25 Bands That Proved The 1970s Had The Best Rock Music

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Everyone always argues that their generation, their decade, the years that they went to high school and grew up had the best music. I was in a band in the 80s, and the lead singer and I both graduated in the ’70s, while the guitar player and the bass player graduated in the ’60s. We used to argue all the time about which decade had the best music. The guy who worked at Mr Cheapos’ record store and grew up in the 80s would argue that his decade had the best music. My piano students who grew up in the 90s argued it was the 90s that had the best.
I haven’t heard too many arguments for the 2000s and beyond. Of course, many people will find this argument ridiculous on so many levels. But hey, we’re a history site, and so putting forth arguments for each decade just digs into history and showcases the bands that were so important. So let’s have fun. I felt it was best to start with the 1970s since that was my decade, I graduated high school in 1979. Like Eddie Money always used to sing, “I want to go back, but you can’t go back no more.”
Before I start getting slammed with comments, yes, I know some of these bands released their first albums in 1968 or 1969, but my point is that they did their best work in the 70s and were, in fact, 70s bands.
This is not a top 10 list of the best bands or artists of the 70s. It’s just a list of bands we think really support our argument that this was the decade that rocked the most.
This is a list of just BANDS. We will add single artists like Elton John to a separate article.

# 25 – Jethro Tull

Ian Anderson and his crew have been slighted so ridiculously by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Not here, not on my site. Jethro Tull remains one of the most innovative rock bands to emerge from the decade. And in 2026, Anderson is still releasing new music, still rocking; he doesn’t seem to care one bit about what the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has to say. Neither do we.
Read More: An Interview With Ian Anderson Of Jethro Tull

# 24 – Grand Funk Railroad

In 1974, Grand Funk was probably the biggest rock band in the world, selling out Shea Stadium in minutes. These guys were really heavy-duty progressive rock when they first started out, but then they kind of shortened the songs up a little without sacrificing any integrity.
Read More: Mark Farner Of Grand Funk: The ClassicRockHistory.com Interview
Read More: An Interview With Don Brewer Of Grand Funk Railroad

# 23 – Chicago

Chicago released a new album every single year, and none of them ever disappointed their fans. They were not the first band to use horns in rock music, but they did it with such a distinctive sound and groove that one knew instantly that they were listening to Chicago.
Read More: Tony Obrohta of Chicago: 10 Albums That Changed My Life

# 22 – Foghat

This is a personal favorite of mine because I saw them so many times in the seventies. And their dual guitar sound, driving back beat, the ability to take blues and boogie to levels that, would knock your rock and roll socks off, has me yearning one more time to see Roger Earl, Lonesome Dave, Rod Price, and Craig MacGregor on that stage again at the Commack Arena in 1977. Of course, shout-outs to Tony Stevens and Nick Jameson. Luckily, Roger has also kept the band going, employing great musicians since the old days, and the band still rocks the house.
Read More: Roger Earl of Foghat: The ClassicRockHistory.com Interview

# 21 – Boston

We cannot leave a band off this list that had perhaps the greatest debut album of all time. The second one wasn’t bad either, but it’s that first one, which was played non-stop in our homes and on the radio every day from 1976 and on. What a sound!
Read More: Tommy DeCarlo of Boston: The ClassicRockHistory.Com Interview

# 20 – Deep Purple

These guys put out so much music, non-stop action-packed, no matter what lineup, it always ripped your senses in pieces and left you smiling. I never heard an organ sound like a guitar the way it did in Deep Purple. Oh Lord!
Read More: Ian Paice of Deep Purple: The ClassicRockHistory.com Interview

# 19 – Rush

Some people may argue that the band Rush was even bigger in the 80s. Well, here’s what they released in the 1970s…. Rush (1974), Fly by Night (1975), Caress of Steel (1975), 2112 (1976), A Farewell to Kings (1977) and Hemispheres (1978). Case closed!
Read More: Alex Lifeson of Rush: The ClassicRockHistory.com Interview

# 18 – Queen

Queen owned the 1970s. It was their decade. Who knows what may have happened if Freddie Mercury had never passed away? But as historians, we can only look back at what is real. And what’s real is Queen was one of the most rocking, most creative, most exciting rock bands to have come out of the 1970s. They were the first band I ever saw in concert. You never forget your first.
Read More: Brian May of Queen: The ClassicRockHistory.com Interview

# 17 – Steve Miller Band

Even though the Steve Miller Band had its origins in the 1960s, it was the 1970s when Steve Miller and his band of musicians set the world on fire with those two albums, Take the Money and Run and Book of Dreams.
Read More: Top 10 Steve Miller Band Songs

# 16 – Fleetwood Mac

The band’s origins go back to the ’60s, when they were a blues band, but it wasn’t until 1975 that the group became a household name with the addition of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. We all know the story, and that’s why they’re on this list.
Read More: Rick Vito: The ClassicRockHistory.com Interview

# 15 – Eagles

Harmonies, brilliant songwriting, and impeccable musicianship form a group whose significant contribution to rock music out of the studio came only during the 1970s. One of the most loved bands of all time.
Read More: 10 Most Rocking Eagles Songs

