Top 10 Things That Killed Rock and Roll

Rock and Roll is finally dead and here are the top reasons it died. You will realize by this list that Rock and Roll was systematically assassinated because it was a threat to free thinking people everywhere.
The Top Ten
1 MTV MTV is an American basic cable and satellite television channel which is a part of the "Viacom Music and Entertainment Group" which is the flagship Property of the Viacom Media Networks division of Viacom, of which it is a subsidiary.

Syntethisers slowly killed rock and roll spontaneity, and drum machines! In the 70s both were regarded as novelties but they endured and spreaded in the 80s, becoming prominent. How rock can a synth be? not much I'm afraid! And the generations pass, look at the today's kids, are they rock? No, most of them aren't and they aren't anything else either. Rock lasted from the late 1930s to the early 2010s, with a peak between the mid 1950s and the mid 1980s, plenty of good stuff to listen to! rock and roll museum.

EmpTV. The moment when imagery reigned over substance. No wonder hair metal got so big up the the late 90s, where the way your hair and makeup looked dictated how big your video got. Where wearing literal womens' makeup was now the way rock stars were attracting chicks, ironically enough, and legions of fans who were convinced that that was somehow badass. Grunge killed it off swiftly, but then started to become a parody of itself by the mid 90s as well with the whole repressed image. Originality was pretty much suppressed as both upcoming and established artists were now jumping on the bandwagon of whatever the trending style was at the time.

This Cable TV show changed how persons listened to Rock music practically overnight.

With MTV, for the first time, anyone who heard a popular song would have what they think of in their heads, placed there for them. Also this Cable TV station took over popular music and could single handedly dictate who was great and who was not in Rock. of course as soon as it was the standard for the music industry, it left the music industry high and dry. leaving a generation of 40 somethings wandering around with A-Ha's "take me on" ringing in their collective heads. A lot of musicians at first refused to be a part of MTV's brainwashing scheme, but eventually even Joe Jackson fell under the giant machine that was Music Television Network.

As Jack Black says, "The man ruined [rock and roll] with a little thing called MTV! " MTV made music became less about art and more about money. MTV only played pop music, because still, the "man" considered rock and roll to be dirty, and unworthy of being anything, which incited a recession, so to speak, where artists such as Paul McCartney (just for example, love ya, Paul) tried to give their songs a more poppy feel so as to compete with the Michael Jacksons. Music had become less about expressing feelings, and more about making money, and getting your music on MTV.

2 Rap

I don't think that rap killed Rock and Roll. Rap was when it started strictly black ghetto music. It was the expression for the misery (like blues music did it in the 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s) of black people. When the media made it big and popular in the late eighties and nineties it became more popular amongst white kids. Nowadays it's 70% white American kids who are listening to rap music. Rap music itself didn't killed Rock because it was just another whole type of music. Popularity made by the media for trying to "reach" a white audience (which they unfortunately succeeded) killed the "popularity" of rock music but not rock music itself.

Rap is music with no blood in the veins. They take an old seventies funky beat (it's like rap music is not able to be inventive in creating new sounds) and then write some stupid lyrics on it. There's one (only one) rap song that's actually good. Look on YouTube for Shelley Hennig raps.

Rap music has its place in the music world but to say it's music is false, it talks out of context & destroyed the old funk genre of greatness. I hope artists like Jay Z & Kanye West come down with laryngitis & can never speak that crap rap again.

It's simply too popular a genre nowadays. Young people have grown up listening to it, gravitating towards it and all the people who WOULD'VE (or could've) played rock music instead have gone to rap. There's no new music being made because they're all making rap (or pop, country, etc.).

3 Autotune

Autotune ruined music. Hip-hop was no worse than disco. Rock survived alongside disco, it could survive alongside rap and hip-hop, too. But, autotune made sure music fit a formula that the big labels and radio stations that play the same few songs these days could make a quick profit from while locking out good music.

Imagine Led Zeppelin using autotune. I don't think so.

Autoune is against the principles of rock and roll. Jimi Hendrix or The Who would die before having their sound made elecronically clean such as the music of today. John Lennon would think it disgusting.

