10 Most IMPORTANT Rock Musicians Of The 90s

Once rock reached the year 1990, change was definitely in the air. After the entire genre got treated to leather heels, synthesizers, and an unhealthy amount of neon around everything, fans of the regular riffs were aching for something different to come down the pipeline. Little did we know that we were about to experience the greatest resurgence in rock since the '60s.

In the wake of the alternative revolution, bands were popping up left and right announcing the new guard in rock music. Then again, the rock music of the time had many different faces, evidenced by the amount of nu metal, funk rock, grunge, and everything in between having a spot on the charts. It didn't really matter what kind of aesthetic you had to put over it. As long as it rocked, it had a good chance of getting on the radio.

There is a definitely pecking order as to who was leading the charge though. Instead of your usual guitar slingers or poster boys from the '70s, these leaders of the new guard of rock seemed like real people, never wanting to betray their original audiences by selling out. The '80s may have been the time to cash in on the stupid trends. Here is where you get the artists who are in it for the long haul.

For any self-respecting rock fan, 1994 was not really the best of times for the genre as a whole. After Kurt Cobain's tragic death by his own hand left the grunge scene all but dead, there was a hole in the rock world that wasn't going to be filled any time soon. The world desperately needed a pick me up, and Billie Joe Armstrong was just the guy to do it.

Compared to the sad sounds of grunge, Armstrong's emergence on the scene with Green Day was something entirely new for its time. Though the songs themselves had the punk attitude down to a science, the melodies laced throughout every single track was just poppy enough to sing along to every time it came on the radio. That's before you even got into the crux of what Billie was actually singing about, which often dealt with jaded love songs, the sounds of boredom, and occasionally giving yourself the creeps because of your own sorry state of mind.

As crazy as it sounds, this was just the thing that many rock fans needed to hear at the time after dealing with a colossal blow just a few months earlier. That kind of attitude only boosted once we hit the '00s, with Green Day becoming one of the biggest bands on the planet for a second time off the strength of American Idiot. Even though he may have looked like some random stoned out teenager, there was a lot more musical strength at work behind the safetypins and dyed hair.