I just stopped by to mention Foo Fighters. They have to be right up there with some of these bands.
I also just have to get it off my chest that I fucking hate U2. That is all. I’m not saying they are or are not the biggest rock band though. I’m not a huge Foo fan either (though I did see them in concert last year because they were touring with Weezer).
I agree with this
Dave Matthews Band rocks for me, at least. I’ll dance to him watching a live dvd, working out to his music, or in the car while driving. His voice can do anything (or it could before it took some damage) and his lyrics are sensual and poetic. He can rock hard, blues sweet, two-step country, or jazz cool. Best of all is the band’s chemistry. On dvd it’s clear that there’s noplace they’d rather be than jamming with each other. They play for the joy of playing and for their listeners, and ego and image aren’t even an issue.
As for demographics, I noticed all ages in the audience in the live dvds. I’ve only discovered him in the last year or so, but I’d love to go to a concert someday, and I’m 51. For the record, I’d be dancing alongside the 20-somethings, 30-somethings, and 40-somethings.
U2.
WordMan, you never address my core question: Why are all these other music types big in the regular channels of distribution - AND the Internet - but rock is not? Why is rock different? Why is rock not selling as much? How many of the groups you mention have ever had even one million-selling album?) How can you keep claiming rock is Big when demonstrably all these other genres are much bigger, when that never used to be the case?
Pretty much EVERY band I have mentioned has at least one CD that sold over a million copies.
I’m done here. You’re not listening and don’t even realize that you’re not listening.
Listening? Listening to what? Silence?
You haven’t given one cite. Not albums sold. Not concert grosses. Not number of downloads. (Yeah, you said something about an unnamed group with uncited stats. I don’t believe what-your-friends-told-to-you numbers. Back them up.) All I hear you say is rock must be Big because it matters to me.
Give me some numbers. Make a case. Prove your case. Start just asserting that you and only you know the truth.
The Dixie Chicks sold over 500,000 copies of their new album in the first week. Their last three albums sold 6, 10, and 12 million. Billboard lists them as having the top Internet album. And I’ll bet they are not even in the top five best-selling country artists. That’s Big. What rock group has come close to this in the past four years? Name one.
Stop saying I’m not listening when you’re the one with fingers in his ears refusing even to address my questions. If you have a case, make it. With numbers. And cites. Not with assertions.
I would guess that the kind of people who listen to the dixie chicks are the kind that are more likely to actually go out and BUY their CD - whereas the people that would listen to rock would just download it. Illegally.
The other thing that hasn’t been specifically stated is that the audience for rock music, like the audiences for just about everything else, has fragmented since the mid-70s on. There are just way too many choices for everyone to be enamored of the same thing.
sigh
All cites are Wikipedia unless otherwise noted - finding specific CD sales number is not easy; you have to subscribe to Billboard…
Band on Myspace = Total plays = 3,302,000 and counting
Dashboard Confessional
Okay - no platinum - sue me.
Fall Out Boy
All American Rejects
Radiohead
Green Day
And they are on the list you posted as one of the biggest-grossing tours of 2005, I think…
Red Hot Chili Peppers
• http://top40.about.com/od/artistsls/p/redhotchili.htm - Red Hot Chili Peppers released the triumphant album Californication in 1999. It sold a powerful 15 million copies worldwide.
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - Wikipedia - Over the past 23 years, they have produced nine studio albums which have sold about 57 million copies worldwide. They also hold the records for most #1 Modern Rock hits with nine, and most weeks spent atop that chart, with 70.
Linkin Park
• Hybrid Theory (2000) #2 US, #4 UK, US Sales: 8,000,000
• Meteora (2003) #1 US, #1 UK, US Sales: 4,000,000
http://www.ticketspecialists.com/concert/linkin_park_tickets.htm
And please don’t tell me I need to list Metallica - I assume you know that they have big sales.
