The ‘Big 4’ Bands of the 1970s

2025-05-29

Classic rock band The Who.

In honor of the bands that rocked the ’70s, Audio Ink Radio names the “Big Four” bands of the 1970s that shaped a generation of music. – Author: Cat Badra, Photo courtesy of Rick Guest

The 1970s brought a variety of top-notch rock bands that simply ruled the airwaves at a time when that meant everything. The ’70s also offered a new, harder form of rock music that hadn’t been around before. Frankly, a plethora of pioneering hard rock bands form the decade are to thank for a lot of the hard rock and metal music that is so popular today.

While it’s nearly impossible to pick one band that truly embodies the 1970s, it’s a bit easier to look at four groups who all had their statements made during that seminal decade for music. In honor of the bands that rocked the decade, Audio Ink Radio offers the “Big Four” bands of the 1970s.

The Biggest Bands of the 1970s

Led Zeppelin

If we had to pick just one band to represent the 1970s, it would be close, but we would have to go with Led Zeppelin. There’s really no denying the impact the band, who formed in the 1960s, had on popular music not just during that decade but for decades to come. There are still bands out there, even very young bands, who try to sound like Robert Plant and company. During the 1970s, Led Zeppelin became hugely commercially successful and was easily one of the most influential bands of their era.

Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd formed in the 1960s but really ruled the music world in the 1970s. The band made the concept album cool, with legendary albums such as 1973’s “The Dark Side of the Moon” and 1979’s “The Wall.” They also introduced psychedelia to the masses and offered the kind of music that would eventually be used in planetariums around the world. Don’t pretend you haven’t been to a Pink Floyd planetarium show.

The Who

The Who is another band that, like Pink Floyd, really made the concept album awesome. Many have tried to recreate the magic of concept albums, and rock operas, such as The Who’s “Tommy” or “Who’s Next,” but few have succeeded. While “Tommy” came out in 1969, most of The Who’s biggest hits broke in the 1970s, making them one of the biggest bands of that era. The classic lineup of vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bass player John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon just can’t be beat.

Black Sabbath

There’s no way this tally of the “Big Four” bands of the 1970s would be complete without heavy metal icons Black Sabbath. Ozzy Osbourne and the band released their debut album in 1970, and with it, they introduced a new, very dark and heavy sound to the decade. Other albums, such as 1970’s “Paranoid” and 1971’s “Master of Reality,” were equally stunning and influential. Black Sabbath really created the heavy metal genre in the 1970s, and from there, the genre took on a new life that would have never existed without Sabbath’s early works. Of course, Black Sabbath will perform their final show in July for their “Back to the Beginning” event at Villa Park in Birmingham, England.

For more from the 1970s, check out Audio Ink Radio’s feature on the best albums from the 1970s in rock.

Cat Badra
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Posted by Cat Badra | Features, Music, Rock