2017 in rock music explained

This article summarizes the events related to rock music for the year of 2017.

Notable events

January

• Highly Suspect's single "My Name is Human" is the number one song on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart for three weeks of the month, for 8 weeks total in combining five weeks in 2017.^{[1] [2]}
• Ghost's single "Square Hammer" tops the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart for two weeks. The song is their first to top the chart, and made them the first Swedish band to do so as well.^{[3] [1]}
• You Me at Six's single "Take on the World" tops the UK Rock & Metal Singles chart, and was certified silver.^{[4] [5]}
• AFI releases their tenth studio album AFI. It debuts at number 5 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 29,000 album equivalent units.^[6]
• Starset releases their second studio album, Vessels. It debuts at number 11 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling over 40,000 copies in the first half of the year.^{[7] [8]}

February

• Green Day's single "Still Breathing" concurrently tops the Billboard Mainstream Rock, Alternative Songs, and Rock Airplay charts for a single week.^[9]
• Metallica's single "Atlas, Rise!" tops the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart for 2 weeks.
• Shinedown's single "How Did You Love?" tops the Billboard Mainstream rock chart, and stays there for 4 weeks.^[10]

March

• Breaking Benjamin's single "Never Again" tops the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart for 2 weeks. It is their fifth song to do so at the time.^[11]
• Metallica's 2016 album Hardwired... to Self-Destruct jumps up to number 2 on the Billboard 200 chart, largely due to a concert ticket/album buying promotional bundling for their 2017 touring.^[12] It stayed in the position for two weeks straight.^[13]
• Mastodon releases their seventh studio album, Emperor of Sand. The album debuts at number 7 on the Billboard 200 chart, and tops the Top Album Sales chart, selling 43,000 album equivalent units and 41,000 actual albums, respectively.^[14] The album is later nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album.^[15]
• Chris Cornell releases his final song prior to his death in May 2017, "The Promise".^[16] The song is later nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance.^[17]

April

• Papa Roach's single "Help" tops the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart for 6 weeks straight.^[18]
• Incubus releases their eighth studio album, 8. It debuts at number 4 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 52,000 album equivalent units.^[19]

May

• Seether's single "Let You Down" tops the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart for 4 weeks straight.^{[20] [1]}
• Linkin Park's releases their seventh studio album, One More Light. It tops the Billboard 200 chart, selling 110,000 album equivalent units. It was also the band's sixth studio album to top the chart, a feat only nine other rock bands have ever done.^[21]
• Harry Styles releases his debut solo album, Harry Styles, an album noted for its 1970s and 1980s classic rock sound.^[22] It tops the Billboard 200 chart, selling 230,000 album equivalent units.^[23] It is also the top selling album of the week many other countries, including the United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, The Czech Republic and Scotland.^[24]
• The Beatles 50th anniversary reissue of their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band pushes the album back up to number 3 on the Billboard 200 chart.^[25]

June

• Stone Sour's single "Song #3" tops the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart for 4 weeks straight, their fourth song to top the chart.^[26]
• Nickelback releases their ninth studio album, Feed the Machine. It debuts at number 5 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 47,000 album equivalent units.^[27]
• Stone Sour releases their sixth studio album Hydrograd. It debuts at number 8 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 33,000 album equivalent units, and tops the Billboard Hard Rock chart.^[28]

July

• The Foo Fighter's single "Run" tops the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, and stays there for 4 weeks.^{[29] [1]} The song is later nominated, and wins, the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song.^[30]

August

• Royal Blood's single "Lights Out" tops the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, and stays there for 2 weeks. It is their second song to top the chart.^[31]
• Queens of the Stone Age release their seventh studio album, Villains. It debuts at number 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 73,000 album equivalent units, and tops the Top Albums Sales chart.^[32]
• Brand New releases their fifth and final album, Science Fiction, their first new release in 8 years. The album tops the Billboard 200 chart, selling 58,000 album equivalent units, their only album to top the chart.^[33]
• Steven Wilson, frontman of long-running progressive rock bands Porcupine Tree and Blackfield, releases his highest charting album of his thirty-year career, his fifth solo album To the Bone. It debuts at number three UK all-format chart.^[34]
• It is announced that Starset has accumulated 1 billion views of their content on YouTube. The accomplishment is partially attributed to their popular single "Monster", which, was the second most-played song of Mainstream Rock radio for the year as of August.^[35]

September

• Greta Van Fleet's single "Highway Tune" tops the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and stays there for 5 weeks. The band is one of few who top the chart with their very first single sent to the chart.^[36]
• The Foo Fighters release their ninth studio album, Concrete and Gold. It tops the all-format US Billboard 200 chart, selling 127,000 album equivalent units. It is the only hard rock album to top the US charts in 2017.^[37]

October

• Theory of a Deadman's single "Rx (Medicate)" tops the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and stays there for six straight weeks.^[38]

