Special Report

100 Most Popular Rock Bands of All Time

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While types of music such as hip hop and pop have become increasingly fashionable in recent years, rock music remains hugely popular. Since the 1950s, music fans have been drawn to the genre’s energy and rebellious identity, keeping it alive from one generation to the next.

Rock music has always been an innovative genre, with pioneering groups like The Beatles and The Beach Boys setting a precedent with their musical experimentations. This has resulted in seemingly endless subgenres such as heavy metal, power pop, and psychedelic rock. More modern sounds — especially those borrowed from electronic music — have pushed rock music even further into new territory. Today there are rock bands that appeal to fans with all different sorts of preferences.

Music consumption and artist appreciation today are far different than what they used to be. While some rock fans may still listen to vinyl records and hang posters of their favorite bands, most use streaming services like Spotify to listen to their favorite artists and social media to follow them.

Using several different metrics, 24/7 Tempo has identified the 100 most popular rock bands of all time. The selection of these artists was based on measures such as Wikipedia page views, Facebook “likes,” and popularity on the online streaming platform Spotify. While there may be great rock performers born in years past who are better known as solo artists – such as Prince, David Bowie, and Elvis Presley – 24/7 Tempo included only bands for this article.

Some of the most popular bands are newer or at least currently active. These artists utilize social media to build and engage with their fanbase. Yet more classic acts from the 1960s and 1970s are still hugely popular, indicating that the most iconic bands will endure for as long as people listen to rock.

Click here to see the 100 most popular rock bands of all time.

To determine the most popular rock bands of all time, 24/7 Tempo generated an index based on the popularity of a band’s Wikipedia page, popularity on Spotify, popularity on Facebook, and Ranker user votes. Each component of the index was given equal weight except for Ranker user votes, which was weighted twice as heavily because of the significant nature of fan opinion.

Wikipedia page views were calculated for the past two years, from March 4, 2017 to March 4, 2019. Popularity on Spotify was based on the number of followers on Spotify. User votes came from a list on crowdsourced ranking platform Ranker that ranked the best rock bands of all time. To be included on our list, a band had to appear on this Ranker list.

A band’s best-selling album is based on Recording Industry Association of America data for U.S. album sales. In cases where a band had multiple albums that sold the same number of copies, the album that performed best on the Billboard 200 chart was selected.

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100. Rise Against
> Spotify followers: 1.8 million
> Facebook likes: 4.1 million
> Best selling album: Appeal to Reason

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Ethan Miller / Getty Images

99. Shinedown
> Spotify followers: 1.9 million
> Facebook likes: 2.8 million
> Best selling album: The Sound of Madness

Hulton Archive / Getty Images

98. The Clash
> Spotify followers: 1.5 million
> Facebook likes: 4.0 million
> Best selling album: Combat Rock

Jo Hale / Getty Images

97. The Smiths
> Spotify followers: 1.7 million
> Facebook likes: 3.9 million
> Best selling album: Strangeways, Here We Come

Kobby Dagan / Shutterstock.com

96. Weezer
> Spotify followers: 1.6 million
> Facebook likes: 3.3 million
> Best selling album: Weezer

Neilson Barnard / Getty Images

95. Stone Temple Pilots
> Spotify followers: 1.5 million
> Facebook likes: 2.4 million
> Best selling album: Core

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94. 3 Doors Down
> Spotify followers: 2.1 million
> Facebook likes: 6.0 million
> Best selling album: The Better Life

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93. Queens of the Stone Age
> Spotify followers: 1.8 million
> Facebook likes: 3.0 million
> Best selling album: …Like Clockwork

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92. Steely Dan
> Spotify followers: 0.5 million
> Facebook likes: 1.0 million
> Best selling album: Aja

Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

91. Mötley Crüe
> Spotify followers: 1.7 million
> Facebook likes: 4.1 million
> Best selling album: Dr. Feelgood

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90. Sum 41
> Spotify followers: 2.0 million
> Facebook likes: 4.2 million
> Best selling album: All Killer No Filler

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89. Judas Priest
> Spotify followers: 1.5 million
> Facebook likes: 4.5 million
> Best selling album: Screaming for Vengeance

