40 Best Rock Bands of the 2000s: The Bands That Defined the Decade
The 2000s were an incredible decade for rock music.
Garage rock came roaring back. Indie rock moved into the mainstream. Pop-punk became enormous. Nu metal filled arenas. Emo exploded. British guitar bands returned to the charts, while bands such as Linkin Park, Green Day, Foo Fighters and Coldplay became some of the biggest acts in the world.
So, what were the best rock bands of the 2000s?
Our list covers everything from alternative rock and indie to pop-punk, emo, metal and post-punk revival.
Some of these bands formed before 2000 but released some of their most important music during the decade. Others appeared seemingly from nowhere and came to define exactly what 2000s rock sounded like.
Our picks for the 40 best rock bands of the 2000s are:
- Linkin Park
- The Strokes
- Green Day
- Foo Fighters
- Arctic Monkeys
- The White Stripes
- Muse
- The Killers
- Radiohead
- Red Hot Chili Peppers
- My Chemical Romance
- Queens of the Stone Age
- Coldplay
- Paramore
- Kings of Leon
- System of a Down
- Blink-182
- The Black Keys
- Evanescence
- Fall Out Boy
- Franz Ferdinand
- Interpol
- Arcade Fire
- Bloc Party
- Slipknot
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- Death Cab for Cutie
- The Libertines
- Jimmy Eat World
- The National
- Modest Mouse
- Snow Patrol
- Panic! at the Disco
- Nickelback
- The Hives
- Kaiser Chiefs
- The Kooks
- Audioslave
- Thirty Seconds to Mars
- The Shins
Of course, ranking the greatest rock bands of the 2000s is always going to cause arguments.
That’s half the fun.
1. Linkin Park
Few bands represent 2000s rock more clearly than Linkin Park.
Their combination of alternative rock, metal, hip-hop and electronic production created a sound that felt genuinely new when Hybrid Theory arrived.
Songs including “In the End,” “One Step Closer,” “Crawling,” “Numb” and “Breaking the Habit” became defining tracks of the era.
Rather than remaining within one genre, Linkin Park continued experimenting throughout the decade, helping them appeal to rock, metal, electronic and hip-hop audiences simultaneously.
If you were building a playlist of essential 2000s rock songs, Linkin Park would be almost impossible to leave out.
2. The Strokes
The Strokes helped make guitar music feel cool again at the beginning of the decade.
The New York band arrived with a stripped-back combination of garage rock, indie and post-punk influences that contrasted dramatically with much of the heavily produced mainstream rock surrounding them.
Their debut album Is This It became one of the defining records of the early-2000s indie-rock movement.
Tracks such as “Last Nite,” “Someday” and “Hard to Explain” helped inspire a generation of guitar bands.
The Strokes and The White Stripes were among the acts identified at the time as part of an exciting new movement in rock music.
3. Green Day
Green Day were already successful long before the 2000s.
Then they effectively reinvented themselves.
American Idiot transformed the band’s career and introduced Green Day to another generation of listeners.
Songs including “American Idiot,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “Holiday” and “Wake Me Up When September Ends” became huge parts of 2000s rock culture.
Few established bands managed to make themselves feel as relevant to a new generation as Green Day did.
4. Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters entered the 2000s as an established rock band and left it as one of the biggest rock acts on the planet.
Led by Dave Grohl, the band produced an impressive catalogue of accessible but powerful rock songs.
“Best of You,” “Times Like These,” “All My Life” and “The Pretender” are among the band’s defining 2000s tracks.
While many guitar bands came and went during the decade, Foo Fighters became increasingly comfortable playing on the biggest stages imaginable.
5. Arctic Monkeys
Few British rock bands have ever arrived with quite as much momentum as Arctic Monkeys.
The Sheffield band’s rise was closely associated with the rapidly changing internet music culture of the mid-2000s.
Then came Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not.
Fast guitars, witty observations about British nightlife and Alex Turner’s unmistakable delivery made Arctic Monkeys one of the most exciting new bands of the decade.
“I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor,” “When the Sun Goes Down” and “Fluorescent Adolescent” became defining indie-rock songs.
6. The White Stripes
Sometimes two people are enough.
Jack and Meg White created an enormous sound from an intentionally restricted setup, pulling influences from blues, garage rock and punk.
“Seven Nation Army” became far bigger than simply being a rock song. Its instantly recognisable riff eventually became a sporting chant heard around the world.
Alongside The Strokes, The White Stripes were central to the renewed excitement surrounding stripped-back rock’n’roll in the early 2000s.
7. Muse
Muse brought something different to 2000s British rock.
