10 Music Genres That Died
3. Emo
By the early noughties, pop punk was on the wane and the biggest acts going were either new indie bands or ageing rock groups soldiering on. For younger listeners, the demise of pop punk left a hole in their listening world until emo burst onto the scene.
Similar to several entries on this list, emo was as much a culture as it was a genre. Devoted fans would throw on the skinniest of skinny jeans and liberally apply black eyeliner as they moodily rocked out to bands that nearly always wound up as 3 letter acronyms (looking at you MCR, AFI and HIM).
With considerably bleaker, more emotional lyrics than the youthful fads that had come before, emo groups such as My Chemical Romance enjoyed a monumental level of sales. The blending of tortured soul themes with more upbeat, rock-based tempos became a staple for nearly every breakthrough rock band by the late noughties. A heavier sounding spin-off of emo known as screamo also emerged during this time.
By the mid 2010s, emo had mostly fallen by the wayside with many of its key artists either breaking up or completely changing their sound. Beyond some short-lived spin-off genres such as emo rap, emo has lost its mainstream influence in the present day.