November

• Nothing More's single "Go to War" tops the Mainstream Rock charts for the first week. It is their first song to top the chart.^[39] It also receives two Grammy Award nominations Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance, for the 2018 Grammys,^[40] and a nomination for "Best Rock Song" for the iHeartRadio Music Awards.^[41]

December

• U2 release's their fourteenth studio album, Songs of Experience. The album tops the Billboard 200, selling 186,000 album equivalent units. It is the highest rock album debut of 2017, and the band's eighth album to top the chart, a feat few prior bands have done.^[42]
• The Foo Fighters' single "The Sky is a Neighborhood" tops the Billboard Mainstream Rock and Rock Airplay charts concurrently.^[43] It stays at the top of the Mainstream Rock chart for 4 weeks.^[1]
• Czech rock band Chinaski perform the last show with their classic line-up of Michal Malátný, František Táborský, Štěpán Škoch, Ondřej Škoch, Petr Kužvart, and Otakar Petřina Jr.^[44] The two Škochs, Kužvart, and Petřina are later replaced by Lukáš Pavlík, Tomi Okres and Jan Steinsdörfer.

Year end

• Metallica's Hardwired... to Self-Destruct is declared top rock album of 2017 by Billboard, selling 1.1 million copies over the course of 2017, and being the only rock band to have a platinum selling album in 2017.^[45]
• The Billboard Mainstream Rock Year End chart indicates that Stone Sour's "Song #3" is the most popular song on the chart for the year of 2017, followed by Highly Suspect's "Little One", and Starset's "Monster" in second and third respectively.^[46]
• Billboard staff vote Harry Styles's pop rock song "Sign of the Times" as the best rock song of 2017.^[47]

Deaths

See main article: List of 2017 deaths in popular music.

• January 22  - Jaki Liebezeit, 78, German drummer (Can)^[48]
• January 31
  • Deke Leonard, 72, Welsh rock guitarist (Man)^[49]
  • John Wetton, 67, English bassist (cancer)^[50]
• March 18  - Chuck Berry, pioneer in shaping the early sounds of rock and roll^[51]
• May 18  - Chris Cornell, 52, lead singer of Soundgarden and Audioslave (suicide)^[52]
• July 20  - Chester Bennington, 41, lead singer of Linkin Park (suicide)^[53]
• October 2  - Tom Petty, 66, of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (cardiac arrest)^[54]
• October 17  - Gord Downie, 53, lead singer of The Tragically Hip, after being diagnosed with brain cancer in 2015.^[55]
• October 20  - Boris Lindqvist, 76, Swedish rock singer^[56] (death announced on this date)
• November 7  - Pentti Glan, 71, Finnish-Canadian drummer (Alice Cooper, Lou Reed)^[57]
• November 18 - Malcolm Young, 64, Rhythm guitarist and co-founding member of Australian rock band AC/DC

Band breakups

• Audioslave^[58]
• Black Sabbath^[59]
• H.I.M.^[60]

