Our favorite British bands of all time
8. Duran Duran
Origin: Birmingham
Essential song: “Ordinary World”
Duran Duran was formed in 1978 and became one of the most successful bands from the 80’s, mostly because they came into the industry with a romantic fresh look and sound. Duran Duran’s videos were the first ones in the world filmed with a professional camera on film tape, rather than videotape and the artists actually worked with designers so they could style up their image.
Band Fact: Princes Diana and Elton John often called themselves fans of the band’s style and music.
7. Oasis
Origin: Manchester
Essential song: “Wonderwall”
Oasis was a rock band created in 1991 and had been dominated the UK top charts until they broke up in 2009. They have two Guinness World Records: The first one is for the “Longest Top 10 UK Chart Run by a Group” – with their 22 hits that all got into Top 10 and second one for being the most successful act in UK for ten years in a row.
6. Led Zeppelin
Origin: London
Essential song: “Stairway to heaven”
The band was formed in 1968 and even though at the beginning of their career the critics were not in their favor, the success that they had by selling their first album silenced the unfriendly criticism. The success they had in the 70’s is sometimes compared with the one that The Beatles had in the previous decade. It is said that the person that does not like Led Zeppelin’s music is not born yet.
5. Pink Floyd
Origin: London
Essential song: “Wish you were here”
Pink Floyd was formed in 1965 and by the end of the 60’s they were playing in London pubs, before releasing the first singles and gain fame. This success was guarantee by the unique style and inspiration of the band. They were playing something that was later labeled as psychedelic music or space rock, all combined with philosophical lyrics and elaborate live shows.
Band fact: One of the bands albums is the first rock record played in space. In 1989, the Russian cosmonauts from the MIR space station took the live album Delicate Sound of Thunder.
4. Coldplay
Origin: London
Essential song: “The Scientist”
Coldplay was formed in 1996 at University College in London. Their first album, Parachutes was a huge success: 5 million copies sold and two Grammy awards. The lead singer Chris Martin explained on many occasions that the band’s music style is more like “limestone rock” than “hard rock”.
Band Facts: For “The Scientist” music video, Chris Martin had to learn to sing the song backwards; Coldplay gives 15% of all band profits to charity.
3. The Rolling Stones
Origin: London
Essential song: “I Can’t Get No (Satisfaction)”
The Rolling Stones is a rock British band formed in 1962 and one of the best bands of all time in the world. They started to became famous on an international level in the mid sixties, being part of the British Invasion phenomenon in the US. Their distinguish features include: the long hair, blues as being part of rock and roll music, and the counterculture of the 1960’s. After half a decay of existence, the Rolling Stones are still breaking records after records. In 2006, more than 1,500,000 people came to see them in a concert at Copacabana.
Band fact: The song ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’ was a present from John Lennon and Paul McCartney; They influenced one of the best US rock bands: Guns N’ Roses.
2. Queen
Origin: London
Essential song: “Bohemian Rhapsody”
The London band was formed in 1970 as a hard rock one. In time, the style evolved to contain numerous sounds: conventional, glam, pop rock, opera, dance, folk and others. In time, Queen became less than a band and more as a legend. It was probably the best stadium bands in the world and its singles “We will rock you”, “Love of my life” and “We are the champions” are practically anthems still performed in concerts and events all over the world.
Band fact: “Bohemian Rhapsody” is ranked as number three in the best selling singles of all times chart in UK and it is sometimes referred to as the most elaborated recording in history, with some of the most powerful lyrics ever to be written by music performer.
1. The Beatles
Origin: Liverpool
Essential song: “Let It Be”
The reason why the Beatles are on the first place is because they ARE the Beatles. They were formed in 1960 and became the band that changed music forever. The band lead the “British Invasion” phenomenon in US. They became so successful that even now, they are keeping the records of “bestselling band in history” and “bestselling band in US”.
Band facts: In spite of their success, none of the band members could read or write music. They were pure and talented musicians, not technical ones; The Beatles are the only artists that hold the first 5 positions of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, in the same time.
