Rock and Pop Music
Falco was the most popular Austrian solo artist throughout the 1980s. His song "Rock Me Amadeus" reached the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986. His sudden death in 1998 in the Dominican Republic catapulted his music from the 1980s once again into the spotlight.
Although Austria is not exactly the biggest exporter of international rock and pop-bands, there are a few notable musicians and bands.
Opus also made it in the charts worldwide as well,. In the last few years, several music groups toured Europe and had commercial success in the international charts. The most prominent being Christina Stürmer, who is successful in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. SheSays, who supported Bryan Adams on his European tour and some other bands like AOR, and Cornerstone, are notable for their recent contributions.
Blackened death metal trio Belphegor currently leads the Austrian metal scene, which also includes Hollenthon, Pungent Stench, Abigor, Disharmonic Orchestra, Visions of Atlantis, Dornenreich, Summoning and Estatic Fear.
Drummer Thomas Lang was born in Vienna in 1967 and is now world renowned for his technical abilities, having played with artists such as Robert Fripp, Geri Halliwell and Robbie Williams.
There is not a big indie rock scene in Austria. One of the few international touring bands is Killed By 9V Batteries from Vienna.
Yearly the Waves Vienna Music Festival & Conference takes place in October. This festival is a showcase festival for European pop music acts. The Donau Festival takes place in the spring each year and has a focus on experimental rock, avant garde music and other progressive genres of alternative music.
Read more about this topic: Music Of Austria
Famous quotes containing the words rock and, rock, pop and/or music:
“When we were at school we were taught to sing the songs of the Europeans. How many of us were taught the songs of the Wanyamwezi or of the Wahehe? Many of us have learnt to dance the rumba, or the cha cha, to rock and roll and to twist and even to dance the waltz and foxtrot. But how many of us can dance, or have even heard of the gombe sugu, the mangala, nyang’umumi, kiduo, or lele mama?”
—Julius K. Nyerere (b. 1922)
“I know it’s only rock ‘n’ roll but I like it.”
—Mick Jagger (b. 1943)
“Compare the history of the novel to that of rock ‘n’ roll. Both started out a minority taste, became a mass taste, and then splintered into several subgenres. Both have been the typical cultural expressions of classes and epochs. Both started out aggressively fighting for their share of attention, novels attacking the drama, the tract, and the poem, rock attacking jazz and pop and rolling over classical music.”
—W. T. Lhamon, U.S. educator, critic. “Material Differences,” Deliberate Speed: The Origins of a Cultural Style in the American 1950s, Smithsonian (1990)
“Morning work! By the blushes of Aurora and the music of Memnon, what should be man’s morning work in this world?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)