Rock (music)

:For other uses of "Rock", see Rock.

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Rock is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars, and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. As a cultural phenomenon, rock's social impact on the world is likely unparalleled by any other kind of music. It has been credited with ending wars and spreading peace and tolerance, as well as corrupting the innocent and spreading moral rot. Rock, born in the United States, has become popular across the globe, and has evolved into a multitude of highly-varying styles.

Related Topics:
Popular music - Electric guitar - Back beat - Saxophone - Social impact - United States

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Sometimes rock is also called rock and roll (also spelled rock 'n' roll, especially in its first decade), but a more widespread usage, followed also by the All Music Guide is to specifically use rock and roll to refer to the genre's early years in the 1950s and 1960s, and the shorter rock as an umbrella category.

Related Topics:
All Music Guide - Rock and roll - 1950s - 1960s

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The genre of rock is broad, and its boundaries loosely-defined. It is sometimes used to describe a number of genres only distantly related, including soul and heavy metal.

Related Topics:
Soul - Heavy metal

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Although Hip-Hop and R&B rose to the top of the charts in the mid-90s in the U.S. and have maintained their position ever since, rock will be remembered as the most popular form of music in the history of the world and continues to be the most popular form of music in most countries today.

Related Topics:
Hip-Hop - R&B

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