You don't hear good singers these days. One in a million. People think they can sing because they have auto tune. It pisses me off.

This IS the killer of music... it hurts my ears literally and figuratively, it disgusting someone needs to outlaw this trash

4 Michael Jackson Michael Jackson (Michael Joseph Jackson; August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, dancer, and songwriter. He passed away from cardiac arrest caused by a propofol and benzodiazepine overdose on June 25, 2009. He donated (at least) a remarkable 500,000,000 dollars to charity. Michael is also known as The King of Pop (a title given to him by Elizabeth Taylor) or under the initials MJ. Dubbed the King of Pop, he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. ...read more.

It seems that many very jealous and sad people are commenting on here, it's actually sad but also funny. Sorry, but Michael is widely recognized as the greatest and most famous artist ever. The most revolutionary, most awarded, best selling, best vocalist and dancer ever. He dominated the 80s, and 2 of his albums in the 90s are all time best selling albums, in '97 he was found to be the most famous human on Earth by far. His success was only curtailed in the 00's by the court cases, and in 2009, 40 years into his career was about to launch the worlds biggest tour, but passed away. Apart from being the biggest pop culture icon ever, he WAS music for the most important decades in music the 80s and 90s.

In the late sixties / early seventies he was one of the thousands Motown acts and to be honest, one of the worse. In the late seventies he was part of the Disco movement ( his title as King of Pop [? ] came much later ) and also one of the thousands Disco groups. His album in the early eighties " Thriller " was one of the biggest selling records of all time and after that he slowly lost succes until his death. Did all those facts about him, his music... killed Rock and Roll? No way! Michael Jackson commited career-suicide with his own music, his own style ( nobody cared for him in the nineties, apart for some die-hard fans, anymore ) but he certainly didn't killed Rock and Roll. Why? That's like saying he'd changed the history of music and that's something he certainly never did or succeeded. Like I said, he was part of a music ( Motown, Disco ) that he didn't invented or even revolutionized together with thousands of others. And no one of that movement didn't killed Rock and Roll. ...more

Michael should be proud of this list. This means he was the most influential in the development of modern music. Younger generation has embraced him completely. Rock and roll is not the sacred book of music. Leave that holiness to Mozart and Beethoven.

Jackson also killed rock as it was known because he made a hybrid out of rock and his own soul. However, it didn't work for him in the end. Where is he now?

5 American Idol American Idol is an American talent reality television series that first aired in 2002. As of May 2019, there have been seventeen seasons.

Your from Europe. Well I thought these idol shows where in most countries or where most of them cancelled. I think it started when Pop Idol started a show in Britain but that only had 2 series, then it was Popstars the Rivals (Female or Male band would win - Girls Aloud won, 1 series show) then The X factor. But it all started probably with Popstars which had 1 series it had two groups male and female similar to S Club 7 and Steps they where Hear'Say and Liberty X. Hear'Say won but Liberty X where the real winners. Then a year after it went to Pop Idol first series Will Young won, the second series Michelle McManus won, but then it was cancelled. American Idol started around the time of the second series of Pop Idol. BBC also had Fame Academy which had two series and then had 3 charity spin offs called Comic Relief Does Fame Academy.

This show is destroying the vastness of vocal talent in the world. This show is brainwashing the masses into beliveing that If you don't
Sing like maria karry or Justin Timberlake, then you are not a good singer.

Rock and Roll thrived on the likes of Joe Cocker, Rod Stewart, Brian Adams, and Tom Waits. These persons would never make it on this fluff filled talent Show. This show is diluting the perception of what good vocals is.

This show implies that you need to have a clean, sweet, pop-ish or country voice to make it big. If your voice is too "harsh" for the sensitive audience, don't even bother auditioning.

This is based on an "anyone-can-play" scenario, which isn't correct because not everyone can moonwalk on stage.

