762 articles
Ray Toro
Ray Toro (Raymond Toro-Ortiz, born 1977, Kearny, New Jersey) is lead guitarist of My Chemical Romance and a solo artist; known for solos, harmonized leads, Les Pauls, and the 2016 album Remember The Laughter.
Reality (David Bowie album)
Reality is David Bowie's 2003 studio album, produced with Tony Visconti in New York, his last before a decade-long gap until The Next Day; UK number 3, over 1 million sold, later remastered in 2025.
Rebel Yell (album)
Rebel Yell, Billy Idol's November 10, 1983 second solo album on Chrysalis, produced by Keith Forsey with Steve Stevens; hit No. 6 on the Billboard 200, went double platinum, and spawned the No. 4 hit "Eyes Without a Face".
Recession pop
Recession pop, also called Electropop 08, is a retroactive label for upbeat late-2000s/early-2010s dance-pop (Lady Gaga, Kesha, Rihanna) released around the Great Recession, revived via TikTok in 2024-2025 with a 6.4% US streaming bump; it is not a proven recession indicator.
Red (King Crimson album)
Red (1974) is King Crimson's seventh studio album, released 6 October 1974 on Island, recorded by Fripp, Wetton, and Bruford at Olympic Studios with guests McDonald and Collins; it peaked at UK number 45 and closed the band's 1970s era.
Reggae
Reggae: Jamaican popular music from the late 1960s, grown from ska and rocksteady, marked by offbeat accents, the skank, one-drop drums, Rastafari-linked lyrics, Bob Marley, and 2018 UNESCO heritage recognition.
Reggaeton
Reggaeton (reguetón) is a Spanish-language Caribbean genre fusing Jamaican dancehall's dembow rhythm, named for Shabba Ranks's 1990 "Dem Bow", with hip hop; it formed in Panama and Puerto Rico, broke commercially with "Gasolina" in 2004, and now leads global Latin music consumption.
Revenge (Kiss album)
Revenge (Kiss album), 1992 Mercury studio album, Kiss's 16th, produced by Bob Ezrin, dedicated to drummer Eric Carr with Eric Singer on drums; gold-certified, Billboard No. 6, featuring Unholy and God Gave Rock and Roll To You II.
Revolution Summer (music)
Revolution Summer (music): 1985 Washington, D.C. punk movement coined by Amy Pickering of Dischord Records, linking melodic post-hardcore bands like Rites of Spring and Embrace to activism, Positive Force D.C., and the roots of emo.
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues (R&B) is an African American popular music genre blending blues, jazz, and gospel with a strong beat, coined by Jerry Wexler at Billboard in 1949 and now an umbrella term covering soul, funk, and contemporary R&B.
Ric Ocasek
Ric Ocasek (Richard Theodore Otcasek, 1944-2019), American songwriter, guitarist, and producer; frontman and chief songwriter of new wave band the Cars, later producer of Weezer, Bad Brains, and Suicide; Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, 2018.
Richard Butler (singer)
Richard Butler (born 1956, Kingston upon Thames) is the English singer, songwriter, and painter who co-founded the Psychedelic Furs in 1977, fronted Love Spit Love, released a 2006 solo album, and returned with Made of Rain (2020).
Rick Davies
Rick Davies (1944–2025), English singer, keyboardist and co-founder of Supertramp with Roger Hodgson; voice and Wurlitzer pianist of "Goodbye Stranger" and "Bloody Well Right"; led the band after 1983; died of multiple myeloma.
Rick Springfield
Rick Springfield (Richard Lewis Springthorpe, born 1949) is an Australian singer-songwriter and actor; his 1981 hit "Jessie's Girl" won a Grammy, and he played Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital.
Ricky Wilson (singer)
Ricky Wilson, born Charles Richard Wilson, is an English singer best known as frontman of the Leeds rock band Kaiser Chiefs and as a coach on The Voice UK from 2013 to 2016.
Rio Grande Mud
Rio Grande Mud is ZZ Top's second studio album, released 4 April 1972 on London Records. Recorded in Tyler, Texas, produced by Bill Ham, it yielded the single "Francine" (No. 69 Billboard Hot 100) and peaked at No. 104 on the Billboard 200.
Riot Act (album)
Riot Act is Pearl Jam's seventh studio album, released November 12, 2002 on Epic Records. Recorded at Studio X, Seattle, produced by Adam Kasper and Pearl Jam, it mourns the nine Roskilde deaths and criticizes the Bush administration on Bu$hleaguer.
Risecore
Risecore: fan-coined, often pejorative term for late-2000s/2010s melodic metalcore and post-hardcore bands on or sounding like Rise Records, with clean/scream vocals, synths and breakdowns; contested as a genre.
Rising (Rainbow album)
Rising, also called Rainbow Rising, is Rainbow's second studio album, released 17 May 1976 on Oyster/Polydor; six tracks, 33 minutes, recorded at Musicland Studios, Munich, featuring Stargazer, UK chart peak number 11.
Rivers Cuomo
Rivers Cuomo is an American singer-songwriter, born in 1970, best known as the frontman, guitarist, and main songwriter of Weezer, the alternative rock band he started in Los Angeles in 1992.
Robert "Kool" Bell
Robert "Kool" Bell, also known as Muhammad Bayyan, is an American bass guitarist and songwriter. He co-founded Kool & the Gang in 1964 and helped create hits like "Celebration."
Robert DeLeo
Robert DeLeo (born 1966, Montclair, New Jersey) is the bassist and principal songwriter of Stone Temple Pilots, also of Talk Show, Army of Anyone, and Delta Deep; solo debut Lessons Learned (2022), known for Motown-influenced lines and an Ampeg VT-22 into Marshall 8x10 rig.
Rock 'n' Roll (John Lennon album)
Rock 'n' Roll is a 1975 solo studio album by John Lennon, his last before a five-year retirement, made up entirely of cover versions produced with Phil Spector.
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is the American popular music genre of the late 1940s-1950s, born from rhythm and blues, electric blues, gospel, boogie-woogie, and country; popularized by DJ Alan Freed, mainstreamed by Bill Haley in 1955, and marked by debates over race and appropriation.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Cleveland museum and honors institution founded by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, open since 1995; inducts artists 25 years after first release via a 1,200-plus voter body.
Rock and Roll Over
Rock and Roll Over is KISS's fifth studio album, released November 11, 1976 on Casablanca Records. Produced by Eddie Kramer at the Star Theatre in Nanuet, New York, it peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard 200, went platinum, and yielded the singles Calling Dr. Love and Hard Luck Woman.
Rock in a Hard Place
Rock in a Hard Place is Aerosmith's seventh studio album, released August 27, 1982, recorded without Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, with Jimmy Crespo and Rick Dufay on guitar; it sold poorly before the band's 1980s reunion comeback.
Rock music
Rock music: broad popular-music genre from mid-20th-century rock and roll, blues, country, R&B; guitar-driven, with 1950s US origins, hundreds of subgenres, and heavy classic-rock catalog streaming today.
Rock music in Australia
Rock music in Australia, also known as Oz rock, is rock made by Australian artists from 1955 through the pub rock era to today's streaming market.
Rock of the Westies
Rock of the Westies is Elton John's tenth studio album, released October 1975, recorded at Caribou Ranch with producer Gus Dudgeon. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, featured the hit "Island Girl", and gets a 50th Anniversary Edition in November.