The 1960s produced one of the most crowded and influential artist generations in modern music. British bands, American soul singers, folk writers, psychedelic groups, crooners, country stars and international pop artists all shared the same rapidly changing decade.
British Invasion and beat groups
The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, The Animals, The Hollies, The Zombies and The Yardbirds reshaped youth music in Britain and then exported that energy worldwide.
American rock, folk and California
Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, The Byrds, Simon & Garfunkel, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane and The Mamas & The Papas represented very different American responses to the decade.
Motown, soul and funk
The Supremes, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Four Tops and Smokey Robinson helped define Motown, while Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and James Brown gave soul and funk other powerful regional identities.
Established stars adapt
Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ray Charles and Johnny Cash all remained important, proving the decade was not simply a clean replacement of old stars by new ones.
Europe beyond Britain
Françoise Hardy, France Gall, Sylvie Vartan, Serge Gainsbourg, Mina, Adriano Celentano, Lucio Battisti and others helped shape distinctive French and Italian pop cultures alongside the Anglo-American mainstream.
How to explore
Use the artist archive to follow one career through the decade or compare scenes that rarely appear together in standard rock histories.
Explore artist profiles: The Beatles · The Rolling Stones · The Who · The Kinks · The Beach Boys · Bob Dylan · The Doors · Jimi Hendrix · The Supremes · Marvin Gaye · Aretha Franklin · Elvis Presley · Françoise Hardy · Dusty Springfield.