Characteristics

Rock is a form of popular music , usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars , a bass guitar , and a strong back beat ; other instruments, such as the saxophone , trumpet , and trombone are common in some styles, however, horns have been omitted from newer subgenres of rock music since the 90s . The genre of rock is broad, and its boundaries loosely-defined, with distantly related genres such as soul sometimes being included.

A major formative influence on rock was rock and roll , and the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. 50s rock and roll artist Bo Diddley claims that the term rock and roll came from an Australian radio interview in which disc jockey Alan Freed described Diddley as "the man with the original sound that's going to rock and roll you out of your seat."

In the early 1960s rock 'n' roll was seen as being out of fashion, and at the outset of '60s British rock there was an insistence on using the term rock music . With the " British Invasion " this reinvigorated musical style spread back to the United States , and became a lasting international cultural phenomenon with considerable social impact on the world. Competing claims have credited it with ending wars and spreading peace and tolerance, as well as corrupting the innocent and spreading moral rot. Rock has become popular across the globe, and has evolved into a multitude of highly-varying styles with widespread popularity in most countries today. Overall in terms of album sales, rock is the most popular form of music since the advent of sound recording.