The ‘Big 4’ Bands of Boomer, Gen X, Millennial + Gen Z Dad Rock

Now that our March Dadness tournament is almost over, let’s look at the “Big” bands of  Boomer, Gen X, Millennial and Gen Z dad rock.

Once upon a time, the phrase “dad rock” referred to the ’60s and ’70s classic rock bands that your dad listened to. But your dad may be a grandpa now, or even a great grandpa, so “dad rock” has a whole new meaning now.

Last year we covered a study of the most popular dad rock bands in each state, based on a survey of 3,000 Americans. It genuinely hurt our feelings to see groups such as Nickelback, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit and Blink-182 listed, because it reminded us that we are older than we think we are.

This made us realize that people from different generations may consider different eras of rock bands to be dad rock. And so we compiled a Big 4 of bands to represent each of those generations of dad rock.

READ MORE: Map Shows the Most Popular Dad Rock Band in Each U.S. State – Study

We chose bands that were the most popular when members of each generation were teenagers. So for Boomers (born 1946-1964), we picked bands that peaked between 1959 and 1977. Gen X was born between 1965 and 1980, so we chose bands that were popular between 1978 and 1993.

For Millennials, the bands we picked reigned from 1994 to 2009 and Gen Z from 2010 to 2025. Gulp — that’s right, the youngest members of the Gen Z generation turn 13 this year.

Hopefully you’re not confused by the generational breakdown, so scroll through the galleries below to see the Big 4 bands we picked for every generation of dad rock.