6 Nickelback Nickelback is a Canadian post-grunge band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta, Canada. The band is composed of guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan Peake, bassist Mike Kroeger, and drummer Daniel Adair.
7 One Direction One Direction (commonly abbreviated as 1D) were a British-Irish pop boy band based in London, composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously, Zayn Malik until his departure from the band on 25 March 2015. The group signed with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Records ...read more.
8 Drum Machines

I remember the Linn Drum and how Steve Gadd had been recorded to make the sound on it. Steve, What were you thinking? You have it made, but we poor drummers out here still need to work. This was the begining of the end for Rock and roll as the technology got cheaper to make and eventually keyboards could emulate any sound except for singers. and Now their is Vocoder for all the crappy singers out there. The Advent of the Drum machine was the start of DJ's playing the clubs and taking all that work from Rock and Roll.

9 The Idea of Rock and Roll Being the Devil's Music

I think this is the biggest thing that killed Rock and Roll.

10 Yoko Ono Yoko Ono is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist who is also known for her work in performance art, music, and filmmaking. Singer-songwriter John Lennon of the Beatles was her third husband.

Killed it before it started.

Why she is not the first one?

The Contenders
11 Clear Channel Radio Stations

Really any more of this top 10... Lost art my friends. Rock overcame disco, 80s synth pop and pop rock, but the internet and auto tune and mtv and EDM and cell phones and vevo and YouTube and every song being made solely on a computer with no instruments... That cannot be overcome.

Some Rich Texas Oilman who hated rock and roll decided to buy all the radio stations in America and make them play what he liked only.
Rock and Roll was about diversity in songs, so it had to be heard else where.

Big ' gateway to make sure nuthin' creative gets thru to public ears. Only comformity. Well-produced, but market-research driven music that's so simple anyone can make it at home makes it htru the gateway 'because $$ changes hands to put it there.

Corporations ruin everything they get their big grubby greedy hands on. They'll squeeze every last penny out of whatever it is and then toss it in a grave to finally die.

12 Billboard

Thanks to this chart of crap, you are basically being told what to listen to. The painful thing is that most of it is trashy pop music. Whenever rock music pops up on there these days, it's just pop music with a barely audible guitar.

A list made by corporate idiots to tell people to listen to that song, which eventually is nothing but cheap beats and bad lyrics

13 The Internet

Not the whole of Internet, but social networks like Facebook, Instagram and part of YouTube (the popular one) destroyed society. It should have remained underground.

The internet has changed everything in the world and rock music is no exception. Its made obtaining and listening to music so much easier and more convenient than ever. As a result, people are no longer confined to what the radio plays. Instead, they can listen to hundreds of bands and/or artists in an instant. This should be #1.

Currently I'm listening to Judas Priest on Youtube. For me personally, Internet hasn't killed rock and roll, quite the reverse - sometimes it's the only place where you can find rare records. Rock records.

The internet did not killed rock!

14 The Death of Elvis

The death of Elvis didn't really killed Rock music. It killed " The King of Rock ". After Elvis's death many people rediscovered fifties rock and that did even give a rock and roll revival in the late 70's and early 80's. Many fifties Rockabilly compilations came out on records again. Besides Elvis Presley is still today the most selling death artist on vinyl and Cd's.

15 Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber (born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer. He currently resides in Ontario, Canada and is Christian. He is the son of author Pattie Mallette. ...read more.

He brainwashed society and ruined everyone's lives.
And a new genre was born: Retarded baby pop.

Rock was already dying and this guy came and smashed it..

He killed everything, including my erection.

Not just Bieber per se, but what he represents: the rise of the YouTuber.

16 Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. is an American rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. He was discovered by Brian "Baby" "Birdman" Williams at a very young age, and was signed to Cash Money Records, where he would be one quarter of the rap group Hot Boys. In the years to follow, he would go on to find his own ...read more.

Saying that he killed Rock is like saying that he changed music. That all what became before him is obsolete and all that comes after him is his legacy. He is just one of the many bad artists of today's music with no importance in the history of music. Will be forgotten in a couple of years.

17 Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney, is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California.

Whoever said that Miley and the Jonas are crap just took the words out of my mouth! I think there's not a single person in this world worse than them

I hate disney particularly because of Miley Cyrus and who put Michael Jackson on this list? You bastards! Michael Jackson is pure pwnage!

