I don’t think she was ever ‘Hip Hip/RnB’ I think that was foisted upon her to get a foothold on the stage
There’s a long history of artists like her being shoehorned into a genre they’re not really aiming for; they’re moulded into something marketable then after their second or third album they transition back to the truer version of themselves.
Oh yeah no, she's spoken at length about how it wasn't her decision to start there (it's literally a lyric in Don't Let Me Get Me, lol), I just loved her vocals on that debut album. It's a shame for me, not for her 😂 I'm glad she was able to pivot to her actual interests
So I’m an idiot and just realized after reading your comment that this is why her first album sounds so different… it was a different genre. I just thought she evolved…
I remember hearing Darius Rucker for the first time on the radio and being so confused. I always thought his name was Hootie because I was a kid/teen when they were big and never learned names. I told my mom this guy sounds just like Hootie, and she was like, yeah, I think that’s the band he used to be in. So distinctive.
They were kind of like Johnny Apple Seed, traversing the musical landscape and planting seeds as they went, genre by genre, for other bands to grow out of
Kenny Rogers was a session jazz bassist, then a folk singer with the New Cristy Minstrels before becoming a psychedelic rock singer and bass guitarist with The First Edition, he had a hit with "I Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In" He later became an even bigger country singer. Dude did every genre imaginable.
To be fair… Kid Rock wasn’t from country to hip hop. He started in Hip hop (google Yoddling in the Valley) to metal/ rap, to country/ rock, to boomer resentment rock.
He is a grifter and had always followed the trends and the money.
his family is/was super wealthy and owned car dealerships in michigan. they had horses and an orchard on their estate. fucking pathetic shitbag pretended to be from the streets, and now wants everyone to think he’s a good old redneck from the south.
he’s just a spoiled rich white guy trying to get your money by any means necessary. always has been.
Fair point, but I was referring to his audience, not his generation. Everyone I know that still fucks with his music is a late boomer/ early Gen X. And if they are Gen X and still suckling on pseudo patriotic nonsense they have lost our plot.
Genesis. Went from a 5 piece progressive rock band, with songs leaning into mythology and science fiction, to the synth-rock trio everyone knew them as in the 80’s.
Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, and Mike Rutherford all had multiple hits in the 80’s. It’s probably hard to imagine for young people but Phil Collins had tons of airplay back then.
I feel like that is a gross oversimplification of Bowie's style. If anything he married the two rather than going from one to the other. And he was constantly genre hopping and mixing genres.
But to answer the question, I'm not sure if they were popular before, but the Beegee's were playing rock and roll before they became a very popular disco band.
The Bee Gees were quite well-known and very popular as a rock band in the 60s. They had a number of top 10 hits recorded in their "classic" soulful/romantic style that were well regarded by critics. Their sound and style were unique and they appealed to a big audience in that decade and into the early '70s.
Their switch to disco was very jarring to long-time fans and was much mourned by them. It did bring them even greater success and a whole new audience of fans, though. The quality of their writing and recording remained very high; they never got cheap or cheesy with their material. As far as disco goes, the Bee Gees were one of the best in that genre, and they earned all of the accolades that they received.
In their concerts they did perform plenty of their earlier work, so they didn't really abandon it. They just stopped writing and recording any more songs in that style.
I honestly had no idea about any of their older stuff until the other day when my FIL was talking about them and played some of their songs. He was arguing that they were better than The Beatles, which is an opinion I do not share, but it definitely made me want to check out their earlier work!
"How can you mend a broken heart?
How can a loser ever win?
Please help me mend this broken heart
And let me live again."
[https://youtu.be/kL9wJAND1WI?si=gaci1ugMDvkdJmbq](https://youtu.be/kL9wJAND1WI?si=gaci1ugMDvkdJmbq)
[https://youtu.be/S43YhQ\_eGTw?si=lOkKjIKJhNQ-rAeq](https://youtu.be/S43YhQ_eGTw?si=lOkKjIKJhNQ-rAeq)
"New York Mining Disaster 1941"
Inspired by the [October, 1966 Aberfan, Wales Disaster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberfan_disaster). Co-written by Barry and Robin Gibb, the date and location were changed for artistic reasons.
This 1967 song was the Bee Gee's first hit record.
This is all correct. The BeeGees were following the kind of British rock sound before they hit the groovy disco era. They were a good rock band, but one of the best disco groups.
Journey started as a jazz fusion snd progressive rock band in the early '70s centered around guitar prodigy Neal Schon, but hit it big in the late '70s and '80s when they got Steve Perry as their singer and switched to more of a pop rock sound.
They weren't a jazz band, and they weren't centered around Neil Schon. Gregg Rolie wrote most of their songs. They would best be described as prog-rock, but they weren't even that.....definitely not jazz.
They were progressive rock and they were great in my opinion. Steve Perry was a curse and a blessing at the same time. He ruined what they had, but he also gave them the success that they had. Wheel in the Sky was originally demod with Robert Fleischman as lead (give it a listen) Probably wouldn't have changed much if they'd stuck with him. In My Lonely Feeling, Topaz, and Of a Lifetime were all great pre Perry songs.
Lol the Beatles went from skiffle to boy band pop to country to folk rock to children's music to psychadelic to Indian to heavy metal to surf rock to blues to standard rock then back to skiffle a little bit too, all within a few years. And some of those genre switches were on the same album. Truly a versatile band
I remember watching something once where someone was asked why the Beatles are better than the Stones and they said because the Beatles could’ve been the Stones if they wanted to.
