100 Most Popular Rock Bands of All Time

When Bill Haley and the Comets helped launch the rock and roll era with their hit “Rock Around the Clock” in the mid-1950s, few people imagined the profound effect that the raucous music would have on world culture, or that it would endure into the 21st century.

Rock and roll, more than any other music, is the genre of rebellion and change. And in the 1960s and 1970s, when the music form was at its zenith in popularity, bands such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin that tapped into the issues upending the culture — from drugs to love to war — remain the most popular groups of all time.

Using a number of different metrics, 24/7 Wall St. has identified the 100 most popular rock bands of all time. The selection of these artists is based on measures such as record sales, Billboard performance, Wikipedia page views, Facebook “likes,” and popularity on the online streaming platform Spotify. While there are many great rock performers who are better known as solo artists – such as Prince, David Bowie, and Elvis Presley – 24/7 Wall St. included only bands for this article.

100. The Strokes

Source: Jonathan Leibson / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 2.4 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 1.5 million
> Most popular album: Is This It

99. Steve Miller Band

Source: Scott Gries / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 0.8 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 25.5 million
> Most popular album: Fly Like an Eagle

98. Nine Inch Nails

Source: Christopher Polk / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.0 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 10.5 million
> Most popular album: The Downward Spiral

97. Foster the People

Source: Theo Wargo / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 2.3 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 1 million
> Most popular album: Torches

96. The Cars

Source: Kevin Winter / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 0.5 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 23.5 million
> Most popular album: The Cars

95. 30 Seconds to Mars

Source: Emma McIntyre / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.9 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 1.5 million
> Most popular album: A Beautiful Lie

94. Creed

Source: Scott Gries / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.2 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 25 million
> Most popular album: Human Clay

93. Scorpions

Source: Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.7 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 10.5 million
> Most popular album: Love at First Sting

92. The Monkees

Source: NBC Television / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 0.4 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 18 million
> Most popular album: The Monkees

91. Ramones

Source: Keystone / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.3 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 1 million
> Most popular album: Ramones

90. Jefferson Airplane

Source: RCA Records / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 0.6 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 14 million
> Most popular album: Surrealistic Pillow

89. Grateful Dead

Source: Cory Schwartz / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 0.6 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 18.5 million
> Most popular album: In the Dark

88. The Black Keys

Source: Mike Coppola / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 2.6 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 5 million
> Most popular album: El Camino

87. Judas Priest

Source: Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.2 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 9.5 million
> Most popular album: Screaming for Vengeance

86. Electric Light Orchestra

Source: Hulton Archive / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.1 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 10 million
> Most popular album: Discovery

85. Papa Roach

Source: Ethan Miller / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 2.3 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 4.5 million
> Most popular album: Infest

84. The Offspring

Source: wonker / Wikimedia Commons

> Spotify followers: 2.5 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 14.5 million
> Most popular album: Smash

83. 3 Doors Down

Source: Al Bello / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.8 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 12 million
> Most popular album: The Better Life

82. Motörhead

Source: Dave Etheridge-Barnes / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.4 million
> All time U.S. album sales: N/A
> Most popular album: Ace of Spades

81. Foreigner

Source: Hulton Archive / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 0.9 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 37.5 million
> Most popular album: Double Vision

80. Queens of the Stone Age

Source: Mark Metcalfe / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.6 million
> All time U.S. album sales: N/A
> Most popular album: …Like Clockwork

79. Megadeth

Source: Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.7 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 6.5 million
> Most popular album: Countdown to Extinction

78. The Cure

Source: David Wolff - Patrick / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.6 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 8.5 million
> Most popular album: Disintegration

77. Soundgarden

Source: Buda Mendes / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.5 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 9 million
> Most popular album: Superunknown

76. Rush

Source: Hulton Archive / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 0.9 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 25 million
> Most popular album: Moving Pictures

75. Disturbed

Source: Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 2.3 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 11.5 million
> Most popular album: The Sickness

74. Three Days Grace

Source: Ethan Miller / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 2.4 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 6 million
> Most popular album: One-X

73. Pantera

Source: George De Sota / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.7 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 7 million
> Most popular album: Vulgar Display of Power

72. Five Finger Death Punch

Source: Ethan Miller / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 2.5 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 4.5 million
> Most popular album: The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1

71. Oasis

Source: Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 3.1 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 6 million
> Most popular album: What’s the Story Morning Glory?