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88. Motörhead
> Spotify followers: 1.7 million
> Facebook likes: 2.7 million
> Best selling album: Ace of Spades

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87. The Strokes
> Spotify followers: 2.6 million
> Facebook likes: 4.2 million
> Best selling album: Is This It

Ethan Miller / Getty Images

86. Slayer
> Spotify followers: 1.6 million
> Facebook likes: 4.8 million
> Best selling album: Divine Intervention

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85. Scorpions
> Spotify followers: 2.2 million
> Facebook likes: 6.8 million
> Best selling album: Love at First Sting

Hulton Archive / Getty Images

84. Rush
> Spotify followers: 1.0 million
> Facebook likes: 2.9 million
> Best selling album: Moving Pictures

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83. Slipknot
> Spotify followers: 0.3 million
> Facebook likes: 17.6 million
> Best selling album: Slipknot

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82. The Kinks
> Spotify followers: 1.1 million
> Facebook likes: 1.3 million
> Best selling album: Low Budget

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81. Breaking Benjamin
> Spotify followers: 2.3 million
> Facebook likes: 5.7 million
> Best selling album: Phobia

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80. Bullet for My Valentine
> Spotify followers: 1.6 million
> Facebook likes: 8.3 million
> Best selling album: The Poison

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79. 30 Seconds to Mars
> Spotify followers: 2.2 million
> Facebook likes: 9.9 million
> Best selling album: A Beautiful Lie

Matt Becker / Wikimedia Commons

78. Journey
> Spotify followers: 2.0 million
> Facebook likes: 5.8 million
> Best selling album: Escape

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77. Foster the People
> Spotify followers: 2.5 million
> Facebook likes: 4.4 million
> Best selling album: Torches

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76. Ramones
> Spotify followers: 1.4 million
> Facebook likes: 5.6 million
> Best selling album: The Ramones

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75. Simon and Garfunkel
> Spotify followers: 1.8 million
> Facebook likes: 3.2 million
> Best selling album: Bridge Over Troubled Water

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74. The Smashing Pumpkins
> Spotify followers: 2.0 million
> Facebook likes: 4.0 million
> Best selling album: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

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Hulton Archive / Getty Images

73. Electric Light Orchestra
> Spotify followers: 1.4 million
> Facebook likes: 1.6 million
> Best selling album: Discovery

wonker / Wikimedia Commons

72. The Offspring
> Spotify followers: 2.8 million
> Facebook likes: 6.0 million
> Best selling album: Smash

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71. Disturbed
> Spotify followers: 2.8 million
> Facebook likes: 10.9 million
> Best selling album: The Sickness

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70. Megadeth
> Spotify followers: 2.0 million
> Facebook likes: 7.9 million
> Best selling album: Countdown to Extinction

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69. The Cure
> Spotify followers: 1.9 million
> Facebook likes: 6.4 million
> Best selling album: Disintegration

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68. Limp Bizkit
> Spotify followers: 2.5 million
> Facebook likes: 4.8 million
> Best selling album: Significant Other

Andrew H. Walker / Getty Images

67. Heart
> Spotify followers: 0.9 million
> Facebook likes: 2.2 million
> Best selling album: Heart

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66. Pantera
> Spotify followers: 2.0 million
> Facebook likes: 8.7 million
> Best selling album: Vulgar Display of Power

Hulton Archive / Getty Images

65. The Beach Boys
> Spotify followers: 1.9 million
> Facebook likes: 1.9 million
> Best selling album: Pet Sounds

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64. The Police
> Spotify followers: 0.9 million
> Facebook likes: 5.5 million
> Best selling album: Synchronicity

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63. Soundgarden
> Spotify followers: 1.8 million
> Facebook likes: 2.8 million
> Best selling album: Superunknown

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62. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
> Spotify followers: 0.9 million
> Facebook likes: 3.3 million
> Best selling album: Full Moon Fever

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61. R.E.M.
> Spotify followers: 1.8 million
> Facebook likes: 4.5 million
> Best selling album: Monster

