List of alternative rock bands, sorted by date - oldest first (all time)

U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin, Ireland. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono (vocals and guitar), the Edge (guitar, keyboards, and vocals), Adam Clayton (bass guitar), and Larry Mullen, Jr. (drums and percussion)...

The Pretenders are an English-American rock band formed in Hereford, England, in March 1978. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guit...

R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by lead singer Michael Stipe, lead guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and drummer Bill Berry...

Soul Asylum is an American alternative rock band that formed in 1981, and officially in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1983. The band originally formed in 1981 under the name Loud Fast Rules, with the original line-up consisting of Dav...

Red Hot Chili Peppers (also sometimes shortened to "The Chili Peppers" or abbreviated as "RHCP") are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983.

The Melvins are an American band that formed in 1983. They usually perform as a trio, but in recent years have performed as a four piece with two drummers. Since 1984, singer and guitarist Buzz Osborne (also known as King Buzzo) a...

The Offspring is an American punk rock band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1984. Formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Dexter Holland, bassist Greg K., lead gui...

Primus is an American experimental rock band based in San Francisco, California, currently composed of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry "Ler" LaLonde and drummer Tim "Herb" Alexander. Primus originally formed in 1984...

Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Matt Cameron became the band's full-time drummer in 19...

Stone Temple Pilots (often abbreviated as STP) is an American rock band from San Diego, California, that consists of brothers Robert DeLeo (bass, backing vocals) and Dean DeLeo (guitar), Eric Kretz (drums, percussion), and formerl...

Pixies are an American rock band formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1986. The group currently consists of founders Black Francis (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), and David Lovering (drums). Co-founder Kim...

No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, that formed in 1986. Since 1994, the group has consisted of vocalist Gwen Stefani, bassist and keyboardist Tony Kanal, guitarist and keyboardist Tom Dumont, and drummer A...

The Sugarcubes were an Icelandic alternative rock band formed in 1986 and disbanded in 1992.

Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1986 by vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist Mike Dirnt. For much of their career, the band has been a trio with drummer Tré Cool, who replaced former drummer John K...

The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1988. Formed by frontman Billy Corgan (lead vocals, guitar) and James Iha (guitar), the band included D'arcy Wretzky (bass guitar) and J...

Nine Inch Nails (abbreviated NIN; stylized as NIИ) is an American industrial rock band, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official...

Sublime was an American ska punk / reggae rock band from Long Beach, California, formed in 1988. The band's line-up, unchanged until their breakup, consisted of Bradley Nowell (vocals and guitar), Eric Wilson (bass) and Bud Gaugh...

Live ( often typeset as LĪVE) is an American rock band from York, Pennsylvania, composed of Chad Taylor (lead guitar), Patrick Dahlheimer (bass), Chad Gracey (drums), and Chris Shinn (vocals). Live's original lead singer Ed Kowalc...

311 (pronounced "three-eleven") is an American rock band from Omaha, Nebraska. The band was formed in 1988 by vocalist and guitarist Nick Hexum, lead guitarist Jim Watson (who would later be replaced by Tim Mahoney), bassist Aaron...

Barenaked Ladies (often abbreviated BNL or occasionally BnL) is a Canadian rock band.

Blur are an English rock band, formed in London in 1988. The group consists of singer/keyboardist Damon Albarn, guitarist/singer Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree.

Lit is an American rock band, formed in 1988 in Fullerton, California.

Mudhoney is an American alternative rock band. Formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988 following the demise of Green River, Mudhoney's members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddi...

Hole was an American alternative rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1989 by singer and guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The band had a revolving line-up of bassists and drummers, their mo...

4 Non Blondes was an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1989. The group was formed by bassist Christa Hillhouse, guitarist Shaunna Hall, drummer Wanda Day, and vocalist and guitarist Linda Perry. Prior to...

The Cranberries are an Irish rock band who formed in Limerick in 1989. The band consists of vocalist Dolores O'Riordan, guitarist Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler.