# 14 – The Ramones

Some will argue it was the Ramones who inspired the punk movement; others will say it happened before them. It doesn’t really matter; it’s what they did when they arrived on the scene, which was rocking the house at a speed that nobody had ever done before.
Read More: 11 Essential Ramones Songs

# 13 – KISS

A major reason why the bands that we picked on this list are because so many of them did things that had never been done before, or at least did so on a level that had never been seen before. Now you know why KISS is on this list. Pure rock and roll and a live act that blow your head up.
Read More: Ace Frehley: The ClassicRockHistory.com Interview

# 12 – AC/DC

Loud and in your face, and there was no escaping.
Read More: Chris Slade: The ClassicRockHistory.com Interview

# 11 – The Grateful Dead

A friend of mine once said, you never get the Grateful Dead unless you seen the Grateful Dead. To be at a Grateful Dead concert in the 1970s, and experience that sense of freedom, of not caring about a thing and looking into the eyes of someone that you’re hoping to fall in love with or wishing to fall in love with for just that night or chewing on something, or smoking something that you probably couldn’t buy in a 7-Eleven, yeah that’s what it was like seeing the Grateful Dead. And those are memories that you can’t separate from the music…..ever.
Read More: Top 10 Grateful Dead Songs

# 10 – Van Halen

There are moments when someone steps on a stage, plugs in, and changes the way that rock and roll is played forever, or at least changes the way people want to play rock and roll forever.
Read More: Van Halen’s Best Song On Each Of Their Studio Albums

# 9 – Bad Company

How cool was it to buy a Bad Company record in the ’70s and pull the record out of the sleeve and see the Led Zeppelin Swan Song label in the middle of the disc? Yeah, and then listening to the album and going whoa!!
Read More: 25 Essential Paul Rodgers Songs

# 9 – Aerosmith

We once wrote an article saying that Aerosmith may be the greatest American rock band of all time. There’s another group in this top 10 that we could also argue for. But it doesn’t really matter who is the greatest. All that matters is what they did and what they gave us, and Aerosmith rocked our blocks off.
Read More: Joe Perry of Aerosmith Interview: 13 Albums That Changed My Life

# 7 – Lynyrd Skynyrd

I saw Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1977 just before they crashed. Ted Nugent opened the show. I will never forget when they closed the show with “Freebird,” turned the house lights on full blast, lowered a Confederate Flag, and then watched an arena full of New Yorkers cheer wildly in front of a Confederate Flag, for 12 minutes as the band jammed their butts off. Only Lynrd Skynrd could have gotten away with something like that in New York. Man, do we miss all of those who lost their lives in that horrific plane crash.
Read More: An Interview With Greg T. Walker (Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blackfoot, Two Wolf)

# 6 – Progressive Rock – Pink Floyd/ Yes/ ELP/ Genesis/ Renaissance/

Yes, I know you’re probably crying foul. How could we fit five bands into one slot? You got us, we’re cheating. But I think it’s more important to make sure that these five progressive rock bands get on this list because of how important they were to us as fans in the 1970s and then of course beyond.
Read More: Annie Haslam & Jim McCarty: The ClassicRockHistory.com Interview

# 5 – Black Sabbath

It just doesn’t feel right that we all live in a world without Ozzy Osbourne now. He was almost like a father to all of us rockers. Yet, along with Ozzy’s bigger-than-life personality, this band did more for heavy metal music than any band in history.
Read More: An Interview With Geezer Butler Of Black Sabbath

# 4 – The Allman Brothers Band

Remember when we mentioned that there’s another band on this list that may qualify for the greatest American rock band of all time besides Aerosmith? Yup!
Read More: Warren Haynes: The ClassicRockHistory.com Interview

# 3 – The Who

The next three bands on this list all got their start in the 1960s. Using the word start is probably not the right choice because these bands just didn’t start the 60s they made major impacts in the 1960s. However, with all three of them, I would argue, and I think millions of others would too, that the 1970s were the decade in which these three bands released their greatest works. Quadrophenia, Tommy, and Who’s Next to name some major biggies!
Read More: Kenney Jones: The ClassicRockHistory.com Interview

# 2 – The Rolling Stones

Like we just mentioned in our paragraph about The Who, the Stones would also launch their career in the 1960s. And out of these three final bands on this list, they definitely had the most success during that decade. Still, when you think about what they did in the 1970s with albums like Exile on Main Street, Beggars Banquet, Some Girls, Sticky Fingers, and many more, the Stones rocked the ’70s just as hard as they did the 60s.
Read More: Top 10 Rolling Stones Songs Of All Time

# 1 – Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin’s first two albums were released in 1969. But this was not a ’60s band. No, these were the Gods, the Rock Gods of the ’70s. And any of you out there who were teenagers or 20-somethings in the 1970s, you know that that is no exaggeration at all. There was no bigger band in the 1970s than Led Zeppelin. The legacy this band has left behind, and the impact its music had on its fans, especially on those of us who were along for the ride, will never end.
Read More: 25 Classic Led Zeppelin Songs Everyone Should Know

There are so many more bands we wanted to put on this list, like The Moody Blues, Utopia, The Cars, Blondie, Marshall Tucker Band, Charlie Daniels Band, Deep Purple, etc. There are hundreds. Who would you add to this list?

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