Again - what is the point? I never claimed that any rock band could go up against the Dixie Chicks - although some have come reasonably close, judging by these cites you so desperately wanted. My point is that a band like Radiohead - which I couldn’t get sales numbers for, but at least once they debuted at #1 so they AREN’T just a “cult” they way you so condescendingly dismiss them - if they sold only 1 million of a CD vs. bazillions for Shania Twain, my argument since post one to this thread is that a band like Radiohead would matter more. Shania is fun, but pointless pop - there is none of the danger, rebellion or statement-making that defines how I - and a lot of others - think of rock. So - using the criteria I have been trying to discuss - I would rate Radiohead as the Bigger Band than Shania (discussing her as if she were a rock band). Radiohead is challenging, political, thoughtful - important in an artistic way.
I know this will get under your skin based on your dismissive tone in a thread a few months ago, but back in the day, I would say that the Sex Pistols were more important than Boston. Boston wrote great, catchy classic (even “Corporate” to use the old line) rock that was not challenging. The Pistols challenged everything - and have influenced so many bands it is not even funny…
Again - this all started when the OP wanted to know the answer to Who is the Biggest Rock Band today and I tried to: a) suggest that mere sales wasn’t enough; and b) suggest that there are new ways to get to music that mean that sales can’t be assessed through mere CD sales - I do hope 3 million fucking downloads makes that point…
You are welcome to get back on this thread and offer an argument that sales should be the only criteria that matter - that is your call. All you have done is:
You haven’t discussed either my suggestion that other criteria should be considered - even after repeated attempts to draw your attention to it - nor have you spoken about the changing nature of music distribution other than cite the Dixie Chicks having a #1 internet album. Bully for you.
Back at ya, pal.
Glad I read past the title, I was thinking Ann Wilson of Heart 
Yes, I have considered it. And I dismissed it as too individualistic and idiosyncratic to use as a criterion. I’ve done that repeatedly. What did I get in return but abuse? How many others here are agreeing with you that that’s a legitimate criterion?
From your cites, Green Day, Linkun Park, and maybe Red Hot Chili Peppers are the best candidates for best sellers within the four year window of the OP. Good, now we have a base on which to work. They’re not huge numbers by either Dixie Chicks or hip hop standards, though. And you never give any context for them the way I’ve tried to. Maybe they’re getting 20 million downloads from the Internet and rock is lagging behind again. Which of course is the question that I ask and you can comprehend: why is rock behaving different?
My answer, which other people have also chimed in with, is that the rock market is too fragmented to compete, a different answer than of course rock is still big.
Thank for addressing at least half my question, though. This is the start of the conversation we should have had 50 posts ago.
But I do have to say that my original quote was:
Note the smilie, followed by the but seriously and stop looking at the first half of it as somehow separate.
Nitpick. The smilie didn’t show and I guessed at the code and got it slightly wrong. The effect is identical, though.
According to Forbes the top money earners of 2005 were:
The Rolling Stones $168 million ($162 in ticket sales)
U2 $150 million ($139)
Kenney Chesney $110 million sales and tickets
Green Day $99 million ($34.8)
The Eagles $84 million ($78.4)
**Paul McCartney ** $83 million ($77.3)
Celine Dion $81 million (155 Vegas shows)
50 Cent $79 million ($4.7 + $10.8 with Eminem)
Dave Matthews $74 million ($57)
Elton John $66 million (royalties, 32 city tour and Vegas)
I suspect another serious factor is the rise of DVDs sales. For many, it appears that DVDs have replaced the entertainment niche that CDs/cassettes/albums once filled. Additionally, until recently it was much easier to download music compared to tv shows and movies. As a result, I think (b) above increased and disposable income went to DVDs.
This is exactly my feeling.
I know you have some point you want to make about rock having been eclipsed in popularity by other genres, but that doesn’t address the question in the OP. If rock reached the point of being only ten per cent as popular as country or rap, there would still be a biggest rock act. Your continued harping on the greater popularity of other types of music amounts to a hijack. Who is the biggest bluegrass act? Probably Alison Krauss and Union Station, regardless of how her sales or concert grosses compare to those of artists in other genres. Who is the biggest rock act? The Rolling Stones, U2, Cold Play and Green Day are possible answers, depending on the criteria chosen, but to say that there isn’t one strikes me as a silly argument.
Bless you. My point exactly.