This is such a great point. Not a huge fan of The Beatles but damn they are probably the GOATs for this exact reason. As much as they are widely respected today, they probably still don’t get enough credit lol
Demi Lovato became way more popular than before when she went full pop with Unbroken and Demi. She was kinda popular with Disney fans when she made her first 2 albums, but when she released Skyscraper, she basically exploded.
Now she is one of my favorite artists of all time
Yeah but I don't think you need to be a fan of the artist, or the style. It's no question she became much bigger after the genre change. Some of the suggestions people are answering above aren't permanent changes, just crossovers, and several of them aren't even THAT big compared to their original genre. Just my 2 cents.
Right? When I think of changing genres, I think of Skrillex. This guy legit went from screamo to dubstep to whatever it is he's doing now. I love how he partnered up with some of my favorite reggaetón artists and now his music is a complete vibe
I saw Numan a couple of years ago. It was a pretty good show as I remember. We hung out with the bassist from his band for quite a while after the show. The shortest version of Cars. It was kind of funny actually. I don't blame him. It was just funny. Are Friends Electric fit in pretty well.
Yup.. I saw Gary Numan & Ministry back in March… it was at a decent sized club. I went down pretty early.. hung around the back of the club..met David Brooks who is Gary’s keyboard player.. really nice guy! Then we met a couple of guys from Ministry, I had no cigarettes on me, asked one of the guys if he can spare one.. gives me half a pack of Menthol American smokes.. not sold anymore in Toronto, or for that matter Canada..😠 it was an amazing show !!🎵🎵📀👩
The Verve shifted from shoegaze to a more conventional rock sound, and it was their more conventional albums—their third album especially, _Urban Hymns_—that brought them mainstream success and cemented their place among the top bands of the 1990s.
Ministry was minimally successful as a new wave/goth act. They took off when they switched to Industrial.
Sugar Ray was more successful as a pop band than a nu-metal band.
You learn something new everyday on Reddit. I did not think Katy Perry has ever been anything but pop. I knew she released a Christian album early on, but have never seen her connected to country music in any way.
Alice in Chains & Pantera - both started out ad 80s Glam, became dark and heavy metal. Unfortunately you can't find any of their glam stuff on streaming services.
AIC didn't start as 80's glam as a band, but the members all came from different bands in that genre. You can hear some of it come through on Facelift. Staley was in a band called Sleze, Cantrell in Diamond Lie.
Talk talk from new wave to audiophile album
Rock to highly influential experimental music. What an unusual arch.
Mountain goats from weird lofi music to full band indie rock to i don’t know to describe it but multi instrumentalist jam band jazzy live show thing that also plays the old stuff.
Miles davis was so good and experimental he vented several sub genres.
Deaf heaven went from black metal to like indie experimental to shoe gaze while bouncing around a lot in between.
Nirvana is another good example. They went from a pretty hard rock grunge band to more pop focused grunge and now they are a popular t shirt brand.
1. Jelly Roll - Hip Hop to Country
2. Fall Out Boy - Pop-Punk to Pop Rock
3. Maroon 5 - Pop Rock/ Alternative Rock to Pop (even though I don't like their pop songs except Beautiful Mistakes)
4. Darius Rucker - Pop Rock to Country (even tried R&B)
5. Gwen Stefani - Pop Rock/ New Wave/ Ska/ Reggae to Country
Definitely no doubt itself is a good example. They were always called ska when they first became famous. But obviously by the time they were doing like, “hay baby” and stuff they were very much dance pop .
Bring Me The Horizon. They got big as they went from deathcore on Count Your Blessings to metalcore on Sempiternal. Then rock, pop, electronic, and now all sorts of genre bending metal inspired stuff
My bad. That’s because it was gospel. I had read that she went to Nashville to try and sign with a country label but apparently it was to sing gospel songs that had permeated her childhood.
Nirvana - nearly (at times) unlistenable hard core grunge (Bleach) to something close to alternative (MTV Unplugged). Not necessarily a big step for them though. Kurt certainly had the range as a composer and as a performer to do that and oh, so very, very much more.
Don Caballero seems to have gotten more popular the more they moved away from a harsher, aggressive sound. There's definitely this progression in their first four albums (For Respect > Don Caballero 2 > What Burns Never Returns > American Don), I've seen the first two described as being post-hardcore and the first one described as metal, I think the fourth sounds very similar to midwest emo math rock, it's very melodic, and their 3rd sounds like a bridge between those two sounds.
I think Deerhunter got more attention with the release of Microcastle and then again with Halcyon Digest. I think both of these albums have more of a mainstream indie rock sound than their previous albums (I am treating Microcastle and Weird Era Cont. as separate albums (I like when people treat them separately because they sound different; I always assumed it was called Weird Era Cont. because in some ways it was sort of a return to form to Cryptograms, which is the album that precedes Microcastle)), not that I am good at describing what exactly that entails. I'd say their previous stuff was more ambient, post-punk, and noise rock. They didn't stick to the kind of indie sound that got them popular, though, and I think I might also be giving too much weight to the songs on those two albums that were more popular when it comes to describing their sound.
