This article summarizes the events related to rock music for the year of 2022.
Notable events January Guitarist Nita Strauss and Disturbed frontman David Draiman's song "Dead Inside" tops the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart. This makes Strauss the first female solo artist to top it in over 30 years, after Alannah Myles song "Black Velvet" in 1990. The topic of COVID-19 vaccinations creates a rift in rock music culture. On one end, musicians such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell take their music off of music streaming service Spotify in protest of their hosting of Joe Rogan's podcast that has contained COVID-19 misinformation. Conversely, artists like Kid Rock releases songs with anti-vax messages. Singer-songwriter Gayle's song "ABCDEFU", described by UK's Official Charts Company and US's Billboard magazine as a pop punk song, is described as being the "biggest song in the world" after topping the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts for multiple weeks.
February UK alternative rock band Wolf Alice wins the Brit Award for British Group of the year at the 42nd Brit Awards. Pop rapper Doja Cat records a faithful cover version of Courtney Love's 1994 song "Celebrity Skin" for a Taco Bell commercial originally airing during the 2022 Super Bowl. The song is later released as a stand-alone single, and charts on multiple national rock music song charts, her first song to do so. Two rock songs debut on the Billboard all-format Hot 100 chart in the same week, a rare feat for rock music in the 2020s. One is Machine Gun Kelly's song "Emo Girl", while the other is Red Hot Chili Peppers first single in five years, "Black Summer".Billboard Hot 100 placeholder Korn releases their fourteenth studio album, Requiem, a more melodic release, with an emphasis on layering guitars. The album is released to positive reviews, and is the second best-selling album of the week on the US Billboard Top Album Sales chart. However, factoring in streaming music data with album-equivalent units, it only debuts at number 14 on the US all-format Billboard 200 chart, making it their first album since their debut album in 1994 to not debut in the top 10. English musician Frank Turner releases his ninth studio album, FTHC. It became his first album to top the UK albums chart. Canadian musician Avril Lavigne releases her seventh studio album Love Sux. The album, produced by John Feldmann, Mod Sun and Travis Barker, marks a return to her earlier pop punk sound. It debuts at number 9 on the Billboard 200, moving 30,000 album equivalent units, and is her first album since 2013 to debut in the top 10 of the chart. Three Days Grace and Shinedown each have songs that top the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart. The fact that both have been topping the chart since the early 2000s, and keep trading places for band with most songs to top the chart, elicits discussions about staleness and dormancy of modern rock radio. Tears for Fears releases their seventh studio album, and first studio album in 18 years, The Tipping Point. It debuts at number 8 on the Billboard 200, moving 31,000 album equivalent units. It become the band's highest ever charting debut, and their first in 30 years to debut in the top 10. It is also the best selling album of the week in pure sales as well. Guitarist Slash releases his fifth solo album, 4. It is his fourth solo album featuring vocalist Myles Kennedy of Alterbridge. The album debuts in the top 10 of ten separate national album charts. Jethro Tull releases their 22nd studio album, The Zealot Gene, their first in almost 18 years. It charts at number 9 on the UK OOC all-formal albums chart, making it their first album in 50 years to crack the top 10 of the UK albums chart. Eddie Vedder (of Pearl Jam) releases his third solo album, Earthling. It is the best selling album of the week in the US, topping the Billboard Top Album Sales chart with 16,000 copies sold.
March Swedish band Ghost release their fifth studio album, Impera. First started in 2020, the album's creation spanned 2 years as the band waited out the 2020 US Presidential Election season and some rougher parts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The latter inspired frontman Tobias Forge to revisit and complete an album idea he has had since 2014, about "the rise and fall of empires". The album debuts at number 2 on the Billboard 200 chart, moving 70,000 album equivalent units. The debut is the band best of their career in both chart position and units moved. It is the highest charting hard rock album since 2020's Power Up album by AC/DC, and the best selling hard rock album in over a year, since 2021's Medicine at Midnight album by the Foo Fighters. As of its March release, Impera was also the highest pure sales of 2022 of any album genre. Feeder releases their eleventh studio album, Torpedo. Described as "heavier but still melodic", the album is themed around the band's frustrations of not being able to perform live due to COVID-19 restrictions. It debuts at number 5 on the UK all-format Official Charts Company albums chart, their tenth album to place in the top ten of the chart. Machine Gun Kelly releases his sixth studio album, and second one of the rock genre. Originally announced as Born with Horns, it was later retitled to Mainstream Sellout. It tops the all-format US Billboard 200 albums chart upon release, moving 93,000 album equivalent units. It is the first rock album in over a year to top the chart, with the last ones being AC/DC and Kelly's own Tickets to My Downfall in 2020. Despite the success, Kelly announced that he would be returning to rap music for his future releases. Kid Rock's twelfth studio album, Bad Reputation, fails to debut in the top 200 albums of the Billboard 200 upon its release. His prior seven albums had all debuted in the top 10 of the chart. His turn towards politics was cited as a possible reason for the steep decline since prior albums. After its appearance in the March 2022 film The Batman, Nirvana's 1991 song "Something in the Way" appears on the Billboard Hot 100 all-format song chart at number 46. It is the first song of the band's to appear on the chart in 20 years, since 2002's "You Know You're Right", and the first time the song had ever appeared on the chart, with it never having been released as a single in the past.