70. Rammstein

Source: Nick Laham / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 2.1 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 1 million
> Most popular album: Sehnsucht

69. Limp Bizkit

Source: Robert Mora / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 2.1 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 16.5 million
> Most popular album: Significant Other

68. Rage Against the Machine

Source: Ethan Miller / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 2.3 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 9 million
> Most popular album: Evil Empire

67. Alice in Chains

Source: Janette Pellegrini / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.7 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 12.5 million
> Most popular album: Dirt

66. The Animals

Source: Potter / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 0.9 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 0.5 million
> Most popular album: The Animals

65. R.E.M.

Source: Kevin Winter / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.4 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 20 million
> Most popular album: Monster

64. The Cranberries

Source: Paul Jeffers / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.3 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 14.5 million
> Most popular album: No Need to Argue

63. Depeche Mode

Source: Noam Wind / Shutterstock.com

> Spotify followers: 1.7 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 10.5 million
> Most popular album: Violator

62. Heart

Source: Hulton Archive / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 0.7 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 22.5 million
> Most popular album: Heart

61. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Source: Rick Diamond / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 0.7 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 31.5 million
> Most popular album: Full Moon Fever

60. Dire Straits

Source: Theo Wargo / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.6 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 15.5 million
> Most popular album: Brothers in Arms

59. Simon and Garfunkel

Source: Central Press / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.4 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 38.5 million
> Most popular album: Bridge Over Troubled Water

58. ZZ Top

Source: Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.6 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 25 million
> Most popular album: Eliminator

57. The Beach Boys

Source: Hulton Archive / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.5 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 22.5 million
> Most popular album: Pet Sounds

56. Kings of Leon

Source: Theo Wargo / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 3.5 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 2.5 million
> Most popular album: Only by the Night

55. The Police

Source: Hulton Archive / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 2.0 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 22 million
> Most popular album: Synchronicity

54. Deep Purple

Source: John Minihan / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.9 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 7.5 million
> Most popular album: Machine Head

53. Santana

Source: Theo Wargo / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 0.9 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 43.5 million
> Most popular album: Supernatural

52. Journey

Source: Ethan Miller / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.6 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 48 million
> Most popular album: Escape

51. Slipknot

Source: Jo Hale / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 3.7 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 6 million
> Most popular album: Slipknot

50. The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Source: Hulton Archive / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 2.6 million
> All time U.S. album sales: N/A
> Most popular album: Are You Experienced

49. Kiss

Source: Peter Cade / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 2.8 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 21 million
> Most popular album: Destroyer

48. Boston

Source: Wikimedia Commons

> Spotify followers: 0.8 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 31 million
> Most popular album: Boston

47. Def Leppard

Source: Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.4 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 35.5 million
> Most popular album: Hysteria

46. The Script

Source: Tristan Fewings / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 4.1 million
> All time U.S. album sales: . million
> Most popular album: Science & Faith

45. The Killers

Source: Kobby Dagan / Shutterstock.com

> Spotify followers: 3.9 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 4.5 million
> Most popular album: Hot Fuss

44. Korn

Source: Northfoto / Shutterstock.com

> Spotify followers: 2.5 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 16.5 million
> Most popular album: Follow the Leader

43. Avenged Sevenfold

Source: Ethan Miller / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 2.5 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 3 million
> Most popular album: City of Evil

42. Muse

Source: Christopher Polk / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 4.1 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 3.5 million
> Most popular album: The Resistance

41. Evanescence

Source: Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 2.0 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 9.5 million
> Most popular album: Fallen

40. Marilyn Manson

Source: Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.7 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 4.5 million
> Most popular album: Mechanical Animals

39. Radiohead

Source: Jim Dyson / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 3.5 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 6.5 million
> Most popular album: OK Computer

38. Fall Out Boy

Source: Kevin Winter / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 5.2 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 6 million
> Most popular album: From Under the Cork Tree

37. Panic! at the Disco

Source: Isaac Brekken / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 5.0 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 4.5 million
> Most popular album: A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out

36. OneRepublic

Source: Ian Gavan / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 5.7 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 2 million
> Most popular album: Native