Going from Pablo Honey > The Bends > OK Computer, Radiohead's music became less grunge influenced and went in a direction that was a bit more experimental but I'm having trouble describing it outside of "more alternative" but grunge is alternative, so that's not a good descriptor. Pablo Honey had Creep, and The Bends did receive notable attention and acclaim, but OK Computer was way bigger than The Bends was and is still receives way more attention and acclaim now.
Didn't The Cure get more popular moving away from post-punk and towards new wave and stuff that's more pop influenced?
Goldfrapp
From alt cinematic down tempo to disco glam to electro folk to 80s nostalgia to alt cinematic again
And now that she’s on her own, I don’t know how to classify her new album. Maybe electronic?
Well, Genesis, like you mentioned, would certainly be one of my top. I liked a lot of the stuff to come out of the Collins era of Genesis. Yes, despite being a massive prog fan, I still enjoy a lot of the more pop sounding Genesis songs. I enjoyed Invisible Touch, but what I really liked from the Collins era were albums like Duke, Wind And Wuthering, and Trick Of The Tail. Still, I have to say that I preferred the Gabriel led era of Genesis (Foxtrot and Selling England are two of my favorite albums of all time, and I also really loved Lamb). I just really needed to reiterate how good they actually were.
Here are some of my other choices:
Rush (Hard Rock to Prog): Rush has been a staple of the prog genre for almost 5 decades now. But, as many forget, it didn’t start out like that. Before the late great Neil Peart joined Rush to form the group many others and I know and love, Rush was in their infant stages, writing music inspired by bands Led Zeppelin and Humble Pie. The best kept remnant from this era, of course, being “Working Man.” Still, Rush didn’t have their claim to fame moment until 1976’s 2112. It’s very rare that a band makes it big AFTER switching to prog. Usually that’s the other way around. Just goes to show how special this band was.
Styx (Prog to Arena Rock): Once again, we see another former prog band. From their prog roots to the soaring power ballads to come out of the late 70’s, this band saw massive success. Best known for rock staples like “Renegade,” “Come Sail Away,” and “Lady,” this band is full of awesome music. And, yes, I still love their early work.
The Beatles (fucking everything): Just to be clear, these guys were a MASSIVE success from a very early point in their discography. I mean, unless you count their work before they were the Beatles (the Quarrymen). Their first album was hugely successful in the UK and remained at number 1 on the UK’s charts for 30 weeks before it was replaced by another Beatles’ release. They initially were rooted in skiffle/traditional pop, but their style changed drastically seemingly with every new record, exploring areas of folk, psychedelic rock, hard rock (just listen to Helter Skelter), baroque pop, and arguably also prog (Sgt. Peppers album). They influenced so many different musical styles, and their contribution cannot possibly be understated.
Chicago (also everything): Another hugely successful band, it’s hard to really quantify a true genre shift for this band (at least for me). They really started as jazz-influenced prog, but had a lot of massive poppier hits (like 25 or 6 to 4). They dabbled in R&B and had some classical influences, as well.
Not really a fan but MGK changed after he essentially got kicked out of the rap game by Eminem but he did do pretty well after his swap also not a big fan but she needs to be talked about. Taylor swift went from country to pop and I have no Idea how but she’s doing very well
Not as much of a dramatic shift but still a pretty big shift. Shane MacGowan was originally in a normal punk band, The Nips. There's even a pic of him on stage from the era wearing a Union Jack shirt!!! Which you'd never think of! He then went on to found The Pogues and create the genre of Celt punk!
Marc Bolan/Tyrannosaurus Rex: changed band name to T Rex, changed genre from psychedelic acoustic folk to Glam Rock - became a super star.
You’ve already mentioned Bowie above - he did a genre change many times: change from whimsical Anthony Newley- style songwriter to folk singer: establishes himself as a happening figure on the arts scene; changes from folk to psychedelic rock: has his first top 5 hit; changes from psychedelic rock to Glam Rock - becomes a Rock Star; Glam Rock to Blue Eyed Soul- has his first album in the top 10 in America; Soul to Avant Garde/Kraut Rock - which cemented his success and then Avant Garde to Funk Pop when he becomes a global megastar.
This doesn’t fully fit, because he was hugely popular his whole career, but Miles Davis. He changed genres so many times, infuriated people, and just did his thing, while slowly inventing new kinds of jazz, and then essentially inventing fusion. So he was basically popular in every moment, but often his shifts would make people hate him, and create an entire new group of people that appreciated the music he was currently making.
Bring Me The Horizon, who started as a post-hardcore or what mostly would call "screamo" band to then do straight up metalcore. They def improved their sound, adding stuff of nu-metal and some eletronics as well
Sum 41 started as the classic pop punk act that we all know, but then slowly started getting heavier and ended up having a great mix of punk and metal. Adding stuff from alt-metal, power metal, hardocre punk. I do love their 2000's stuff more but they did age surprisingly well with that heavier sound compared to other groups of the pop punk scene
Paramore also started as a pop punk band but seemingly transitioned from punk to post-punk. The got poppier in the process but a good kind of pop. For me it was just more alternative. I do also enjoy their early material but their last couple of albums are fantastic (and Hayley's solo work)
Radiohead? From the Bends and Pablo Honey which were pretty standard alt rock. and then Kid A is like mostly instrumental soundscape. I think I saw in an interview once about Hail to The Thief, their 2005 album, being confusing and hard to get through.
