Venezuelan rock is rock music from Venezuela, the most common being based on Rock en español.
History 1960s First steps for rock music in Venezuela started by the oil industry jump in the late 1950s and can be traced to the band Los Flipper, The Thunderbirds and Los Dangers, where after , it would be part with Henry Stephen of Los Impala, a band from the prominent crude oil city Maracaibo and the first South American group with a high reputation and considerable impact in other continents (pretty much of his career in Spain).
1970s Subsequently, some bands in the 1970s, such as Una Luz, People Pie, El Zigui, La Cuarta Calle, and the progressive rock trio Ficción (Sobre el Abismo). Ficción became emblematic in the Venezuelan Prog Rock scene and is still very active, they released (May 2013) their third album: Ficción III-Sobre La Ira de Dios. Then also came a heavy metal, hard rock movement with Sacrifice, Power Age that later would become founded by and Freddy Marshall, Uzi, Spectro and José Arevalo Rock Band, Resistencia, Fahrenheit, Grand Bite and Alta Frecuencia. As for the blues music, while a few artists did occasionally perform some classic blues in English since the late '60's, the first band recording blues music with Spanish lyrics was Pastel de Gente that released two albums in the mid 1980s. Some of the most prominent artists in the 1980s were the band Aditus and the soloists Melissa and also Jorge Aguilar, who mixed rock with pop and other trends, such as the new wave, synth pop and funk respectively, making the genre more digestible to the larger audience.
1980s
While efforts were mostly oriented to the commercial pop/rock scene, from the underground-punk scene of the 1980s emerged several bands with international promotion, such as and Desorden Público, whose first production was launched in 1987, despite the blockade in the media of some of their music due to their strong political views and mildly offensive language. However, both bands' first recordings achieved a huge success, which led to the record companies change of attitude towards them, both allowing them to record additional records, and opening the doors for other emerging bands of the late 80's, such as Zapato 3, and Sentimiento Muerto, among others. La Misma Gente and Seguridad Nacional are considered cult bands of that decade.
1990s
In the 1990s, many new bands appeared, such as Caramelos de Cianuro, Los Mentas, , Levítico and . , La Puta Eléctrica, LaMuyBestiaPop, Krueger, La Calle, Los Gusanos, Pacífica, Spías, and Laberinto are considered cult bands of that decade.
2000s
Several new bands have emerged trying to push again the Venezuelan rock scene. Bands like , La Vida Bohème, Los Paranoias, Unos Panas Ahí, , Atkinson, Telegrama, , The Pelaballs, and many others have created a live music scene. , , Todosantos, Domingo en llamas, and Cunaguaro Soul are considered cult bands of that decade.
2010s
The Venezuelan rock scene was re-energized. Charliepapa, , , Americania, , Los Mesoneros, Arawato, The Asbestos, Okills, etc. have emerged.
La Vida Bohème won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Rock Album with Será in 2013. During that decade, the Venezuelan bands Viniloversus (2010) with Si no nos mata, La Vida Bohème (2011) with Nuestra, and Charliepapa (2015) with Y/O were also nominated for the Latin Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. La Vida Bohème was nominated for the Latin Grammy Award for Best Rock Song with "Radio Capital" (2011) and "Hornos de Cal" (2013), Charliepapa with "Astrómetra" (2015), Caramelos de Cianuro with "Abismo" (2016), and Arawato with "Nirvana" (2019).
2020s Caramelos de Cianuro and Los Mesoneros were nominated for the Latin Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in 2021, with Control and Los Mesoneros Live desde Pangea, respectively, and La Vida Bohème was nominated with Diáspora Vol. 1 in 2024. Viniloversus was nominated for the Latin Grammy Award for Best Rock Song with "Control temporal" in 2024. The band Van Der Dijs gained tragic international fame after the 2026 earthquakes, in which all four of its members died.
Venezuelan rock artists Los Impala Henry Stephen Vytas Brenner
Zapato 3 Seguridad Nacional Caramelos de Cianuro Los Amigos Invisibles Los Mentas Desorden Público
Culto Oculto Los Paranoias Los Gusanos
Verona Todosantos La Vida Bohème Atkinson Unos Panas Ahí The Asbestos La Vesper Los Mesoneros
References
External links http://rockhechovenezuela.com