Ethan Miller / Getty Images

60. Three Days Grace
> Spotify followers: 2.8 million
> Facebook likes: 7.5 million
> Best selling album: One-X

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59. ZZ Top
> Spotify followers: 1.9 million
> Facebook likes: 4.8 million
> Best selling album: Eliminator

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58. Rage Against the Machine
> Spotify followers: 2.6 million
> Facebook likes: 4.4 million
> Best selling album: Evil Empire

Marcelafae / Wikimedia Commons

57. Alice in Chains
> Spotify followers: 2.0 million
> Facebook likes: 4.9 million
> Best selling album: Dirt

Hulton Archive / Getty Images

56. The Jimi Hendrix Experience
> Spotify followers: 3.1 million
> Facebook likes: 8.5 million
> Best selling album: Are You Experienced

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55. Def Leppard
> Spotify followers: 1.8 million
> Facebook likes: 5.3 million
> Best selling album: Hysteria

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54. Depeche Mode
> Spotify followers: 2.1 million
> Facebook likes: 7.2 million
> Best selling album: Violator

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53. Boston
> Spotify followers: 1.0 million
> Facebook likes: 2.2 million
> Best selling album: Boston

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52. Oasis
> Spotify followers: 3.8 million
> Facebook likes: 8.8 million
> Best selling album: (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?

Ethan Miller / Getty Images

51. Five Finger Death Punch
> Spotify followers: 3.1 million
> Facebook likes: 4.8 million
> Best selling album: The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1

musicnewsaustralia / Flickr

50. The Cranberries
> Spotify followers: 1.5 million
> Facebook likes: 4.0 million
> Best selling album: No Need to Argue

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49. Cream
> Spotify followers: 2.6 million
> Facebook likes: 5.5 million
> Best selling album: Disraeli Gears

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48. Chicago
> Spotify followers: 1.2 million
> Facebook likes: 1.3 million
> Best selling album: Chicago 17

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47. Kiss
> Spotify followers: 3.4 million
> Facebook likes: 12.4 million
> Best selling album: Destroyer

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46. Rammstein
> Spotify followers: 2.7 million
> Facebook likes: 8.7 million
> Best selling album: Sehnsucht

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45. Kings of Leon
> Spotify followers: 3.8 million
> Facebook likes: 11.2 million
> Best selling album: Only by the Night

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44. Dire Straits
> Spotify followers: 2.3 million
> Facebook likes: 3.3 million
> Best selling album: Brothers in Arms

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43. Korn
> Spotify followers: 2.9 million
> Facebook likes: 12.6 million
> Best selling album: Follow the Leader

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42. Nickelback
> Spotify followers: 3.5 million
> Facebook likes: 17.7 million
> Best selling album: All the Right Reasons

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41. Deep Purple
> Spotify followers: 2.3 million
> Facebook likes: 1.6 million
> Best selling album: Machine Head

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40. Van Halen
> Spotify followers: 2.3 million
> Facebook likes: 5.6 million
> Best selling album: 1984

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39. Eagles
> Spotify followers: 3.0 million
> Facebook likes: 6.5 million
> Best selling album: Hotel California

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38. Avenged Sevenfold
> Spotify followers: 3.0 million
> Facebook likes: 16.7 million
> Best selling album: City of Evil

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37. The Killers
> Spotify followers: 4.4 million
> Facebook likes: 9.3 million
> Best selling album: Hot Fuss

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36. Muse
> Spotify followers: 4.7 million
> Facebook likes: 16.5 million
> Best selling album: The Resistance

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35. Evanescence
> Spotify followers: 2.2 million
> Facebook likes: 21.7 million
> Best selling album: Fallen

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34. U2
> Spotify followers: 4.7 million
> Facebook likes: 17.0 million
> Best selling album: The Joshua Tree

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33. Blink-182
> Spotify followers: 4.9 million
> Facebook likes: 10.1 million
> Best selling album: Enema of the State

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32. Marilyn Manson
> Spotify followers: 2.0 million
> Facebook likes: 6.8 million
> Best selling album: Mechanical Animals

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31. Radiohead
> Spotify followers: 4.1 million
> Facebook likes: 11.5 million
> Best selling album: OK Computer