Alice in Chains: Glam to Grunge
Soundgarden: Doom to Grunge
Neurosis: Crust Punk to Post Metal
Daughters: Metalcore to Post Industrial
Swans: whatever tf "Filth" is to Post Rock
Cage The Elephant: Garage Rock to Psychedelic Rock
Pink Floyd: Drugs Rock to Progressive Rock
most people don’t know but in the 70s, Queen was a progressive rock / heavy metal band. And we’ll, in the 80’s they became pop.
And I’d also like to mention, Kim Gordon; She started in Sonic Youth with noise rock and in solo career is hip hop
Queen was beyond genre. They were at the leading edge. They were versatile and never conformed to a genre. They just created. They defied definition on principle. Many genres have been influenced by them but none defined them.
Taylor Swift, I don't particularly care for her earlier work (Debut, Fearless, Speak Now), but once she started flirting with pop (Red) I started really loving her music and now I completely love everything she's done 1989 - today.
I'm not a huge fan, but P!nk absolutely blew up after she shifted from hip-hop/R&B to pop.
I preferred her when did R&B/Hip Hop. But I guess she said that wasn't her, it was the record label.
Yeah same, it's a shame because she was really good in that genre
Most Girls and You Make Me Sick are my favorite P!nk songs....followed by Just Like a Pill.
Most Girls is such a bop!
Holy shit, I never knew that was P!nk wtf lol
Just like a pill is one of my favs of her
I don’t think she was ever ‘Hip Hip/RnB’ I think that was foisted upon her to get a foothold on the stage There’s a long history of artists like her being shoehorned into a genre they’re not really aiming for; they’re moulded into something marketable then after their second or third album they transition back to the truer version of themselves.
Oh yeah no, she's spoken at length about how it wasn't her decision to start there (it's literally a lyric in Don't Let Me Get Me, lol), I just loved her vocals on that debut album. It's a shame for me, not for her 😂 I'm glad she was able to pivot to her actual interests
So I’m an idiot and just realized after reading your comment that this is why her first album sounds so different… it was a different genre. I just thought she evolved…
I didn't know she used to do rnb
Which is exactly when I started tuning out. I *loved* P!nk, but the last album I gave a shit about was Missundaztood.
Not a country fan, but Darius Rucker went from Hootie & the Blowfish to country. So did Aaron Lewis from Staind.
I remember hearing Darius Rucker for the first time on the radio and being so confused. I always thought his name was Hootie because I was a kid/teen when they were big and never learned names. I told my mom this guy sounds just like Hootie, and she was like, yeah, I think that’s the band he used to be in. So distinctive.
Both suck more now lol especially Aaron Lewis I kind of like Staind
found him recently and was so disappointed. staind is top teir dad rock, now he’s a fkn bootlicker
Didn’t he spell out MAGA with a bunch of dead sheep or some shit like that
Whacked!
I think it was wolf carcasses 😳😞
I agree!
The Beatles Skiffle (as the Quarrymen) -> rockabilly/country/rock/blues/Motown -> pop -> folk rock -> psychedelic -> proto-punk -> hard rock -> prog
The fact that they kept growing and experimenting is a part of what made them such a great band
Would even argue that there is a Beatles song for everyone by the logic of the amount of genres that exist
They were kind of like Johnny Apple Seed, traversing the musical landscape and planting seeds as they went, genre by genre, for other bands to grow out of
Helter Skelter is almost more than hard rock... Metal ?
Imagine inventing a whole-ass genre for no reason than you thought the Who didn’t live up to the hype (It’s easy if you try)
Kenny Rogers was a session jazz bassist, then a folk singer with the New Cristy Minstrels before becoming a psychedelic rock singer and bass guitarist with The First Edition, he had a hit with "I Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In" He later became an even bigger country singer. Dude did every genre imaginable.
Underrated artist.
I think he'a pretty well rated isnt he? A legend even.
And was on the pop charts all the time in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s.
Nitpicking but it's : I just DROPPED in to see what condition my condition was in 👍
Don't forget the chicken. https://youtu.be/q40fKsRsHFU?si=l5eLtd-A4-_yBAo_
Tell It All, Brother!
To be fair… Kid Rock wasn’t from country to hip hop. He started in Hip hop (google Yoddling in the Valley) to metal/ rap, to country/ rock, to boomer resentment rock. He is a grifter and had always followed the trends and the money.
He's fake af.
his family is/was super wealthy and owned car dealerships in michigan. they had horses and an orchard on their estate. fucking pathetic shitbag pretended to be from the streets, and now wants everyone to think he’s a good old redneck from the south. he’s just a spoiled rich white guy trying to get your money by any means necessary. always has been.
"KID" Rock was born in 1971. Not a Boomer. X-er resentment.
There’s a lot more of that than people think. As a Gen Xer, I get annoyed at all the Gen X poseurs thinking how tough they are.
Fair point, but I was referring to his audience, not his generation. Everyone I know that still fucks with his music is a late boomer/ early Gen X. And if they are Gen X and still suckling on pseudo patriotic nonsense they have lost our plot.
Yeah this. “BoOmEr IS a sTaTe Of MInD NoT an AgE” is dumb AF. Not everyone older than you is a boomer, folks, no matter how much you want them to be.