While many contemporaries embraced deliberately stripped-back indie music, Muse went in the opposite direction.
Huge guitars. Piano. Falsetto vocals. Electronics. Progressive rock. Sci-fi themes. Enormous live productions.
Their 2001 album Origin of Symmetry was particularly important in establishing the heavier and more ambitious version of Muse that followed.
Songs including “Plug In Baby,” “Time Is Running Out,” “Supermassive Black Hole” and “Starlight” turned Muse into one of the defining British rock bands of the decade.
8. The Killers
Few songs scream 2000s indie quite like “Mr. Brightside.”
But The Killers were far more than one gigantic single.
Their debut album Hot Fuss produced an extraordinary run of tracks including “Somebody Told Me,” “Smile Like You Mean It” and “All These Things That I’ve Done.”
The band’s combination of indie rock, new wave and enormous choruses proved ideal for both clubs and festival stages.
9. Radiohead
Radiohead’s biggest commercial breakthrough arrived during the 1990s, but their influence on 2000s alternative music is impossible to ignore.
Rather than trying to repeat OK Computer, the band opened the decade with the radically different Kid A.
Electronic music, experimental production and unconventional songwriting increasingly became part of Radiohead’s sound.
They remained one of rock music’s most creatively ambitious bands throughout the decade.
10. Red Hot Chili Peppers
Another band whose history stretches well beyond the 2000s, the Red Hot Chili Peppers nevertheless produced some of their biggest music during the decade.
Songs including “By the Way,” “Can’t Stop,” “The Zephyr Song,” “Dani California” and “Snow (Hey Oh)” were everywhere.
Their mixture of funk, alternative rock and huge melodic choruses helped them remain one of the world’s biggest guitar bands.
11. My Chemical Romance
If one band had to represent the mainstream explosion of emo during the 2000s, My Chemical Romance would be a strong candidate.
Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge established the band before The Black Parade took the ambition several levels higher.
“I’m Not Okay (I Promise),” “Helena,” “Teenagers” and “Welcome to the Black Parade” became anthems for an entire generation.
The band’s theatrical aesthetic also demonstrated how important visual identity had become alongside the music itself.
12. Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age created some of the heaviest and coolest alternative rock of the decade.
Songs for the Deaf is particularly important, delivering tracks including “No One Knows” and “Go with the Flow.”
Josh Homme’s guitar playing and songwriting gave the band a distinctive sound sitting somewhere between alternative rock, hard rock and desert rock.
13. Coldplay
Depending on how strict your definition of rock is, Coldplay sometimes sit closer to alternative pop.
But leaving them out of a list of the biggest rock bands from the 2000s would be difficult to justify.
“Yellow,” “Clocks,” “The Scientist,” “Fix You” and “Viva la Vida” helped turn Coldplay from a British alternative band into one of the world’s largest musical acts.
Their ability to write enormous melodic songs gave them crossover appeal far beyond traditional rock audiences.
14. Paramore
Paramore became one of the standout bands of the pop-punk and alternative-rock explosion.
Hayley Williams’ instantly recognisable vocals combined with energetic guitar-driven songs to create an enormous following.
“Misery Business,” “That’s What You Get,” “Crushcrushcrush” and “Decode” are among their essential 2000s releases.
Paramore would continue evolving considerably beyond their original sound, but their impact on 2000s alternative culture remains huge.
15. Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon underwent one of the decade’s more interesting transformations.
Their early music had a raw Southern garage-rock sound.
Gradually, their songs became bigger and more atmospheric.
Then “Sex on Fire” and “Use Somebody” arrived.
By the end of the decade, Kings of Leon had evolved into a major arena rock band.
16. System of a Down
Trying to describe System of a Down using one genre has always been difficult.
Metal, punk, alternative rock, Armenian musical influences, frantic tempo changes and politically charged lyrics could all appear within the same song.
“Chop Suey!,” “Toxicity,” “Aerials,” “B.Y.O.B.” and “Lonely Day” helped make them one of the decade’s most distinctive heavy bands.
Nobody else really sounded like System of a Down.
17. Blink-182
Blink-182 helped take pop-punk into the mainstream.
Although their breakthrough started during the late 1990s, the band remained hugely influential throughout the following decade.
Tracks such as “The Rock Show,” “First Date,” “Feeling This,” “I Miss You” and “Stay Together for the Kids” became staples for a generation of rock listeners.
Their influence can still be heard across modern pop-punk and alternative music.
18. The Black Keys
Before they became an arena-sized rock band, The Black Keys were creating raw blues-rock with a deliberately uncomplicated sound.
Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney steadily built an audience throughout the 2000s before becoming considerably bigger during the following decade.
Their early catalogue helped keep stripped-back blues and garage-rock influences alive within alternative music.
19. Evanescence
The opening piano of “Bring Me to Life” remains instantly recognisable.
Evanescence combined alternative metal with gothic imagery, orchestral elements and Amy Lee’s dramatic vocals.
Their debut album Fallen became one of the standout rock records of the early 2000s.
Songs including “My Immortal,” “Going Under” and “Everybody’s Fool” helped distinguish Evanescence from both the nu-metal and alternative-rock scenes surrounding them.
20. Fall Out Boy
Fall Out Boy helped push pop-punk and emo deeper into mainstream pop culture.
Songs including “Sugar, We’re Goin Down,” “Dance, Dance,” “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race” and “Thnks fr th Mmrs” helped define mid-2000s alternative radio and music television.
Their combination of punk guitars and massive pop hooks proved enormously effective.
21. Franz Ferdinand
“Take Me Out” was one of the defining indie-rock singles of the decade.
Franz Ferdinand combined sharp guitar riffs, post-punk influences and danceable rhythms into a sound that seemed designed for indie clubs.
The resurgence of interest in 2000s indie has continued long after the decade itself, something Franz Ferdinand have discussed while reflecting on their own place within that period.
22. Interpol
Where some 2000s indie bands aimed for bright choruses and dancefloors, Interpol went darker.
The New York band’s atmospheric post-punk sound made Turn on the Bright Lights an important album within the decade’s indie movement.
Interpol helped establish the moodier side of the early-2000s New York rock revival.
23. Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire brought enormous arrangements and emotional intensity into 2000s indie rock.
Funeral became one of the decade’s most celebrated indie albums and helped establish the group as a major force within alternative music.
Their success also demonstrated how bands emerging from independent music scenes could grow into major international acts.
24. Bloc Party
Bloc Party’s debut Silent Alarm remains closely associated with the mid-2000s British indie boom.
“Banquet,” “Helicopter” and “This Modern Love” combined angular guitar work with frantic rhythms and an emotional edge.
Their music also had enough dance influence to work perfectly within the indie-club culture of the period.
25. Slipknot
Rock music in the 2000s wasn’t all indie guitars and skinny jeans.
Slipknot became one of the biggest heavy bands of the decade.
Their masks, aggressive performances and extreme sound gave the band an immediately recognisable identity.
At the same time, tracks such as “Duality,” “Before I Forget” and “Psychosocial” demonstrated their ability to write genuinely memorable songs beneath all the chaos.
26. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The New York scene that produced bands including The Strokes and Interpol also gave us the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Karen O became one of the era’s most recognisable frontpeople, while tracks such as “Maps,” “Date with the Night” and “Heads Will Roll” showed the band’s impressive range.
Garage rock, art rock, punk and electronic influences all appeared across their catalogue.
27. Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie represented a softer and more introspective side of 2000s indie rock.
Albums such as Transatlanticism played a major role in the band’s breakthrough, while their music gained additional exposure through its association with television and wider popular culture.
“I Will Follow You into the Dark,” “Soul Meets Body” and “The Sound of Settling” remain essential tracks from their catalogue.
28. The Libertines
For British indie music, The Libertines were hugely influential.
Pete Doherty and Carl Barât created chaotic, romantic guitar music inspired partly by British punk and rock tradition.
Songs including “Can’t Stand Me Now” and “Don’t Look Back into the Sun” became indie favourites.
Their influence stretched far beyond their relatively limited initial catalogue.
29. Jimmy Eat World
Jimmy Eat World played an important role in bringing emo-influenced alternative rock to a much wider audience.
“The Middle” became their signature song, but tracks including “Sweetness” and “Pain” helped establish a much broader catalogue.
Their melodic songwriting would influence numerous pop-punk, alternative and emo bands that followed.
30. The National
The National didn’t achieve the immediate mainstream explosion of some bands on this list.
Instead, they steadily became one of the most respected indie-rock bands of their generation.
Their emotionally restrained songwriting and Matt Berninger’s baritone vocals helped create a style that felt significantly removed from the louder indie-rock trends around them.
31. Modest Mouse
Years of cult success eventually turned into something much bigger for Modest Mouse.
“Float On” became an unexpected mainstream hit while retaining enough of the band’s unusual personality to still sound unmistakably like Modest Mouse.
Their combination of indie rock and eccentric songwriting helped broaden what commercially successful alternative music could sound like.
32. Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol became one of the biggest melodic rock bands to emerge from the UK and Irish music scene during the decade.
“Run,” “Chasing Cars” and “Open Your Eyes” became enormous songs, with “Chasing Cars” developing especially strong longevity.
Their emotional, atmospheric style also proved extremely effective for television and film.
33. Panic! at the Disco
Panic! at the Disco arrived during the mid-2000s emo explosion but immediately sounded different.
“I Write Sins Not Tragedies” became the breakout hit, combining pop-punk energy with theatrical arrangements and one of the decade’s most memorable music videos.
The project would later evolve significantly, but its original incarnation belongs firmly within 2000s alternative-rock history.
34. Nickelback
Yes, we’re including Nickelback.
They might also be one of the most argued-about bands on the entire list.
But when discussing popular rock bands of the 2000s, their commercial impact simply can’t be ignored.
“How You Remind Me,” “Photograph,” “Someday” and “Rockstar” were gigantic mainstream rock songs.
You don’t have to love them.
But you definitely knew them.
35. The Hives
The Hives brought pure energy to the garage-rock revival.
Matching outfits, chaotic performances and sharp punk-influenced songs helped turn the Swedish group into one of the movement’s most entertaining bands.
“Hate to Say I Told You So” remains their best-known track.
Contemporary coverage placed The Hives alongside The Strokes and White Stripes within the new wave of exciting rock bands emerging in the early 2000s.
36. Kaiser Chiefs
The mid-2000s British indie boom produced plenty of bands.
Kaiser Chiefs produced some of its biggest singalong songs.
“I Predict a Riot,” “Oh My God,” “Everyday I Love You Less and Less” and “Ruby” were designed for enormous crowds.
Their energetic sound made them particularly well suited to the festival culture surrounding British indie rock.
37. The Kooks
The Kooks delivered a warmer and more melodic version of 2000s British indie.
Their debut album Inside In/Inside Out produced songs including “Naive,” “She Moves in Her Own Way” and “Sofa Song.”
Their accessible acoustic and guitar-driven sound made them one of the decade’s most recognisable British indie bands.
38. Audioslave
Putting Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell together with members of Rage Against the Machine was always going to produce something interesting.
Audioslave combined Cornell’s huge voice with the unmistakable guitar work of Tom Morello.
“Like a Stone,” “Cochise” and “Be Yourself” became some of the standout mainstream hard-rock songs of the decade.
39. Thirty Seconds to Mars
Thirty Seconds to Mars developed from an alternative-rock project into an arena-sized band during the 2000s.
Songs such as “The Kill (Bury Me),” “From Yesterday” and “Kings and Queens” helped establish their dramatic, cinematic take on alternative rock.
Their visual presentation became almost as important to their identity as the music.
40. The Shins
The Shins represent the gentler side of 2000s indie rock.
Their melodic, slightly psychedelic sound found an audience far beyond traditional indie circles.
Songs including “New Slang,” “Caring Is Creepy” and “Australia” helped make The Shins one of the decade’s most recognisable American indie bands.
What were the biggest rock genres of the 2000s?
One reason 2000s rock remains so interesting is that there wasn’t really one dominant sound.
Several movements were happening simultaneously.
Indie rock and post-punk revival
The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, Interpol, Bloc Party, Arctic Monkeys and The Killers helped make indie guitar music enormously popular.
Bands such as The Strokes and White Stripes were already being discussed as part of a renewed wave of stripped-back rock music near the beginning of the decade.
Pop-punk and emo
Blink-182 helped establish the template before bands including Fall Out Boy, Paramore, My Chemical Romance and Panic! at the Disco pushed alternative music deep into mainstream youth culture.
Nu metal and alternative metal
Linkin Park, System of a Down, Slipknot and Evanescence demonstrated just how broad heavy music had become.
Metal could incorporate hip-hop, electronic production, pop melodies, orchestration and almost anything else.
Garage rock revival
The White Stripes, The Strokes and The Hives helped bring deliberately raw production and old-school rock’n’roll influences back into fashion.
Stadium and alternative rock
Foo Fighters, Muse, Coldplay, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kings of Leon and Green Day showed that rock bands could still become enormous mainstream acts.
Best British rock bands of the 2000s
Britain had an especially strong decade for guitar music.
Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Coldplay, Bloc Party, The Libertines, Kaiser Chiefs, The Kooks, Franz Ferdinand and Snow Patrol all became important parts of British rock culture.
The middle of the decade became particularly associated with the revival of indie guitar bands.
In Britain, it felt for a while as though virtually every city had four friends forming a band.
Some were brilliant.