35. Nickelback

Source: Antonio Scorza / Shutterstock.com

> Spotify followers: 3.1 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 24 million
> Most popular album: All the Right Reasons

34. Blink-182

> Spotify followers: 4.4 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 10 million
> Most popular album: Enema of the State

33. Arctic Monkeys

Source: Mark Metcalfe / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 6.6 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 1.5 million
> Most popular album: AM

32. The Who

Source: Keystone / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 2.0 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 21 million
> Most popular album: Who’s Next

31. Creedence Clearwater Revival

Source: Evening Standard / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 2.1 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 28 million
> Most popular album: Cosmo’s Factory

30. Iron Maiden

Source: Karl Walter / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 3.5 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 6.5 million
> Most popular album: Somewhere in Time

29. Gorillaz

Source: Christian Bertrand / Shutterstock.com

> Spotify followers: 3.4 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 3 million
> Most popular album: Demon Days

28. System of a Down

Source: Kevin Winter / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 4.2 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 7 million
> Most popular album: Toxicity

27. Van Halen

Source: Ethan Miller / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.9 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 56.5 million
> Most popular album: 1984

26. Lynyrd Skynyrd

Source: Scott Harrison / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 1.6 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 28.5 million
> Most popular album: Street Survivors

25. Paramore

Source: yakub88 / Shutterstock.com

> Spotify followers: 3.5 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 4.5 million
> Most popular album: Riot!

24. Pearl Jam

Source: Rob Loud / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 3.9 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 31.5 million
> Most popular album: Ten

23. Foo Fighters

Source: Kevin Winter / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 5.3 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 7 million
> Most popular album: Wasting Light

22. Black Sabbath

Source: Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 3.0 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 15 million
> Most popular album: Paranoid

21. Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band

Source: Malcolm Clarke / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 0.4 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 44.5 million
> Most popular album: Stranger in Town

20. U2

Source: Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 3.5 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 52 million
> Most popular album: The Joshua Tree

19. The Doors

Source: Central Press / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 3.2 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 33 million
> Most popular album: The Doors

18. Fleetwood Mac

Source: Gaye Gerard / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 2.4 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 49.5 million
> Most popular album: Rumours

17. Eagles

Source: Rick Diamond / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 2.0 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 120 million
> Most popular album: Hotel California

16. Bon Jovi

Source: Graham Denholm / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 4.2 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 34.5 million
> Most popular album: Slippery When Wet

15. Aerosmith

Source: Larry Busacca / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 5.2 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 66.5 million
> Most popular album: Toys in the Attic

14. Nirvana

Source: Mike Lawrie / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 7.3 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 25 million
> Most popular album: Nevermind

13. Green Day

Source: Christopher Polk / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 7.4 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 24 million
> Most popular album: Dookie

12. Red Hot Chili Peppers

Source: Christopher Polk / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 8.5 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 25 million
> Most popular album: Blood Sugar Sex Magik

11. Maroon 5

Source: Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 13.2 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 12.5 million
> Most popular album: Songs About Jane

10. The Rolling Stones

Source: J. Wilds / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 5.5 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 66.5 million
> Most popular album: Hot Rocks

9. Guns N’ Roses

Source: Kevin Winter / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 8.9 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 44.5 million
> Most popular album: Appetite for Destruction

8. Coldplay

> Spotify followers: 14.8 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 14.5 million
> Most popular album: A Rush of Blood to the Head

7. Metallica

Source: Yulia Grigoryeva / Shutterstock.com

> Spotify followers: 8.2 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 63 million
> Most popular album: Metallica

6. Queen

Source: Fox Photos / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 9.5 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 34.5 million
> Most popular album: The Game

5. AC/DC

Source: Kevin Mazur / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 8.6 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 72 million
> Most popular album: Back in Black

4. Linkin Park

Source: Ethan Miller / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 10.1 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 27 million
> Most popular album: Hybrid Theory

3. Pink Floyd

Source: Keystone Features / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 7.0 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 75 million
> Most popular album: The Wall

2. Led Zeppelin

Source: Hulton Archive / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 5.8 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 111.5 million
> Most popular album: Led Zeppelin IV

1. The Beatles

Source: John Pratt / Getty Images

> Spotify followers: 9.5 million
> All time U.S. album sales: 178 million
> Most popular album: The Beatles

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