By Josh Graham, Chloe Hill and Oli Harbord

The origins of the pop rock genre come from the early 1950’s where the guitar and bass guitar accompanied such singers as Elvis Presley and chuck berry. This music was popular and catchy to the public yet had the original hints of rock which has changed ever so much over the years.

As time moved on into the 1960’s rock and roll became pop rock and split into sub categories. Such bands like the beatles provided mellow rock sounds which capitalised on the pop culture and also the A list celebrity culture soon became the major thing. Through the beatlesthe stardom grew. Something that any teenager of that era was the main focus of their life. Artists such as jimi hendrix also came onto the scene and mixed up the sounds we were hearing.

1960’s is when music really took off. This new wave of music gave people inspiration and lead to different genres all deriving from the 1950’s rockabilly genre that the people grew up with. The rolling stones, the who and Jimi Hendrix lead on to the heavier rock genres. 1960’s also saw hippies and punks starting to develop which both enjoyed bands of the pop rock genre. This was experienced at Woodstock in 1969

As time moved on so did the pop rock genre although now it had became that umbrella term over many bands and sub genres. Mainstream rock went into soft and hard rock. Soft rock involving Fleetwood mac and rod Stewart and hard rock being led zeppelin and the punk scene which had by now developed into a massive scene with the Ramones, the clash and the sex pistols leading the way. Yet this era lasted no more than 5 years before punk died with the sex pistols.

Obviously punk rock is not our genre. Soft rock was the kind of background which continued on into pop rock music. Fleetwood mac and queen were soft rock bands which were key in the soft rock genre. These bands were stylish and began involving the weird and extrodinary rock star look that comes with being a star in this music scene.

The 1980’s saw disco dominate the major music scene with the pop rock taking a back seat. Rock began to distance itself apart more and more with glam rock, metal and alternative being different scenes people followed. pop rock was more alternative at this point. Bands like R.E.M were the main trend setters. This music was hyper rational and futuristic byt still had hints of punk which drew crowds in. 1980’s was a lull in pop rock. It had been swolledup and spat out.

The 1990’s saw the huge serge of pop rock culture with garage bands making music easily and the biggest artists also going into the punk and rock resurgence that came back in this era. Micheal jacksonstarted exploring into the rock genre with billie jean. Many major bands were reknowned for theur rock culture and style which became so popular for the people of the time.

The bands from America which made the new scene of pop rock as we know it today with bands being male fronted with the iconistic style and somewhat childish nature of partying. Blink 182, foo fighters, red hot chilli peppers and green day being on the horizon in this era. This style echoed across the us and uk. The style was a mix of punk rhythms with a mix of catchy pop culture which seemed to speak to the masses. Even groups could mix grunge with pop to make post grunge under the pop rock banner In the form of nirvana.

Pop rocks resurgence continued into the early 2000’s with new upcoming bands who were really just teens playing for the fun of it yet getting a lot of public attention. Yet, rock as a whole took a serious blow and was almost swippedfrom the top 40’s. The bands worldwide knowledge was selling but not selling in masses. Bands image became one of rebellion and linked to skating. Blink 182 lead this style of pop rock into the new century.

Pop rock became divided into many sub genres such as garage rock, new wave and post punk which all carried similar themes. Many of todays rocks big names are still going strong including fall out boy, the darkness and the white stripes. Their iconisticmanor yet bad boy attitude became a desired trait of many young influencialteens. Also saw first appearances from The killers and oasis in the early 2000’s

In 2010 the rock world seems to be consistantlystable with all genres and sub genres having major well known artists. Indie rock and alternative rock have had a huge surge with the hipster culture which began in the early years of the era. With such success the bands for the previous era have been wondering too and from of the genres.

Many successful bands continue to thrive well in the charts and the latest surge of hard rock with a punk attitude is now appearing. Pop rock is still there yet the artists within the genre are now experimenting and following suit of the new successful bands of royal blood and the surge of heavy rock with bring me the horizon and of mice and men. The pop rock genre will return again soon without question. Yet is still present but merely in a different form and under a new name of ‘progressive rock’.