Bands started playing what would later be described as hard rock in the late 1960s. These groups were mainly from the United States and the United Kingdom, and were influenced by the harder-edged, distorted sounds of American garage rock and British blues rock. Unlike garage rock, early hard rock was played not by amateurs, but by seasoned musicians like Eric Clapton in Cream or Jimmy Page in Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin was also important because they popularized the concept album, which would become a staple form for hard rock albums.
In the mid-1970s, first in Los Angeles, then in New York and London, fashion-conscious rockers started wearing wild makeup and long, teased hairstyles. They played loud, melodic music that would come to be known as glam rock. Glam rock would remain popular for nearly 30 years, though eventually the style would evolve into an embrace of decadent gaudiness in the 80s and 90s. Glam rock bands like Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister and Motley Crue got a lot of airtime on early MTV, especially with elaborate videos and the quintessential glam rock song form, the power ballad.
Though punk rock at its height in the mid-1970s was based in New York with the Ramones and the New York Dolls, and London with the Sex Pistols or the Clash, its roots lead back to the late 1960s in Ann Arbor, Mich. Iggy Pop became known there for his raw, aggressive, simplistic take on rock music, and his wild stage antics. His destructive energy and dissonant sounds would lay the ground work for many of the sounds and bands to follow. Punk bands focus on energy over melody, and do-it-yourself simplicity in songwriting and arrangement.
Heavy metal grew out of classic hard rock in the late 1960s. Heavy metal bands featured thick, guitar-driven sounds, amplified louder than ever before. Black Sabbath is often credited with starting the genre. They were known for the loud, heavy guitars of Tony Iommi and the wailing vocals of Ozzy Osbourne. As the genre developed, the music became faster-paced and the guitar players developed the genre's signature guitar rhythm, the gallop. The genre has proven to be venerable, and has spawned many sub-genres that are popular today, like death metal, thrash and progressive metal.
The Pacific Northwest has always cultivated its own rock sound, first with the 1960s hit "Louie, Louie" by Portland, Ore., band the Kingsmen. The region became central to American rock with the development of grunge in the late 1980s. Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and Alice in Chains were all formed in Seattle in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and were the primary force of American music during that era. Grunge is often said to have put an end to glam rock.