mid-1960s into the more encompassing international style known as rock music, though the latter also continued to be known as rock and roll. Learn more about the history of rock and roll in this article.
Rock Hudson, American actor noted for his good looks and movie roles during the 1950s and ’60s, including Magnificent Obsession, Giant, and Pillow Talk, and for the TV series MacMillan and Wife in the 1970s. He was one of the first known Hollywood celebrities to die of AIDS-related complications.