Some disappeared after two singles.
The haircuts were remarkably consistent.
Best American rock bands of the 2000s
The United States produced many of the decade’s biggest rock acts.
Linkin Park, The Strokes, Green Day, Foo Fighters, The White Stripes, The Killers, My Chemical Romance, Queens of the Stone Age, Paramore and The Black Keys all contributed to an incredibly varied American rock scene.
New York alone became associated with an important wave of bands including The Strokes, Interpol and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Best alternative rock bands of the 2000s
If you’re specifically looking for 2000s alternative rock bands, start with:
Linkin Park, Muse, The Killers, Radiohead, Queens of the Stone Age, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Paramore, Evanescence, Interpol and Thirty Seconds to Mars.
The definition of alternative rock became increasingly broad during the decade.
That was arguably one of its strengths.
Electronic music, metal, indie, pop and punk could all coexist within what listeners considered alternative music.
Best indie rock bands of the 2000s
The 2000s were arguably one of the defining decades for modern indie rock.
Some essential 2000s indie bands include:
The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, The White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand, Interpol, Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Libertines, The National and The Shins.
Interest in this period hasn’t disappeared either. Discussions around the resurgence of 2000s indie music continue decades later.
Best pop-punk and emo bands of the 2000s
For pop-punk and emo, some of the defining names were:
Blink-182, My Chemical Romance, Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Jimmy Eat World and Panic! at the Disco.
The influence of this era can still be heard throughout modern alternative and pop music.
What made 2000s rock music so good?
Part of the appeal was variety.
There wasn’t one formula for being a successful rock band.
Linkin Park could combine guitars with turntables and rap.
The White Stripes could create enormous records with essentially guitar and drums.
Muse could sound like a progressive-rock band from the future.
The Strokes could intentionally make everything sound like it had been recorded decades earlier.
My Chemical Romance could build an entire theatrical universe around an album.
Arctic Monkeys could turn observations about a night out in Sheffield into international rock songs.
Rock music had fragmented into dozens of scenes, but those scenes frequently crossed over into the mainstream.
Frequently asked questions about 2000s rock bands
What were the best rock bands of the 2000s?
Some of the best rock bands of the 2000s include Linkin Park, The Strokes, Green Day, Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys, The White Stripes, Muse, The Killers, Radiohead and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The decade also produced major movements in indie rock, emo, pop-punk, garage rock and alternative metal.
What rock bands were popular in the 2000s?
Popular 2000s rock bands included Linkin Park, Green Day, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Nickelback, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blink-182, Muse, The Killers and Kings of Leon.
At the same time, alternative bands such as Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes and The White Stripes helped guitar music reach a new generation.
What bands defined 2000s indie rock?
Key 2000s indie-rock bands include The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, Interpol, Arcade Fire, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Libertines, The National and The Shins.
What bands defined 2000s emo?
My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Jimmy Eat World, Paramore and Panic! at the Disco were among the most recognisable artists associated with the mainstream emo and pop-punk explosion.
Who was the biggest rock band of the 2000s?
There isn’t one definitive answer.
Coldplay, Linkin Park, Green Day, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers and U2 all achieved enormous audiences during the decade.
If we’re talking specifically about a band whose identity is inseparable from the 2000s, however, Linkin Park would be our choice.
Is Linkin Park a 2000s band?
Yes.
Although Linkin Park formed during the 1990s, their debut album Hybrid Theory arrived in 2000 and their breakthrough happened during the 2000s.
They became one of the defining rock bands of the decade.
Are Arctic Monkeys a 2000s band?
Yes.
Arctic Monkeys formed in Sheffield in the early 2000s and released their debut album during the decade.
Their rapid rise made them one of the defining British indie-rock bands of the era.
The legacy of 2000s rock bands
More than a decade after the 2000s ended, its influence remains everywhere.
The indie-rock revival brought guitar bands back into clubs and charts.
Pop-punk and emo created communities whose influence has stretched across generations.
Bands such as Linkin Park demonstrated that rock didn’t need to remain trapped within traditional genre boundaries.
And groups including Arctic Monkeys, The Killers, Muse and Paramore went on to build careers stretching far beyond the decade in which they first became famous.
Perhaps that’s why 2000s rock music continues to inspire so much nostalgia.
The decade didn’t have one sound.
It had dozens of them.
And whether your version of the 2000s was screaming along to Linkin Park, dancing to The Killers, discovering Arctic Monkeys, wearing too much eyeliner while listening to My Chemical Romance or repeatedly attempting the opening riff from “Seven Nation Army,” there was probably a rock band that defined the decade for you.