Blind Melon (Stylized as BLind MeLoN) is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California by two musicians from Mississippi and one from Indiana, active from 1990 to 1999 and 2006 onward.

The Verve were an English rock band formed in Wigan in 1990 by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury. The guitarist and keyboard player Simon Tong became a me...

Temple of the Dog was an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1990. It was conceived by vocalist Chris Cornell of Soundgarden as a tribute to his friend, the late Andrew Wood, lead singer of the bands Malfunksh...

Cake (stylized CAKE) is an American alternative rock band from Sacramento, California.

Everclear is an American alternative rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1991. The band was formed by Art Alexakis, the band's lead songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist; and for most of the band's height of popularity, consiste...

Incubus is an American rock band from Calabasas, California. The band was formed in 1991 by vocalist Brandon Boyd, lead guitarist Mike Einziger, and drummer Jose Pasillas while enrolled in Calabasas High School and later expanded...

Bloodhound Gang is an American band which began as a hip hop group but branched out into other genres, including alternative hip hop, rapcore, funk metal and electronic rock, as their career progressed.

AFI (A Fire Inside) is an American rock band from Ukiah, California formed in November 1991. They have had the same lineup since 1998: lead vocalist Davey Havok, drummer and backup vocalist Adam Carson, with bassist Hunter Burgan...

I Mother Earth, or IME, is a Canadian alternative rock band.

Counting Crows is an American rock band from Berkeley, California, formed in 1991. The band consists of Adam Duritz (lead vocals, piano), David Bryson (guitar), Charlie Gillingham (accordion, keyboards), Dan Vickrey (lead guitar),...

Blink-182 is an American rock band formed in Poway, a suburb of San Diego, California in 1992. The band currently consists of bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus, drummer Travis Barker, and guitarist and vocalist Matt Skiba...

Bush are a British rock band formed in London in 1992. The band found immediate success with the release of their debut album Sixteen Stone in 1994, which is certified 6× multi-platinum by the RIAA. Bush went on to become one of t...

Our Lady Peace (sometimes shortened to OLP) are a Canadian alternative rock/post-grunge band formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1992.

Stone Sour is an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa in 1992, performing for five years, before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000 and since 2006, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor (lead vocals), Josh Rand (...

Collective Soul is an American rock band originally from Stockbridge, Georgia. Now based in Atlanta, the group consists of lead vocalist Ed Roland, rhythm guitarist Dean Roland, bassist Will Turpin, drummer Johnny Rabb and lead gu...

Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1992 consisting of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, lead guitar), Patrick Wilson (drums), Brian Bell (rhythm guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), and Scott Shriner (bass, backing v...

Moist is a Canadian alternative rock band that originally formed in 1992. It consists of David Usher as lead vocalist, Mark Makoway on lead guitars, Jonathan Gallivan on guitars, Kevin Young on keyboards, Francis Fillion on drums...

Papa Roach is an American, Sacramento based rock band from Vacaville, California.

Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish alternative rock, pop rock and pop punk band formed in 1993, consisting of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), Paul Wilson (bass guitar, backing vocals), Jonn...

Billy Talent is a Canadian punk rock band from Mississauga, Ontario. They formed in 1993 with Benjamin Kowalewicz as the lead vocalist, Ian D'Sa on guitar, bassist Jon Gallant and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk.

Creed is an American rock band, formed in 1993 in Tallahassee, Florida. The band's best-known line-up consists of lead vocalist Scott Stapp, guitarist and vocalist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Phillips...

Garbage is an American-Scottish alternative rock band formed in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1993. The group consists of Scottish musician Shirley Manson (vocals, keyboards, guitar) and American musicians Duke Erikson (bass, guitar, key...

Mad Season was an American rock supergroup formed in Seattle, Washington in 1994 by members of three popular Seattle-based bands: Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Screaming Trees. Mad Season released only one album, Above, and is be...

Foo Fighters is an American rock band, formed in Seattle in 1994. It was founded by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the death of Kurt Cobain and the resulting dissolution of his previous band. The group g...