Rock Legends

A look at the long career of the versatile rock/jazz/pop band Chicago, starting with Chicago Transit Authority in the late 1960s.

A look at the legendary music career of Texas blues rock band ZZ Top.

A look at the life and career of Glen Campbell, from his very poor Arkansas roots to a country-pop crossover superstar of the 1960s and 1970s.

American rock group the Steve Miller Band forms in San Francisco in 1966 and becomes best known for a string of 1970s hit singles that became staples of classic rock radio, as well as several earlier psychedelic rock albums.

The evolution of Journey, formed by members of Santana, Frumious Bandersnatch, The Tubes and Zappa's Mothers of Invention. From backup-guns-for-hire to local jazz-fusion to one of the most successful pop-rock bands of the 1980s.

A look at the history and music of the Motown group The Supremes, including the solo and acting career of lead singer Diana Ross.

A look at the influential soul, pop and gospel career of Al Green.

A look at the life and career of the trailblazing R&B musical artist Marvin Gaye, producing classic songs like 'I Heard it Through the Grapevine', 'Let's Get it On', 'What's Going On' and 'Sexual Healing.'

A look at the dual career of Smokey Robinson, lead singer-songwriter of the seminal Motown group The Miracles while also Vice President of Motown Records under Berry Gordy.

A look at the history and music of the British-American rock band Foreigner.

Born in 1953 in Brooklyn, N.Y., singer Pat Benatar works the club scene and finds her guitarist and future husband Neil Giraldo.

A look at the history and music of Patti Smith.

A look at the life and career of rock and roll trailblazer Little Richard, and a discussion of his influence on generations of musicians to follow.

A look at the history and music of the band Primal Scream.

A look at the history and music of the band Simple Minds.

For many music fans, the Motown Sound is the defining sound of 1960s pop, R&B, and soul music; with The Temptations, The Miracles, and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.

With Public Enemy, Ice Cube, and Big Daddy Kane; New York Hip Hop is a regional subgenre of hip hop music that originated in New York City during the 1970s.

New Wave is a form of rock music encompassing numerous pop-oriented music styles rooted in mid-1970s punk rock, with engendered sub-genres and fusions, and characteristics common to pop music.

In the 1930s, orally transmitted music was the heritage of many; the genre enjoyed a resurgence during the Great Depression.

With Featuring Motörhead, Testament, and AC/DC. Metal combines overdriven guitars with heavy drums, often double bass drums, bass lines working with and against guitar lines and vocals from voices at the limit of their power. In blues, the raw voice might sing over the gentle acoustic guitar or the mellow church organ. In hard rock, the overdriven guitar might howl against the slower groove of bass and drums. In metal, everything is at "10."

Punk music from The New York Dolls, The Ramones, and The Dead Kennedys is played cheap; with a stripped back fast and loud sound.

Throughout the 1980s, alternative rock increases in prominence and diversity.

Protest songs are written using traditional folk, hillbilly and bluegrass traditions; music artists overthrow 1950s attitudes, bringing civil rights, poverty and other issues into focus; with Joan Baez, Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger.

The pop rock sound of the 1970s and 1980s was a blend of punk minimalism, art rock synthesizer and pop melodies.