In the late 1950s, the ease of international music sharing meant that, for the first time, musicians could easily become intercontinental rockstars, resulting in a cultural obsession with rockstars. The 60s rock bands gave us timeless hits that still resonate with audiences today. Let’s take a nostalgic journey through the top 15 groups of this incredible decade.
| Band | Most Popular Album | Album Year |
|---|---|---|
| The Beatles | Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band | 1967 |
| The Rolling Stones | Let It Bleed | 1969 |
| The Beach Boys | Pet Sounds | 1966 |
| The Doors | The Doors | 1967 |
| The Who | Tommy | 1969 |
| Cream | Disraeli Gears | 1967 |
| The Byrds | Mr. Tambourine Man | 1965 |
| The Kinks | The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society | 1968 |
| Grateful Dead | Live/Dead | 1969 |
| Jefferson Airplane | Surrealistic Pillow | 1967 |
| The Yardbirds | Roger the Engineer | 1966 |
| Creedence Clearwater Revival | Green River | 1969 |
| Simon & Garfunkel | Bookends | 1968 |
| The Jimi Hendrix Experience | Electric Ladyland | 1968 |
| Sly and the Family Stone | Stand! | 1969 |
The Beatles
No discussion about 60s rock is complete without mentioning The Beatles, the greatest of the rock bands in the 60s. The English crew broke into the U.S. mainstream with their 1964 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, igniting Beatlemania and solidifying The British Invasion movement.
Their Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album is considered one of the greatest of all time, selling over 32 million copies. With 20 #1 singles in the U.S. and countless platinum albums, they revolutionized rock. They are still the best-selling group in history, having sold more than 600 million units worldwide as of 2012, and 1.6 billion singles in the US!
Key moments from their heyday include their legendary Shea Stadium concert and their final live performance on a London rooftop in 1969.
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones brought a grittier, blues-driven edge to rock. Also part of the British Invasion, they gained popularity in the U.S. with their 1965 single (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. Their Let It Bleed album, featuring Gimme Shelter, went multi-platinum, selling more than 10 million copies worldwide.
While their “competitor,” The Beatles, dressed in suits and gave the visual impression of being put-together young gentlemen, the Stones’ image was crafted to appear gritty, uncouth, and unpredictable. Their look, lyrics, and instrumentation were all meant to buck against the status quo.
The group became synonymous with rebellious rock and helped define the era. By the time they played the infamous Altamont Free Concert in 1969, they had cemented their status as legends.
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys created an all-American rock musical tone infused with harmonies and surf culture. Originally known as The Pendletones, a pun based on Pendleton shirts, the boys discovered their name had been changed by their first record label upon the release of their first single.
Their breakthrough came with Surfin’ U.S.A. in 1963, but Pet Sounds (1966) became one of the most influential albums of all time. The band’s Good Vibrations single was a chart-topping success, and their music remains a defining soundtrack of the 60s. The crew had a burst of huge success in the early and mid-60s, and saw a drop-off in popularity by the end of the era; however, they again gained popularity in the 70s.
The Doors
The Doors stood out in the scene with their dark, poetic lyrics and blues-influenced psychedelia. Fronted by the enigmatic Jim Morrison, they gained national fame with Light My Fire from their self-titled debut album, which sold over 4 million copies.
Their performances were legendary, and Morrison’s unpredictable persona only added to their mystique. The group was the epitome of counterculture. The band’s L.A. Woman album became one of their most popular, solidifying their place in rock history.
The crew was heavily influenced, as many musicians were at the time, by meditation and esotericism. The name “The Doors” is a reference to Aldous Huxley's book The Doors of Perception, which refers to man’s perception of the universe.
They're still considered one of the best bands ever.
The Who
The Who were pioneers of hard rock and rock opera. Their breakthrough in the U.S. came with My Generation and later Tommy, one of the first concept albums in rock.
Known for their explosive concert shows, Pete Townshend’s windmill guitar strums and Keith Moon’s wild drumming became iconic. Perhaps their biggest influence on music and society? Performing in the 1969 Woodstock concert. The band became so well-known that the Muppet ‘Animal’ was inspired by drummer Keith, and Townshend’s guitar smash also became a staple performance move for several other musicians.
Cream
Cream was one of rock’s first supergroups, featuring Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker, who were all already successful musicians. Their blues-infused instrumentation produced massive hits like Sunshine of Your Love. Their Disraeli Gears album became a landmark in psychedelic blues rock, earning platinum status. Their ability to improvise on stage led them to become the first band to popularize “jamming.”
Unfortunately, two of the members, Bruce and Baker, had a history of hating each other, and although they tried to put aside their differences for the good of the crew, they simply couldn’t keep it up. This rivalry, combined with exhaustion from touring and too-loud jamming, meant they ultimately had to disband in 1968.
The Byrds
The Byrds were integral in fusing rock with influences like folk, psychedelic, and country, pioneering new genres for other artists to explore. They’re credited with being the first folk-rock group in the world. Contemporary musicians, including George Harrison and Jimi Hendrix, praised the band for their inspiring sounds.
Roger McGuinn’s signature 12-string Rickenbacker gave The Byrds a distinctive musical tone that inspired contemporaries and those who came after, either directly or indirectly.
Their cover of Bob Dylan’s Mr. Tambourine Man became a #1 hit, and Turn! Turn! Turn! remains one of the greatest folk-rock songs of the era. The group also pioneered country rock with their Sweetheart of the Rodeo album.