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30. Fall Out Boy
> Spotify followers: 6.3 million
> Facebook likes: 9.1 million
> Best selling album: From Under the Cork Tree

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29. The Who
> Spotify followers: 2.4 million
> Facebook likes: 5.7 million
> Best selling album: Who’s Next

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28. System of a Down
> Spotify followers: 4.9 million
> Facebook likes: 19.4 million
> Best selling album: Toxicity

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27. Creedence Clearwater Revival
> Spotify followers: 2.5 million
> Facebook likes: 4.5 million
> Best selling album: Cosmo’s Factory

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26. Arctic Monkeys
> Spotify followers: 7.7 million
> Facebook likes: 7.2 million
> Best selling album: AM

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25. Gorillaz
> Spotify followers: 4.2 million
> Facebook likes: 9.8 million
> Best selling album: Demon Days

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24. Pearl Jam
> Spotify followers: 4.5 million
> Facebook likes: 10.4 million
> Best selling album: Ten

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23. Lynyrd Skynyrd
> Spotify followers: 1.9 million
> Facebook likes: 5.6 million
> Best selling album: Street Survivors

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22. Iron Maiden
> Spotify followers: 4.1 million
> Facebook likes: 13.5 million
> Best selling album: Somewhere in Time

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21. Paramore
> Spotify followers: 4.1 million
> Facebook likes: 25.3 million
> Best selling album: Riot!

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20. The Doors
> Spotify followers: 3.8 million
> Facebook likes: 16.4 million
> Best selling album: The Doors

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19. Fleetwood Mac
> Spotify followers: 3.1 million
> Facebook likes: 4.8 million
> Best selling album: Rumours

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18. Foo Fighters
> Spotify followers: 6.1 million
> Facebook likes: 11.8 million
> Best selling album: Wasting Light

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17. Black Sabbath
> Spotify followers: 3.4 million
> Facebook likes: 11.8 million
> Best selling album: Paranoid

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16. Aerosmith
> Spotify followers: 6.3 million
> Facebook likes: 16.1 million
> Best selling album: Toys in the Attic

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15. Bon Jovi
> Spotify followers: 5.4 million
> Facebook likes: 25.2 million
> Best selling album: Slippery When Wet

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14. Green Day
> Spotify followers: 8.6 million
> Facebook likes: 30.5 million
> Best selling album: Dookie

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13. Nirvana
> Spotify followers: 8.5 million
> Facebook likes: 26.8 million
> Best selling album: Nevermind

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12. The Rolling Stones
> Spotify followers: 6.5 million
> Facebook likes: 19.4 million
> Best selling album: Hot Rocks

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11. Red Hot Chili Peppers
> Spotify followers: 10.2 million
> Facebook likes: 27.3 million
> Best selling album: Blood Sugar Sex Magik

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10. Metallica
> Spotify followers: 10.1 million
> Facebook likes: 36.4 million
> Best selling album: Metallica

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9. Coldplay
> Spotify followers: 19.0 million
> Facebook likes: 38.4 million
> Best selling album: A Rush of Blood to the Head

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8. Maroon 5
> Spotify followers: 17.4 million
> Facebook likes: 37.8 million
> Best selling album: Songs About Jane

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7. Guns N’ Roses
> Spotify followers: 11.6 million
> Facebook likes: 29.8 million
> Best selling album: Appetite for Destruction

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6. AC/DC
> Spotify followers: 10.8 million
> Facebook likes: 29.3 million
> Best selling album: Back in Black

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5. Linkin Park
> Spotify followers: 12.1 million
> Facebook likes: 60.5 million
> Best selling album: Hybrid Theory

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4. Pink Floyd
> Spotify followers: 8.9 million
> Facebook likes: 28.3 million
> Best selling album: The Wall

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3. Led Zeppelin
> Spotify followers: 6.9 million
> Facebook likes: 13.4 million
> Best selling album: Led Zeppelin IV

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2. The Beatles
> Spotify followers: 11.6 million
> Facebook likes: 40.5 million
> Best selling album: The Beatles

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1. Queen
> Spotify followers: 15.0 million
> Facebook likes: 28.7 million
> Best selling album: The Game

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