The 1970s saw the rise of disco music, which dominated popular music during the last half of the decade. In response to this, rock music became increasingly hard edged with artists such as Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest and Black Sabbath -- now referred to as Heavy Metal music.
In Europe, there was a surge of popularity in the early decade for glam rock. The mid-seventies saw the rise of punk music from its protopunk/garage band roots in the 1960s and early 1970s. Major acts include the Ramones, Blondie, Patti Smith, the Sex Pistols, and The Clash. Both of these trends would increase in popularity in the 1980s. The highest-selling album was Pink Floyd's Dark Side of The Moon. It remained on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart for 741 weeks.
The first half of the 1970s saw many jazz musicians from the Miles Davis school achieve cross-over success through jazz-rock fusion. In Germany, Manfred Eicher started the ECM label, which quickly made a name for 'chamber jazz'. Towards the end of the decade, Jamaican reggae music, already popular in the Caribbean and Africa since the early 1970s, became very popular in the U.S. and in Europe, mostly because of reggae superstar and legend Bob Marley.
The late '70s also saw the beginning of hip hop music with the song "Rapper's Delight" by Sugarhill Gang. Country music remained very popular in the U.S. In 1977 it became more mainstream after Kenny Rogers became a solo singer and scored many hits on both the country and pop charts.
Minimalism also emerged, lead by composers such as Philip Glass, Steve Reich and Michael Nyman. This was a break from the intellectual serial music of the tradition of Schoenberg which lasted from the early 1900s to 1960s. Experimental classical music influenced both art rock and progressive rock as well as the punk rock and New Wave genres.
Other significant events in music include:
1970: This year saw the deaths of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin within a month of each other. The Grateful Dead release both Workingman's Dead and American Beauty. The Beatles break up.
1971: This year saw the deaths of both Jim Morrison (The Doors) and Duane Allman (Allman Bros. Band). Songwriter Carole King releases her Tapesty album.
1972: Smokey Robinson leaves The Miracles to go solo.
1973: Led Zeppelin's tour is a record breaker. Pink Floyd release Dark Side Of The Moon.
1974: Bob Dylan & The Band tour together.
1975: Rod Stewart officially quits The Faces. Bruce Springsteen releases Born To Run.
1976: Stevie Wonder's album Songs In The Key Of Life wins five Grammy awards. Frampton Comes Alive is released.
1977: The Disco influence is felt as Saturday Night Fever becomes a best selling album. Meatloaf's Bat Out Of Hell is released. On August 16, Elvis Presley dies.
1978: Van Halen release their first album.
1979: The Who release two movies and go on tour--during which eleven fans are trampled to death at their Cincinnati concert.
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