\n\tA decade ago, Gene Simmons of Kiss made a declaration: rock is officially dead. Or as he told Esquire, it was \u201cmurdered\u201d by an era of piracy and file-sharing. The guitar, he lambasted, was becoming a relic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tOver a decade later, it would appear that reports of the genre\u2019s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Halfway through 2025, rock is among the fastest-growing genres in the country, according to Luminate\u2019s just-released midyear report<\/a>, outpacing both Latin and country in the U.S.<\/p>\n \n\tLeading the rock charge are a pair of newcomers: Sweden\u2019s Ghost and British best new artist contenders Sleep Token, who both managed to top the Billboard 200 album chart within two weeks of each other in May, ending a years-long rock drought. In Sleep Token\u2019s case, the band\u2019s Even in Arcadia broke the record<\/a> for most-streamed hard rock album in one week, Billboard reported at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tIn the indie-rock corner, Wet Leg<\/a> looks like a future Grammy contender with its latest, Moisturizer, which nabbed the band\u2019s second-consecutive U.K. number one last week, outpacing Oasis, whose much-anticipated reunion tour launched in July, on the chart.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cEverything is cyclical,\u201d says RCA senior vice president of A&R Dan Chertoff, who co-signed Sleep Token to the label last year. \u201cAll it takes is one artist, one brilliant songwriter, and that can affect an entire genre.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOlder legacy rock has slingshotted too. Creed has unexpectedly \u2014 and unironically \u2014 become one of the most-beloved acts on TikTok with hits like \u201cHigher\u201d and \u201cOne Last Breath\u201d both getting featured in hundreds of thousands of videos. And as Luminate reported in its midyear report, Led Zeppelin\u2019s streaming numbers have jumped 23 percent over the past four months since the documentary Becoming Led Zeppelin<\/a> dropped.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tStill, rock has long been plagued by a perception that new guitar-based bands are derivative \u2014 a genre of schticky knock-offs looking to rekindle the glory days. But today, acts like Turnstile and Alex G are redefining the sound and bringing back its social currency.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cRock is having success again because it\u2019s fresh and unique,\u201d says IAG head of global artist development Nick Storch, booking agent for Sleep Token, Ghost and Disturbed among others. That new acts can be easily and instantly discovered on streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music<\/a> also helps.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tSays Chertoff: \u201cThe younger demographic\u2019s listening habits are non-linear. Listening to these classic artists that were put out decades ago has helped them get turned on to new artists too.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSean Heydorn, svp of Rise Records and Frontline Catalog at BMG, whose roster includes rising metal band Spiritbox, argues rock\u2019s revival may be a response to the streaming era\u2019s algorithmic pop discovery leading fans to find other music instead.\u00a0\u201cWhile that helps fans discover what they like, it also leads to a bit of a homogenous sound,\u201d Heydorn says. \u201cAfter years of being led to music this way \u2014 and a lot of it is great \u2014 I think it\u2019s also creating this itch for something more raw and real.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tWhen it comes to the live music economy, rock\u2018s been over-indexing at arenas and amphitheatres well before this year, with nostalgia perennials like Def Leppard and decade-specific bills fill seats in the summer months. In Sleep Token\u2019s case, the band sold out its upcoming 17-date arena tour in a matter of hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cRock hasn\u2019t been cool all the time, but it\u2019s consistent,\u201d Storch says. \u201cThe fans are loyal longer, they\u2019re part of a community. I don\u2019t know if there\u2019s any one thing we can say is causing the spike, but people want more than just pop-driven artists. They want depth. And there\u2019ve been artists who\u2019ve been building for years \u2014 off each other in their own ways. And they\u2019re keeping doors open for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n