But 2019 was also the year of the biopic. Bohemian Rhapsody (released late 2018) swept the Oscars and dominated the box office early in 2019, causing Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" to re-enter the Billboard charts more than 40 years after its release. Later that year, Rocketman brought Elton John’s story to the masses.
As the evening wore on, Jack transitioned to his 1980s collection, putting on a record by Guns N' Roses. He chuckled to himself, remembering the raw energy and rebelliousness of the decade. The 1980s had brought a new wave of rock bands, like Van Halen, Bon Jovi, and Def Leppard, who infused the genre with a more polished, commercial sound. Jack recalled attending concerts, sporting big hair, and rocking out to anthemic choruses. Classic Rock 70s 80s 90s 2019
The most significant shift in 2019 was the official inclusion of the 1990s into the "Classic Rock" format. For boomers, this was controversial. For millennials, it was validation. By 2019, a 1991 Nirvana song was 28 years old—the same age difference as a 1970 Led Zeppelin song was in 1998. But 2019 was also the year of the biopic
Led Zeppelin untethered the blues with Led Zeppelin IV (1971). Black Sabbath invented heavy metal by accident because Tony Iommi lost his fingertips. Deep Purple gave us the riff of riffs in "Smoke on the Water." Pink Floyd turned existential dread into a quadraphonic masterpiece, The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), which spent 741 weeks on the Billboard charts. As the evening wore on, Jack transitioned to
As he reached the front row, the opening chords of "Stairway to Heaven" filled the air, and Alex felt a shiver run down his spine. It was 1971 all over again, and Jimmy Page was strumming the iconic guitar riffs on stage. Alex closed his eyes and let the music transport him to a bygone era.