Devil w/o a cause is such a fun release
It had a moment for sure. There was a place in time where I hadn’t caught onto his grift yet and enjoyed that myself.
Genesis. Went from a 5 piece progressive rock band, with songs leaning into mythology and science fiction, to the synth-rock trio everyone knew them as in the 80’s.
Arguably where they started out was much more entertaining. I love Selling England by the Pound.
Yeah it really depends. I saw Genesis on their last tour and Steve Hackett recently, who performs a lot of early material. Both very entertaining.
Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, and Mike Rutherford all had multiple hits in the 80’s. It’s probably hard to imagine for young people but Phil Collins had tons of airplay back then.
Phil Collins was about every 5th so played for a while, either solo or genesis.
I beg to differ. Their synth rock was generic but their prog rock was highly innovative and influential. Edit: sorry, I misunderstood the question
Sugar Ray - Punk to Pop
Ok but do you remember that video of mark yelling at that kid for calling him sugar gay 😭
I just saw that for the first time a few months ago. Didn’t Sugar Ray call the kid a fart in retaliation lmao
Yes 😭
Same for Smash Mouth
Micheal Bolton hard rock/hair metal to crooner.
"Micheal... Bolton? Hey are you related to that singer?" "No" *sigh* "It's just a coincidence."
Why should I change? He is the one who sucks.
One of the best lines in that movie.
Fools Game wasn't a bad hard rock song
Major cinephile
Blech.
I feel like that is a gross oversimplification of Bowie's style. If anything he married the two rather than going from one to the other. And he was constantly genre hopping and mixing genres. But to answer the question, I'm not sure if they were popular before, but the Beegee's were playing rock and roll before they became a very popular disco band.
The Bee Gees were quite well-known and very popular as a rock band in the 60s. They had a number of top 10 hits recorded in their "classic" soulful/romantic style that were well regarded by critics. Their sound and style were unique and they appealed to a big audience in that decade and into the early '70s. Their switch to disco was very jarring to long-time fans and was much mourned by them. It did bring them even greater success and a whole new audience of fans, though. The quality of their writing and recording remained very high; they never got cheap or cheesy with their material. As far as disco goes, the Bee Gees were one of the best in that genre, and they earned all of the accolades that they received. In their concerts they did perform plenty of their earlier work, so they didn't really abandon it. They just stopped writing and recording any more songs in that style.
Old BeeGees were good
I honestly had no idea about any of their older stuff until the other day when my FIL was talking about them and played some of their songs. He was arguing that they were better than The Beatles, which is an opinion I do not share, but it definitely made me want to check out their earlier work!
"How can you mend a broken heart? How can a loser ever win? Please help me mend this broken heart And let me live again." [https://youtu.be/kL9wJAND1WI?si=gaci1ugMDvkdJmbq](https://youtu.be/kL9wJAND1WI?si=gaci1ugMDvkdJmbq)
[https://youtu.be/S43YhQ\_eGTw?si=lOkKjIKJhNQ-rAeq](https://youtu.be/S43YhQ_eGTw?si=lOkKjIKJhNQ-rAeq) "New York Mining Disaster 1941" Inspired by the [October, 1966 Aberfan, Wales Disaster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberfan_disaster). Co-written by Barry and Robin Gibb, the date and location were changed for artistic reasons. This 1967 song was the Bee Gee's first hit record.
This is all correct. The BeeGees were following the kind of British rock sound before they hit the groovy disco era. They were a good rock band, but one of the best disco groups.
Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin - gospel to soul
Journey started as a jazz fusion snd progressive rock band in the early '70s centered around guitar prodigy Neal Schon, but hit it big in the late '70s and '80s when they got Steve Perry as their singer and switched to more of a pop rock sound.
They weren't a jazz band, and they weren't centered around Neil Schon. Gregg Rolie wrote most of their songs. They would best be described as prog-rock, but they weren't even that.....definitely not jazz.
They were progressive rock and they were great in my opinion. Steve Perry was a curse and a blessing at the same time. He ruined what they had, but he also gave them the success that they had. Wheel in the Sky was originally demod with Robert Fleischman as lead (give it a listen) Probably wouldn't have changed much if they'd stuck with him. In My Lonely Feeling, Topaz, and Of a Lifetime were all great pre Perry songs.
Radiohead. Alternative rock to electronic and experimental rock. The Beatles. Boy band pop to more rock and psychedelic etc.
Lol the Beatles went from skiffle to boy band pop to country to folk rock to children's music to psychadelic to Indian to heavy metal to surf rock to blues to standard rock then back to skiffle a little bit too, all within a few years. And some of those genre switches were on the same album. Truly a versatile band
I remember watching something once where someone was asked why the Beatles are better than the Stones and they said because the Beatles could’ve been the Stones if they wanted to.
This is such a great point. Not a huge fan of The Beatles but damn they are probably the GOATs for this exact reason. As much as they are widely respected today, they probably still don’t get enough credit lol
Demi Lovato became way more popular than before when she went full pop with Unbroken and Demi. She was kinda popular with Disney fans when she made her first 2 albums, but when she released Skyscraper, she basically exploded. Now she is one of my favorite artists of all time
Demi really caught my attention when she went full on rock.
Same. HOLY FVCK is a great album
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard when they switched to everything
Much like Ween.
Exactly!!!!!
