The return of live music and plenty of new album releases make up the year of 2021. Here’s a look back on what happened…
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January
- In a run that starts in December, Foo Fighters single “Shame Shame” tops the Billboard Mainstream Rock songs chart, and stays there for six consecutive weeks.
- Bad Wolves part ways with vocalist Tommy Vext after tensions arise between the band, management, and label on political and social issues. Later in the year, lawsuits are filed by both parties contending over whether or not the departure was voluntary.
February
- Green Day performs live at the NFL Honors event to open up Super Bowl weekend.
- Foo Fighters released their tenth studio album Medicine at Midnight on February 5th. Dave Grohl has worked on demos throughout 2019, completed it in March 2020, but its release was delayed due to the pandemic. The album topped the national charts of nine separate countries when released. It was the best-selling album in terms of pure album sales.
- The Pretty Reckless release their fourth studio album Death by Rock and Roll. The album was completed in 2020, but Taylor Momsen wanted to delay the album until they could tour in support of the album and perform the new material. The album topped the Billboard Top Album Sales chart, making it the best album of the week in terms of pure sales.
- Marilyn Manson is accused of sexual abuse by Evan Rachel Wood, leading to him being dropped from his record label and his songs being dropped from many radio stations.
- British band Architects releases their ninth studio album For Those That Wish To Exist. It topped the UK and Australian all-format, national album charts.
March
- While rock music trails other genre in the realm of music streaming, which is factored into the Billboard 200 chart, it performs well in pure albums sales. In a single week, rock bands take the top three best selling albums in the US:
- Chevelle released their ninth studio album Niratias. It is the #1 selling album of the week in the US selling 24,000 copies. Additionally, this places them at number 9 on the Billboard 200 chart that includes music streaming figures.
- Kings of Leon release their seventh studio album When You See Yourself places 2nd in sales, selling 22,000 copies.
- Rob Zombie releases his seventh studio album, The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy. It debuts at number nine on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 28,000 copies.
- Serj Tankian, frontman of System of a Down, releases an EP of material that he had originally written for a hypothetical album for the band. The album, which would have been the first in over 15 years for the band, was cancelled, as the band was unable to agree how to proceed with recording new material, so Tankian instead decided to release his proposed songs as solo material with EP Elasticity.
- Evanescence released their fourth studio album The Bitter Truth, their first album since 2011. Amy Lee describes it as “heavy and dark” and similar to the sound of their second album The Open Door. The album charts in the top ten of eight separate national charts, and debuts just outside of it at #11 in the US.
April
- Alice In Chains’ “Man In The Box” was voted the 2021 Buzz Bracket Brawl Champion: Song Edition.
- The Pretty Reckless’ 6th song “And So It Went” topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, making them the first female-fronted band to do so. The song features a guitar solo by Tom Morello.
- Greta Van Fleet releases their second full-length album, The Battle at Garden’s Gate. The album debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200, selling 43,000 album equivalent units.
- The Offspring released their 10th studio album, Let the Bad Times Roll, their first since 2012. Guitarist “Noodles” explained that the process had been slow due to trying to change their sound, only to return to their normal punk rock sound. The album was nearly complete in 2020, but its release was put on hold due to the pandemic.
May
- Brent Smith and Zach Myers of Shinedown play two sold-out, socially-distanced shows at Marathon Music Works in Nashville.
- Weezer released their 15th studio album Van Weezer. Rivers Cuomo stated the band would return to a guitar-heavy album in 2020, with heavy emphasis on guitar riffs and guitar solos. The album was inspired by enthusiastic fans response to these aspects of their live shows in recent years. The first single, “The End of the Game”, contains over 100 guitar overdubs. With a big emphasis of the album being based around touring in support of it, the pandemic caused the band to delay the album to May 2021.
- The Black Keys release their tenth studio album Delta Kream, an album of blues cover songs. It debuts at number six on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 35,000 album equivalent units.
- Twenty One Pilots released their sixth studio album Scaled and Icy. The title is a play on the phrase “scaled back and isolated”, an allusion to the album being recorded in isolation due to the pandemic.
- Italian rock band Måneskin win the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with “Zitti e buoni”. Afterwards, the group’s lead vocalist Damiano David told the audience: “We just want to say to the whole Europe [sic], to the whole world, rock and roll never dies.”
- BuzzFest At Home 2021, a 3-day on-air music festival aired all through Memorial Day Weekend.
- Dave Mustaine of Megadeth announces the band is parting ways with longtime bassist David Ellefson over recent sexual misconduct accusations.
- Seether has their second single in a row, “Bruised and Bloodied”, top the Mainstream Rock chart.
June
- Wolf Alice released their third studio album Blue Weekend. It’s their first to top the chart after two consecutive debuts at #2, and at time of release, the biggest debut of 2021 on the UK chart.
- Wolfgang Van Halen, under the moniker Mammoth WVH, releases his debut studio album, Mammoth WVH. It is the second best-selling album in the US in its debut week, selling 30,000 copies.
- Garbage releases their seventh studio album, No Gods No Masters. The album was not delayed due to the pandemic, but rather, it is recording was used as therapy for Shirley Manson, who was suffering from depression due to the Coronavirus shutdowns.
July
- Halestorm performs an intimate secret show at The Basement East in Nashville.
- Five Finger Death Punch single “Darkness Settles In” tops the Billboard Mainstream Rock songs chart, and stays there for five straight weeks.
- ZZ Top’s Dusty Hill dies at the age of 72 following health complications.
- All Time Low has a surprise “warm up” show at The Basement East in Nashville before beginning their tour.
- Rolling Stones announce their rescheduled No Filter Tour dates after postponing in 2020 due to the pandemic.
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