In many ways, Music does make the world go round; it brings the world together, regardless of language barriers, racial differences and geographical distances. Sometimes, music defines a generation or an era and the musicians, who make such impactful music, are remembered even beyond their time.
They are some of the many reasons we celebrate World Music Day on Sunday, 21 June. In this article, we have listed the bands that define their generation.
Although music groups like the Barbershop Quartets and Sweet Adelines quartets existed since the 1930s, it was in the 1960s that music began to transcend time and geography.
1960s
The Beatles: Even after five decades, the English rock band from Liverpool is considered the greatest music group of all time. The Beatles members, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, are household names and icons for anyone remotely interested in music, with "Hey Jude", "Love me do", and "Yesterday" still ringing in fans' ears.
The Jackson 5: Formed in 1964, initially under the name Jackson Brothers, this family band is the main reason behind the world getting its King of Pop Michael Jackson. "I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save" and "I'll Be There" are among the Jackson 5's most popular songs that still resonate with music lovers around the world.
1970s
Menudo: The Puerto Rican boy band formed in 1977 may not be remembered by many now, but it is what put heartthrobs like Ricky Martin and Darco Rosa in the map.
1980s
New Kids on the Block: NKOTH is an American boy band that was assembled in 1984 and consisted of brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood. They were among the few American bands of the 80s that were capable of gaining worldwide popularity with their catchy songs "Summertime", "Please Don't Go Girl" and "Step By Step".
Salt-N-Pepa: Cheryl James ("Salt") and Sandra Denton ("Pepa") formed their band with Latoya Hanson (who was later replaced with Deidra Roper) in 1985, becoming one of the first all-rap female bands. Their "Push It" is still very popular and was even covered by "Glee" in Season 1, while "Let's Talk About Sex" was covered by Treblemakers in "Pitch Perfect".
1990s
Destiny's Child: Along with being the band that introduced Queen 'B' Beyoncé Knowles to the world, Destiny's Child is also the group that sang so much about feminism that women finally began to consider it as cool. The soulful R&B song, "Survivor", gave little girls reason to think of women as strong and independent. Songs like "Independent Women", "Happy Face" and many others also had the same effect.
Backstreet Boys: AJ McLean, Howie Dorough, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell shot to fame in 1993, and reached the kind of stardom, which all celebrities wish for, in just a couple of years. Songs like "I Want it that Way" and "Everybody" became anthems for young boys across the world to get girls swooning in a short span.
Spice Girls: Melanie Brown ("Scary Spice"), Melanie Chisholm ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), Victoria Beckham and née Adams ("Posh Spice") became a global phenomenon as soon as their first single, "Wannabe", was released in 1996 and every girl was soon taking quizzes to see which spice girl they were.
NSYNC: Every 90s kid will have an NSYC story to share. Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone and Lance Bass became popular with "Bye Bye Bye", which is still as catchy as it was a decade ago.
2000s
Maroon 5: Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden and Ryan Dusick are all childhood friends, and their chemistry and combined love for music strikes a chord with the fans when they see them perform. With songs like "Moves Like Jagger" and "One more Night", Maroon 5 made their way into millions of hearts worldwide.
Las Kethup: The Spanish family pop girl group, founded by flamenco producer, Manuel "Queco" Ruiz got worldwide popularity, but only for a short span of time. Their first single, "The Ketchup Song", which was released in 2002, is still considered an iconic number and is played at dance parties even today.
2010-Present
One Direction: Simon Cowell may be rude as hell on X-Factor, but he sure knows the formula for success and stardom. He picked out five contestants, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik (not a member since March 2015) and Louis Tomlinson, who failed their individual auditions and made a world-dominating band, "One Direction", out of them. They are some of the most influential people in the world currently and their fandom is only getting bigger by the day.