The Kinks
The Kinks carved out a unique place in 60s rock with their raw garage-rock musical tone. Their breakthrough came with You Really Got Me, a single that influenced countless hard rock groups. Its iconic sound has been emulated by punk and grunge groups ever since.
Lola and Waterloo Sunset became classics, and their witty songwriting set them apart from other British bands. While touring, the crew stopped over in India, where they wrote See My Friends, which became the first successful crossover pop song to have a clear Indian influence.
Their album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society was kind of a flop at first, only selling about 100,000 copies worldwide at the initial release (which happened to be the same day as The Beatles’ White Album, so it’s natural that Village Green got eclipsed). However, there was a resurgence of interest in the 90s and 2000s, perhaps when the times caught up with the music, and the album was even re-released to meet demands.
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead became a cultural phenomenon despite limited commercial success. Known for their extended live jams and devoted fanbase (“Deadheads”), the band pioneered psychedelic rock. Their musical tone cannot be described in just one word, however. Their work incorporated multiple genres, including blues, jazz, folk, country, bluegrass, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, and world music.
Their 1967 self-titled debut album laid the groundwork for their legendary shows. The 1969 Live/Dead album was notably the first 16-track studio recording and captured the group’s unmatched improvisational spirit. The group was also largely successful and influential in the 70s, building upon the culture they helped create in the 60s.
Jefferson Airplane
Inspired by the up-and-coming folk-rock movement, a young Marty Balin sought out talent to form a band and play in his newly-purchased club called The Matrix. They began playing at the club and gaining attention for their folk, blues, and rock and roll stylings.
Jefferson Airplane’s work morphed over time, and eventually, they became the face of San Francisco’s psychedelic and acid rock movement. Somebody to Love and White Rabbit from Surrealistic Pillow were defining songs of the 60s counterculture.
Their performances at Woodstock and Monterey Pop Festival proved their monumental musical influence, and the infamous Amsterdam incident with The Doors’ Jim Morrison confirmed their rockstar status. Their musical influence can be seen even into the 2000s and beyond.
The Yardbirds
The Yardbirds were a launchpad for three of rock’s greatest guitarists: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. Their blues-influenced sound spawned hits like For Your Love and Heart Full of Soul. After their breakup in 1968, Page, who wanted to lean into heavy rock, formed Led Zeppelin.
The band was highly experimental, tapping into pop, psychedelic, hard rock, and even international musical inspirations such as Gregorian monk chanting, Middle Eastern sounds, and African tribal rhythms. Beck also played with instrumentals, experimenting with distortions in his guitar recordings. Furthermore, they created a signature instrumental segment in their pieces called “rave ups” where they’d play at double time for a few measures.
Their groundbreaking, experimental music paved the way for punk and progressive rock down the line.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Originally formed in 1959 as the Blue Velvets and later as the Golliwogs, Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) brought a swampy, Southern-influenced instrumentation to rock music. Proud Mary and Bad Moon Rising were massive hits, and their Green River album reached #1. CCR was one of the decade’s best-selling bands, with multiple gold and platinum collections.
Their “swamp rock” sound, combined with blues, R&B, rockabilly, and Americana filled a niche in the genre. Additionally, their choice to sing mostly about the world and politics, rather than topics like romance and sex, made them stand out from other groups and secured their fame.
Fortunate Son was even added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2013 for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically important.”
Simon & Garfunkel
Though more folk than rock, Simon & Garfunkel’s harmonies and poetic lyrics, similar to Bob Dylan, had a massive cultural impact that is still felt today. The duo started out as school friends in the 50s where they learned how to harmonize as part of a doo-wop group.
After many years of parting ways and reuniting, they eventually found success in 1965 when a Boston radio station played The Sound of Silence, and the popularity quickly caught on on the East Coast. They were able to ride the wave of success and start churning out more albums with decent reception.
The Sound of Silence and Bridge Over Troubled Water were among the best-selling singles of the era. Their work became the voice of a generation, and their works remain timeless classics. They also saw a resurgence in popularity in the 80s.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Led by Jimi Hendrix, the crew burst onto the scene with their debut album, Are You Experienced, in 1967, featuring iconic songs like Purple Haze and Foxey Lady.
At 1969 Woodstock, the Experience solidified themselves into the zeitgeist of the times with Jimi’s performance of The Star-Spangled Banner. Their final studio album, Electric Ladyland, reached #1 on the U.S. charts and remains one of the greatest psychedelic albums of all time.
Jimi, originally from Seattle, picked up guitar in his late teens and quickly learned how to play. He then learned to enhance his performance skills with tricks like playing guitar with his teeth. After moving to London to collaborate with producer Chas Chandler, they invented the Jimi Hendrix Experience band together.
Hendrix burned bright and fast, taking the music industry by storm. Are You Experienced featured a buffet of sounds: blues, R&B, post-modern experimental soundscapes, backward-recorded tracks, and even a science fiction piece.
Sly and the Family Stone
Sly and the Family Stone helped set the foundation for the evolution of music in the 60s and into the 70s by pioneering funk and psychedelia. The crew, a rock-Motown-funk-soul-R&B fusion band, gained mainstream attention with Dance to the Music in 1968. Additionally, they were one of few groups of the time with racially integrated and mixed-gender members.
Their album Stand! went multi-platinum, featuring hits like Everyday People and I Want to Take You Higher. Their phenomenal Woodstock performance in 1969 cemented their reputation as one of the best live bands of the decade, influencing countless artists in rock and beyond.
These bands didn’t just dominate the charts—they shaped the course of rock music for decades to come. Whether through innovative albums, unforgettable singles, or groundbreaking performances, each crew left a lasting mark on the musical world.
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