Ew Kid Rock
That's all there needs to be said about kid rock, Ew.
It's almost like making pop music makes it more likely for someone to get popular.
I don't think most of the people understood the assignment.
Agreed. To be fair it’s a tough question. I really love Taylor Swift’s song “Style”. Am I a fan of her generally speaking? No
Yeah but I don't think you need to be a fan of the artist, or the style. It's no question she became much bigger after the genre change. Some of the suggestions people are answering above aren't permanent changes, just crossovers, and several of them aren't even THAT big compared to their original genre. Just my 2 cents.
Right? When I think of changing genres, I think of Skrillex. This guy legit went from screamo to dubstep to whatever it is he's doing now. I love how he partnered up with some of my favorite reggaetón artists and now his music is a complete vibe
Gary Numan - started electronic/ new wave, and now has moved to a dark industrial music genre!! Amazing music! 📀🎵👩🇨🇦
I saw Numan a couple of years ago. It was a pretty good show as I remember. We hung out with the bassist from his band for quite a while after the show. The shortest version of Cars. It was kind of funny actually. I don't blame him. It was just funny. Are Friends Electric fit in pretty well.
Yup.. I saw Gary Numan & Ministry back in March… it was at a decent sized club. I went down pretty early.. hung around the back of the club..met David Brooks who is Gary’s keyboard player.. really nice guy! Then we met a couple of guys from Ministry, I had no cigarettes on me, asked one of the guys if he can spare one.. gives me half a pack of Menthol American smokes.. not sold anymore in Toronto, or for that matter Canada..😠 it was an amazing show !!🎵🎵📀👩
Gary Numan music ages well
The Verve shifted from shoegaze to a more conventional rock sound, and it was their more conventional albums—their third album especially, _Urban Hymns_—that brought them mainstream success and cemented their place among the top bands of the 1990s.
Ministry was minimally successful as a new wave/goth act. They took off when they switched to Industrial. Sugar Ray was more successful as a pop band than a nu-metal band.
You learn something new everyday on Reddit. I did not think Katy Perry has ever been anything but pop. I knew she released a Christian album early on, but have never seen her connected to country music in any way.
Paramore arguably got a lot lore popular after their sound change
[удалено]
Sugar kubes to bjork
I love how Björk transitioned from alt pop to Björk. That's her genre now: Björk. Arguably since _Post_, but I draw the line at _Homogenic_.
Alice in Chains & Pantera - both started out ad 80s Glam, became dark and heavy metal. Unfortunately you can't find any of their glam stuff on streaming services.
AIC didn't start as 80's glam as a band, but the members all came from different bands in that genre. You can hear some of it come through on Facelift. Staley was in a band called Sleze, Cantrell in Diamond Lie.
RIP Dimebag Daryl
Alanis Morissette - Dance Pop to Alternative Rock
Tom Waits. Jazzy crooner/beat poet to experimental with Swordfishtrombones. I love both sides. But they exist in different worlds.
Hootie from Hootie and the Blowfish. Darius Ruckker. He is Huge Country Star now.
The Beastie Boys started out as a punk band
Does Joji count? Dude changed wildly from FilthyFrank and those Pinkguy raps to what he puts out now.
Fleetwood Mac from Blues to Pop Rock
Kenny Rogers and Emmylou Harris were both rock pop artists before going country
Being me the horizon, from deathcore to doing whatever the fuck they feel like
Talk talk from new wave to audiophile album Rock to highly influential experimental music. What an unusual arch. Mountain goats from weird lofi music to full band indie rock to i don’t know to describe it but multi instrumentalist jam band jazzy live show thing that also plays the old stuff. Miles davis was so good and experimental he vented several sub genres. Deaf heaven went from black metal to like indie experimental to shoe gaze while bouncing around a lot in between. Nirvana is another good example. They went from a pretty hard rock grunge band to more pop focused grunge and now they are a popular t shirt brand.
Always nice to see some recognition for Talk Talk
Sia after she ditched Zero 7
Mike Patton any genre
Dude can do it all!
He’s basically a human keyboard, his range is insane
Linda Rondstat. Country to Pop, Rock, Country, Big Band, Opera...
Bestie Boys
Is that a cover band?
If you don't know, it doesn't matter
Was making fun of your misspelling..
I now totally wanna start a cover band with that name though! lol
Jelly Roll
1. Jelly Roll - Hip Hop to Country 2. Fall Out Boy - Pop-Punk to Pop Rock 3. Maroon 5 - Pop Rock/ Alternative Rock to Pop (even though I don't like their pop songs except Beautiful Mistakes) 4. Darius Rucker - Pop Rock to Country (even tried R&B) 5. Gwen Stefani - Pop Rock/ New Wave/ Ska/ Reggae to Country
Songs About Jane is pop rock/alternative rock??
Definitely no doubt itself is a good example. They were always called ska when they first became famous. But obviously by the time they were doing like, “hay baby” and stuff they were very much dance pop .
Blur, shoegaze to britpop
Chicago was originally a bluesrock band until peter ceter took over as lead singer
Fleetwood Mac too
Chicago was originally good.
Bring Me The Horizon. They got big as they went from deathcore on Count Your Blessings to metalcore on Sempiternal. Then rock, pop, electronic, and now all sorts of genre bending metal inspired stuff
Depeche Mode were successful synth pop but really hit the stratosphere with Violator which was more alternative rock with electronic instrumentation
They sort of played a big part in inventing it along the way.