Notes and References

1. 2017 Archive - Billboard. Billboard.
2. Highly Suspect Earns First No. 1 Song With 'My Name Is Human'. Billboard.
3. Ghost Floats to First Mainstream Rock Songs No. 1 With 'Square Hammer'. Billboard.
4. Web site: You Me at Six / Official Charts. Official Charts Company. 1 August 2023.
5. Web site: You Me at Six Take On The World. British Phonographic Industry. 1 August 2023.
6. John Mayer Debuts at No. 2 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart, The Weeknd Reigns at No. 1. Billboard.
7. Web site: Starset at Saint Andrews Hall, 3 Things To Know. Gary. Graff. Theoaklandpress.com. 8 February 2018 .
8. Web site: Metal by Numbers: The top selling metal of the first half of 2017. 7 July 2017. Metalinsider.net.
9. Green Day's 'Still Breathing' Rules Mainstream Rock Songs Chart. Billboard.
10. Shinedown Shines Atop Mainstream Rock Songs Chart With 'How Did You Love'. Billboard.
11. Breaking Benjamin Earns Fifth No. 1 on Mainstream Rock Songs. Billboard.
12. Ed Sheeran's 'Divide' Bows at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart With 2017's Biggest Debut. Billboard.
13. Ed Sheeran's 'Divide' Spends Second Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200, 'Beauty and the Beast' Debuts at No. 3. Billboard.
14. Drake's 'More Life' No. 1 for Third Week on Billboard 200; Kodak Black, Mastodon Debut in Top 10. Billboard.
15. Web site: Grammy Nominations 2018: Complete List. 28 November 2017. Variety.
16. Web site: Chris Cornell ended the last performance of his life with a song about death. AJ . Willingham. Cnn.com. 18 May 2017 .
17. Web site: Chris Cornell Sings Grammy-Nominated Song, Vows to 'Keep the Promise' to Help Refugees in Exclusive Video. Ariana. Brockington. 10 January 2018. Variety.
18. Papa Roach Lands Two Mainstream Rock Songs No. 1s From the Same Album for the First Time. Billboard.
19. Incubus' '8' Is No. 1 on Top Rock Albums Chart. Billboard.
20. Paramore & Seether Lead Rock Albums Charts. Billboard.
21. Linkin Park Scores Sixth No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'One More Light'. Billboard.
22. Web site: Harry Styles - 'Harry Styles' Album Review - NME. NME. 11 May 2017 .
23. Harry Styles Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart. Billboard.
24. Web site: How Harry Styles' album has performed in the charts across the world. Officialcharts.com.
25. Bryson Tiller Notches His First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'True to Self'. Billboard.
26. Stone Sour Score 4th No. 1 on Mainstream Rock Songs With 'Song #3'. Billboard.
27. Web site: Nickelback Debut at No. 5 on Billboard 200 Album Chart. Loudwire.
28. Stone Sour Scores Second No. 1 on Hard Rock Albums Chart With 'Hydrograd'. Billboard.
29. Foo Fighters 'Run' All the Way to No. 1 on Mainstream Rock Songs Chart. Billboard.
30. Web site: Grammys 2018: The War on Drugs, Foo Fighters, Mastodon Take Home Top Rock Awards. Shirley. Halperin. 28 January 2018. Variety.
31. Royal Blood's 'Lights Out' Shines Atop Mainstream Rock Songs Chart. Billboard.
32. Lil Uzi Vert's 'Luv Is Rage 2' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart. Billboard.
33. Brand New Scores First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'Science Fiction'. Billboard.
34. Web site: Prog-rock star Steven Wilson scores highest new albums entry. Officialcharts.com.
35. Web site: Starset Reach One Billion YouTube Views Milestone. Loudwire.
36. Greta Van Fleet Rides 'Highway Tune' to No. 1 on Mainstream Rock Songs Chart. Billboard.
37. Web site: Charts: Foo Fighters Stake Second Number One With 'Concrete and Gold'. Daniel. Kreps. 25 September 2017. Rollingstone.com.
38. Theory of a Deadman Rx (Medicate) Chart History. Billboard.
39. Nothing More Scores First Billboard Chart-Topper With 'Go to War'. Billboard.
40. Web site: Grammy Nominations 2018: Complete List. 28 November 2017. Variety.com. 7 December 2017.
41. Web site: Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran Lead iHeartRadio Music Awards Nominees. 10 January 2018. Variety.com. 10 January 2018.
42. Web site: On the Charts: U2 Claim Eighth Number One LP With 'Songs of Experience'. Daniel. Kreps. 10 December 2017. Rollingstone.com.
43. Foo Fighters Top Two Rock Charts With 'The Sky Is a Neighborhood'. Billboard.
44. Web site: Chinaski band quits, four members leave. Change is life, says Malátný. Ct24.ceskatelevize.cz. 2017-11-20. 2019-05-25.
45. Web site: Metallica's 'Hardwired... To Self-Destruct' is 2017's top rock album - Alternative Press. 16 December 2017. Altpress.com.
46. Mainstream Rock Songs - Year-End 2017. Billboard.
47. The 25 Best Rock Songs of 2017: Critics' Picks. Billboard.
48. Web site: Can Drummer Jaki Liebezeit Dead at 78. 22 January 2017. Pitchfork. 20 October 2021.
49. Web site: Deke Leonard dies aged 72. Scott. Munro. 1 February 2017. Loudersound. 20 October 2021.
50. Web site: John Wetton, frontman for Asia and key prog rock figure, dies aged 67. 31 January 2017. International Business Times UK. 20 October 2021.
51. Web site: Rock 'n' roll icon Chuck Berry dead at 90. 19 March 2017. Abc.net.au.
52. Web site: Chris Cornell's Widow Breaks Silence on Singer's Death, 'Addiction'. Daniel. Kreps. 28 June 2017. Rollingstone.com.
53. Web site: Chester Bennington, Linkin Park Singer, Dead at 41. Kory. Grow. 20 July 2017. Rollingstone.com.
54. Web site: Tom Petty's Cause of Death: Accidental Overdose. Kory. Grow. 20 January 2018. Rollingstone.com.
55. Web site: Tragically Hip's Gord Downie Dead at 53. Jon. Blistein. 18 October 2017. Rollingstone.com.
56. News: Rock-Boris är död. 20 October 2017. Gp.se. 20 October 2021.
57. Web site: Pentti 'Whitey' Glan, drummer for Lou Reed and Alice Cooper, dies . 2017-11-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171122214226/https://www.simcoe.com/whatson-story/7848058-innisfil-drummer-whitey-glan-remembered-for-his-heart-and-soul/ . 2017-11-22 . dead .
58. Web site: Band Breakups of 2017: 9 Groups We Lost This Year - Fuse. Fuse.tv.
59. Web site: Band Breakups of 2017: 9 Groups We Lost This Year - Fuse. Fuse.tv.
60. Web site: Band Breakups of 2017: 9 Groups We Lost This Year - Fuse. Fuse.tv.