Ralph Breaks the Internet, enough said!

18 Mainstream Music

Mainstream is the equivalent of popular. While popular can change ( fifties Rock became popular during the sixties, later on it was Disco that was the most popular, then Rap, Techno etc... ), mainstream means the category of a certain type of music who went to popular to a kind of accepted music by all. It usually becomes mainstream when big money can be done by record companies, radio stations or by promoters for concerts. When something new, fresh and gets many bad critics ( not accepted by all ) becomes an acceptance by cultural standards, it becomes at the same time commercial. Rock and Roll should be for a elite, should be dangerous against the political correctness and most of all, it should be property for singers, songwriters, instrument players and fans and not for some executives who decides what all people should hear and buy ( the commercial aspect of music ). Mainstream Rock began in the late sixties and in the seventies it was so mainstream that it opened doors for other ...more

19 Grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is a subgenre of alternative rock and a subculture that emerged during the mid-1980s.

Let's make one thing clear, grunge did not help rock and roll. Many great sounding bands, including definitely Leppard and The Outfield, suffered and got buried because that stupid grunge became popular. I like some alternative stuff but I would agree that grunge and alt rock helped kill rock and roll.

Grunge didn't kill Rockmusic. In a way,you even could say that Grunge helped for the survival of Rockmusic. Rock was at a very low point ( in popularity ) in the early nineties. Grunge was an inspiration for many new groups who wanted to pick up their instruments and play Rock. Even new Indie-labels were born because of Grunge. It made Rock and Roll popular ( at least for a while ) again.

Rock was a form of music that empowered its listeners. Grunge was so down on itself that it was easy to see kids turn to the false promises of Rap. Rap wasn't ever positive like Rock, but it did not call itself a loser, as Grunge did.

Grunge ruined music alltogether, music is all about emotions, love, happiness, etc, but it never was about death. Music is all about being alive. Grunge is all negativity, encourages suicide, encourages hatred, madness, anger, etc.

20 Miley Cyrus
21 Green Day

Rock could have survived if it had somewhere to go. Green Day is the ultimate symbol of the lack of new ideas in rock after grunge faded; when rock is stuck in a rut of repetitive and derivative crap like the stuff Green Day writes, it is bound to go underground.

They play a few power chords sing like 14 yearolds who couldn't play a guitar solo to save there life
I'm not saying there bad per say but its not my cup of tea. smashing guitars and whining isn't what id call music its just sad to watch listen to

I am not appose to Green Day It's just the way they played and sing helped kill rock. they wanted to destoy the machine rock wanted to fix it

No they didn't

22 Kurt Cobain's Death
23 Vevo

It ruined the art of music video in ways I can't describe. Idiots.

24 Drug Abuse

Drug abuse was always part of music. All or almost Jazz musician in the 40's and 50's was a heroin addict. Is Jazz dead? No. Same in rock, in the fifties and sixties amphetamines were common and without drugs like LSD and other hallucinogenic drugs we would never had psychedelic music in the late sixties. Rock didn't die after the " psychedelic " era. It survived the seventies ( the punk movement in 1977 ), the eighties and so on... What made rockmusic less popular wasn't drugs. Disco in the seventies, Rap in the late seventies / early eighties and Electronic music ( Techno, House... ) became more and more popular and replaced the Rock in the nineties.

Drugs were used by artists from the begining of art. but when Rock and roll Came along suddenly musician started dropping like flies. Drugs were the easiest way to take out a controversial musician. If a musician was a threat to any social norm, they had better not be taking any drugs. If they did, they would suddenly die of a drug over dose.

Some of Rocks best and brightest were stopped in their prime by a "Drug Overdose" forced onto them when no one else was around.

Drugs can destroy creativity, that's why many artists start going downhill, after one or two records.

25 Corporate Radio

Especially Rock Stations: By playing the same late 70's early 80's songs over and over an entire generation of great artist were lost to the mainstream. For example when have you ever heard Clutch on the radio.

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