1960s in Music

1960s In Music

For music from a year in the 1960s, go to 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69

This article includes an overview of the major events and trends in popular music in the 1960s.

In South America, Europe and Oceania, the decade was particularly revolutionary in terms of popular music, as it saw the formation and evolution of rock. At the beginning of the 1960s, pop and rock and roll trends of the 1950s continued; nevertheless, the rock and roll of the decade before started to merge into a more international, eclectic variant known as rock. By the mid-1960s, rock and roll in its purest form was gradually overtaken by pop rocked, beat, psychedelican rock, blues rock and folk rock, which had grown in popularity. The country and folk-influenced style associated with the latter-half of 1960s rock music spawned a generation of popular singer-songwriters who wrote and performed their own work. Towards the decade's end, genres such as baroque pop, sunshine pop, bubblegum pop, progressive rock and heavy metal started to grow popular, with the latter two finding greater success in the following decade. Furthermore, the 1960s saw funk and soul music rising in popularity; rhythm and blues in general remained popular, and this style was commonly associated to girl groups of the time, whose fusion of R&B and gospel with rock and roll enjoyed success until the mid-part of the decade. Aside from the popularity of rock and R&B music in the 1960s, Latin American as well as Jamaican and Cuban music achieved a degree of popularity throughout the decade, with genres such as bossa nova, the cha-cha-cha, ska, and calypso being popular. From a classical point of view, the 1960s were also an important decade as they saw the development of experimental, jazz and contemporary classical music, notably minimalism and free improvisation.

In Asia, various trends marked the popular music of the 1960s. In Japan, the decade saw the rise in popularity of several Western popular music groups such as The Beatles, as well as rock and roll. The success of rock music and bands in the Japan started a new genre, known as Group Sounds, which was popular in the latter half of the decade.

In South America, genres such as bossa nova, nueva canción and nueva ola started to emerge. Rock music began leaving its mark, and achieved success in the 1960s. Additionally, salsa grew popular towards the end of the decade.