Relive one of rock’s greatest years with the following photo gallery of 25 rock stars in 1976 versus now.
The United States Bicentennial was one of the most significant years in rock history. The genre was exploding commercially and minting a myriad of stars across a variety of subgenres.
READ MORE: The Top 40 Albums of 1976
Hard Rock Flourished in 1976
Hard rock and heavy metal, in particular, were flourishing. Despite a dip in sales and lukewarm critical reception, Led Zeppelin’s Presence topped the charts on both sides of the pond, selling 3 million copies and granting the rock giants their sixth consecutive No. 1 album.
Aerosmith, meanwhile, hit their creative zenith with their fourth album, Rocks, which went quadruple platinum and further solidified the Boston bad boys’ reputation as America’s answer to Led Zeppelin. Their East Coast hard rock brethren Kiss also reached new critical and commercial heights, parlaying the success of 1975’s Alive! into a pair of successful 1976 studio albums — Destroyer and Rock and Roll Over — and embarking on their first European tour.
READ MORE: Top 40 Songs of 1976
Singer-Songwriters and Pop-Rock Acts Also Had Banner Years
Solo artists, pop-rock bands and acclaimed singer-songwriters flourishes in 1976 as well. Paul McCartney and Wings enjoyed a banner year, performing to hundreds of thousands of U.S. fans on the Wings Over America Tour and memorializing the blockbuster trek with a triple live album of the same name.
Fleetwood Mac found themselves buoyed by the breakout success of their 1975 self-titled album and prepared to launch even further into the stratosphere with 1977’s Rumours, while Eagles reached a level of success that few other artists have ever seen with the near-mythical Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) and Hotel California.
Bruce Springsteen toured relentlessly in support of his star-making third LP Born to Run. Billy Joel started to see the fruits of his labor with 1976’s Turnstiles, and Elton John’s platinum-selling Blue Moves marked his final collaboration with Bernie Taupin for several years.
For the sake of comparison, we’ve done our best to include artists who are still with us in the following gallery (or, in the case of bands, whose members are predominantly still alive). That means no Tom Petty or Ozzy Osbourne, to name a few.
By and large, many of them are still touring and releasing music today — a testament to their tireless work ethic and indomitable spirit.
Keep scrolling to see our photo gallery of 25 rock stars in 1976 versus now.
Photos: 25 Classic Rock Stars in 1976 Vs. Now
Look back at one of rock’s biggest years and see how far these legends have come.
Gallery Credit: Bryan Rolli
