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Origins
By the 1960s, the term rhythm and blues had no longer been in wide use; instead, terms like soul music were used to describe popular African American music. In the 1980s, however, rhythm and blues came back into use, most often in the form of R&B , a usage that has continued to the present. Contemporary R&B arose when sultry funk singers like Prince became very popular, alongside dance-oriented pop stars like Michael Jackson and female vocalists like Tina Turner and Whitney Houston.
By the end of the 1980s, pop-rock largely consisted of the radio-friendly hair metal bands, who used images derived from the British glam movement with macho lyrics and attitudes, accompanied by hard rock music and heavy metal virtuosic soloing. Bands from this era included many British groups like Def Leppard , as well as heavy metal-influenced American bands Mötley Crüe , Guns N' Roses , Bon Jovi and Van Halen.
The mid-1980s also saw Gospel music see its popularity peak. A new form of gospel had evolved, called Contemporary Christian music (CCM). CCM had been around since the late 1960s, and consisted of a pop/rock sound with slight religious lyrics. CCM had become the most popular form of gospel by the mid-1980s, especially with artists like Amy Grant , Michael W. Smith , and Kathy Triccoli . Amy Grant was the most popular CCM, and gospel, singer of the 1980s, and after experiencing unprecedented success in CCM, crossed over into mainstream pop in the 1980s and 1990s. Michael W. Smith also had considerable success in CCM before crossing over to a successful career in pop music as well. Grant would later produce CCM's first #1 pop hit ("Baby Baby"), and CCM's best-selling album ( Heart In Motion ).
In the 1980s, the country music charts were dominated by pop singers with only tangential influences from country music, a trend that has continued since. The 1980s saw a revival of honky-tonk-style country with the rise of people like Dwight Yoakam and the new traditionalists Emmylou Harris and Ricky Skaggs, as well as the development of alternative country performers like Uncle Tupelo . Later alternative country performers, like Whiskeytown 's Ryan Adams and Wilco , found some mainstream success.
History |