April At the 2022 Grammy Awards, the Foo Fighters win all three rock music themed Grammy Awards - "Making a Fire" wins Best Rock Performance, "Waiting on a War" wins Best Rock Song, and Medicine at Midnight wins Best Rock Album. Colombian musician Juanes wins the Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album with their release Origen. Red Hot Chili Peppers release their twelfth studio album, Unlimited Love. It is their first with guitarist John Frusciante since he rejoined the band in 2019. It tops the Billboard 200 albums chart upon its debut week, moving 97,500 album equivalent units. It is their second album to top the chart, and their first since 2006's Stadium Arcadium. Additionally, the album replacing Machine Gun Kelly's Mainstream Sellout as a chart topper makes it the first time since 2017 that the chart had back to back rock artists topping the chart, when Foo Fighters and The Killers did it with Concrete and Gold and Wonderful Wonderful respectively. Pink Floyd reunites to release a one-off song "Hey, Hey, Rise Up!". It is the band's first release of new music since 1994's The Division Bell. The song is in support of Ukraine in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, and feature vocals from Andriy Khlyvnyuk of the Ukrainian band Boombox. Jack White releases his first of two studio albums planned for 2022, Fear of the Dawn, the other being Entering Heaven Alive in July 2022. Fear of the Dawn debuts in the top ten of at least six separate national album charts.
May Guitarist Amen leaves Finnish band Lordi after disagreements with other band members. My Chemical Romance releases their first new song in 8 years, "The Foundations of Decay". The Black Keys release their eleventh studio album, Dropout Boogie. It debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200, moving 33,000 album equivalent units. It is the band's sixth album to chart in the top 10 of the chart, and their second within a year, after Delta Kream in May 2021. Swedish band Draconian announce the departure of singer Heike Langhans, the return of Lisa Johansson on vocals, and the addition of guitarist Niklas Nord.
June British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree releases their first new studio album in 13 years, Closure/Continuation. The album was recorded intermittently over the course of a decade in complete secrecy while frontman Steven Wilson pursued a solo career and other members moved on to other projects. The COVID pandemic halted their other projects and allowed them the time to finally complete the album. The album title is self-referential to the fact that the band is uncertain if this is the end of the band's career, or the start of a new era. The album tops four separate national charts in Europe and peaks at number 2 in the UK, all career highs. Coheed and Cambria releases their tenth studio album, Vaxis - Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind. The album will continue the story of their long running series of concept albums, though frontman Claudio Sanchez notes that parts of the story are still in flux, as some plot points have felt insensitive in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many rock musicians speak out in protest against of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, including Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, Hayley Williams of Paramore, and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam. Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day goes as far as saying he would renounce his own US citizenship over it.
July Shinedown releases their seventh studio album, Planet Zero. The album was initially scheduled to be released in late 2021, and then delayed to April 2022, before finally being released in July. It debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200 chart, moving 43,000 album equivalent units. It's their fifth album to debut in the top 10 of the chart, but has a 17,000 unit drop from their prior album, 2018's Attention Attention. Jack White releases Entering Heaven Alive on July 22, 2022, his second album of the year. His first of the year, Fear of the Dawn, highlights a heavier sound, while Entering Heaven Alive features softer and acoustic music. Entering Heaven Alive debuts at number 9 on the Billboard 200, moving 27,000 album equivalent units. Dance Gavin Dance releases their tenth studio album, Jackpot Juicer. It debuts at number 8 on the Billboard 200 chart, moving 33,500 album equivalent units. It is the band's first album to debut in the top 10 of the chart. Rage Against the Machine plays their first live performance in over 11 years, and makes headlines for their commentary critical of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, including the catchphrase "Abort the Supreme Court". They also commit to giving almost half a million dollars in concert ticket revenue towards reproductive rights organizations.
August Panic! at the Disco releases their seventh studio album, Viva Las Vengeance. The album features work from Butch Walker who was said to add "a sound that showcases guitars and nods to the arena rock sound of decades past, primarily the 1970s". While the prior two studio albums topped the Billboard 200 chart, Viva Las Vengeance did not, and missed the top ten altogether, debuting at 13.