The first 25 years of the 21st century started with a bang for rock music. The genre had taken a hit as the '90s closed, as boy bands, rappers and pop stars dominated the airwaves and charts.

Rock music first grew out of the rock’n’roll movement of the 1940s and 50s, which itself was inspired by country and African-American rhythm and blues from the 1920s and 30s. Even from its ...