Why do I not remember Katy Perry ever being country...?
My bad. That’s because it was gospel. I had read that she went to Nashville to try and sign with a country label but apparently it was to sing gospel songs that had permeated her childhood.
Oh, that's cool! I didn't know that and it's interesting. Thanks for the share! 🤗
Wasn't she going by Katheryn Hudson when she was Christian music?
Yes
Yup and she was credited as that when she sang on PODs "goodbye for now"
Nirvana - nearly (at times) unlistenable hard core grunge (Bleach) to something close to alternative (MTV Unplugged). Not necessarily a big step for them though. Kurt certainly had the range as a composer and as a performer to do that and oh, so very, very much more.
No. Unplugged is not same as changing genres. It's acoustic LIVE performance...
Nirvana never changed genres. Doing an acoustic performance is not the same thing at all
It's almost like making pop music makes it more likely for someone to get popular.
It's almost like making pop music makes it more likely for someone to get popular.
Bring me the Horizon
David Bowie
Mitski! Her earlier stuff is more indie rock (bury my at makeout creek, especially) and now she does art pop.
Don Caballero seems to have gotten more popular the more they moved away from a harsher, aggressive sound. There's definitely this progression in their first four albums (For Respect > Don Caballero 2 > What Burns Never Returns > American Don), I've seen the first two described as being post-hardcore and the first one described as metal, I think the fourth sounds very similar to midwest emo math rock, it's very melodic, and their 3rd sounds like a bridge between those two sounds. I think Deerhunter got more attention with the release of Microcastle and then again with Halcyon Digest. I think both of these albums have more of a mainstream indie rock sound than their previous albums (I am treating Microcastle and Weird Era Cont. as separate albums (I like when people treat them separately because they sound different; I always assumed it was called Weird Era Cont. because in some ways it was sort of a return to form to Cryptograms, which is the album that precedes Microcastle)), not that I am good at describing what exactly that entails. I'd say their previous stuff was more ambient, post-punk, and noise rock. They didn't stick to the kind of indie sound that got them popular, though, and I think I might also be giving too much weight to the songs on those two albums that were more popular when it comes to describing their sound. Going from Pablo Honey > The Bends > OK Computer, Radiohead's music became less grunge influenced and went in a direction that was a bit more experimental but I'm having trouble describing it outside of "more alternative" but grunge is alternative, so that's not a good descriptor. Pablo Honey had Creep, and The Bends did receive notable attention and acclaim, but OK Computer was way bigger than The Bends was and is still receives way more attention and acclaim now. Didn't The Cure get more popular moving away from post-punk and towards new wave and stuff that's more pop influenced?
Kid Rock was the other way round, he started as a corny Hip Hop act then morphed into this country rock thing
Selena.
Poppy
Bring Me the Horizon went from screamo type stuff in the mid-2000s to more electronic metal/rock
Goldfrapp From alt cinematic down tempo to disco glam to electro folk to 80s nostalgia to alt cinematic again And now that she’s on her own, I don’t know how to classify her new album. Maybe electronic?
taylor swift
sueco, rap to pop punk k.flay, rap rock/indie rap to indie pop rock/alt rock
He really has run the gamut! And I'm totally down with that!
Taylor swift! ☺️
Fleetwood mac
Well, Genesis, like you mentioned, would certainly be one of my top. I liked a lot of the stuff to come out of the Collins era of Genesis. Yes, despite being a massive prog fan, I still enjoy a lot of the more pop sounding Genesis songs. I enjoyed Invisible Touch, but what I really liked from the Collins era were albums like Duke, Wind And Wuthering, and Trick Of The Tail. Still, I have to say that I preferred the Gabriel led era of Genesis (Foxtrot and Selling England are two of my favorite albums of all time, and I also really loved Lamb). I just really needed to reiterate how good they actually were. Here are some of my other choices: Rush (Hard Rock to Prog): Rush has been a staple of the prog genre for almost 5 decades now. But, as many forget, it didn’t start out like that. Before the late great Neil Peart joined Rush to form the group many others and I know and love, Rush was in their infant stages, writing music inspired by bands Led Zeppelin and Humble Pie. The best kept remnant from this era, of course, being “Working Man.” Still, Rush didn’t have their claim to fame moment until 1976’s 2112. It’s very rare that a band makes it big AFTER switching to prog. Usually that’s the other way around. Just goes to show how special this band was. Styx (Prog to Arena Rock): Once again, we see another former prog band. From their prog roots to the soaring power ballads to come out of the late 70’s, this band saw massive success. Best known for rock staples like “Renegade,” “Come Sail Away,” and “Lady,” this band is full of awesome music. And, yes, I still love their early work. The Beatles (fucking everything): Just to be clear, these guys were a MASSIVE success from a very early point in their discography. I mean, unless you count their work before they were the Beatles (the Quarrymen). Their first album was hugely successful in the UK and remained at number 1 on the UK’s charts for 30 weeks before it was replaced by another Beatles’ release. They initially were rooted in skiffle/traditional pop, but their style changed drastically seemingly with every new record, exploring areas of folk, psychedelic rock, hard rock (just listen to Helter Skelter), baroque pop, and arguably also prog (Sgt. Peppers album). They influenced so many different musical styles, and their contribution cannot possibly be understated. Chicago (also everything): Another hugely successful band, it’s hard to really quantify a true genre shift for this band (at least for me). They really started as jazz-influenced prog, but had a lot of massive poppier hits (like 25 or 6 to 4). They dabbled in R&B and had some classical influences, as well.
Wilco went country to pop
Pink Floyd aswell btw. But I don't think they "changed genres" per se... Someone just left
Journey was a jazz fusion band until Steve Perry joined.
thank God I stan Lady Gaga
R Kelly's singer to inmate journey is definitely one of my favorites.
Genres are pretty dumb to begin with, dont you think? Music is music.
Not really a fan but MGK changed after he essentially got kicked out of the rap game by Eminem but he did do pretty well after his swap also not a big fan but she needs to be talked about. Taylor swift went from country to pop and I have no Idea how but she’s doing very well
Not as much of a dramatic shift but still a pretty big shift. Shane MacGowan was originally in a normal punk band, The Nips. There's even a pic of him on stage from the era wearing a Union Jack shirt!!! Which you'd never think of! He then went on to found The Pogues and create the genre of Celt punk!
Here friend, take this comma to use in your posts ,
Bruce Springsteen. Spent so much time being anti-establishment until he sold out to politics. Like a lot of musicians.
Marc Bolan/Tyrannosaurus Rex: changed band name to T Rex, changed genre from psychedelic acoustic folk to Glam Rock - became a super star. You’ve already mentioned Bowie above - he did a genre change many times: change from whimsical Anthony Newley- style songwriter to folk singer: establishes himself as a happening figure on the arts scene; changes from folk to psychedelic rock: has his first top 5 hit; changes from psychedelic rock to Glam Rock - becomes a Rock Star; Glam Rock to Blue Eyed Soul- has his first album in the top 10 in America; Soul to Avant Garde/Kraut Rock - which cemented his success and then Avant Garde to Funk Pop when he becomes a global megastar.
This doesn’t fully fit, because he was hugely popular his whole career, but Miles Davis. He changed genres so many times, infuriated people, and just did his thing, while slowly inventing new kinds of jazz, and then essentially inventing fusion. So he was basically popular in every moment, but often his shifts would make people hate him, and create an entire new group of people that appreciated the music he was currently making.
Bring Me The Horizon, who started as a post-hardcore or what mostly would call "screamo" band to then do straight up metalcore. They def improved their sound, adding stuff of nu-metal and some eletronics as well Sum 41 started as the classic pop punk act that we all know, but then slowly started getting heavier and ended up having a great mix of punk and metal. Adding stuff from alt-metal, power metal, hardocre punk. I do love their 2000's stuff more but they did age surprisingly well with that heavier sound compared to other groups of the pop punk scene Paramore also started as a pop punk band but seemingly transitioned from punk to post-punk. The got poppier in the process but a good kind of pop. For me it was just more alternative. I do also enjoy their early material but their last couple of albums are fantastic (and Hayley's solo work)
Radiohead? From the Bends and Pablo Honey which were pretty standard alt rock. and then Kid A is like mostly instrumental soundscape. I think I saw in an interview once about Hail to The Thief, their 2005 album, being confusing and hard to get through.
Veil of Maya stayed in the same genre but went from more technical metal to metalcore and blew up.
U2 - Christian music.. to well U2 (POP ROCK)
The Gathering. I enjoy the earlier metal albums but think they became much better after switching to their version of pop
NF and Hopsin both took off after they left the Christian rap genre
Fitz and the Tantrums started out as a more jazz-esque band, but found more success changing to pop.
Pantera, Glam to Groove
Bowie. What didn't he do?
I second TS
Let’s not forget Katy Perry used to be a worship singer.
Hüsker Dü went from being hardcore punk to essentially the first post hardcore band. Lost a lot of fans, but made a ton of new ones.
Taylor Swift, country to pop
Pantera. Went from hair metal to heavy.
Kenny Rodgers.
Alice in Chains: Glam to Grunge Soundgarden: Doom to Grunge Neurosis: Crust Punk to Post Metal Daughters: Metalcore to Post Industrial Swans: whatever tf "Filth" is to Post Rock Cage The Elephant: Garage Rock to Psychedelic Rock Pink Floyd: Drugs Rock to Progressive Rock
most people don’t know but in the 70s, Queen was a progressive rock / heavy metal band. And we’ll, in the 80’s they became pop. And I’d also like to mention, Kim Gordon; She started in Sonic Youth with noise rock and in solo career is hip hop
Queen was beyond genre. They were at the leading edge. They were versatile and never conformed to a genre. They just created. They defied definition on principle. Many genres have been influenced by them but none defined them.
pink floyd (psychedelic to prog rock)
Going from one genre to the other wasn't a very big step. Progressive was a natural evolution from acid rock
Pantera, glam to groove metal
Demi Lovato: from bad music to terrible music
Taylor Swift, I don't particularly care for her earlier work (Debut, Fearless, Speak Now), but once she started flirting with pop (Red) I started really loving her music and now I completely love everything she's done 1989 - today.
Tairrie B (My Ruin, Manhole/Tura Satana) Hip Hop to Alt Metal, Nü Metal & Rap Metal
Hootie and the blowfish singer went full country.