300 Greatest Classic-Era AOR/Melodic Rock Artists

AOR rock bands Journey, Boston, Foreigner, Styx
Background: Adult-oriented rock (AOR), also known as "melodic rock" and, derisively, "corporate rock," and sometimes used synonymously with "arena rock," is a genre of rock that was at the peak of its success between the mid-1970s and early-1990s. It is known for its sleek, shiny, glossy, polished, slick, well-produced, radio-ready, commercially-friendly sound. Despite this, it is a distinct genre from pop-rock and power pop (although some artists overlap with these genres). This hook-heavy genre almost always takes a sincere, unironic, earnest, sentimental, and played-straight approach to rock music and its subject matter. Other features of AOR/melodic rock are hard rock anthems, soft rock power ballads, arena rock aesthetics, sing-along choruses, heavy use of keyboards/synthesizers (most of the time), and smokin' guitars. Adult-oriented rock (AOR), a genre of music, is different from album-oriented rock (also abbreviated AOR), a radio format. This list only includes artists who released albums during the classic era of the genre. We somewhat arbitrarily used 1993 as the last year for album releases to accept nominations. Nonetheless, an artist's post-1993 output was factored into their position.

Criteria: These artists were chosen on their popularity, acclaim, and influence.

Last Updated: 2024-01-02
Newly added names are in  Red 
AOR/Melodic Rock Artists
  1. Journey
  2. Boston
  3. Foreigner
  4. Styx
  5. REO Speedwagon
  6. Toto
  7. Heart (1983-1993 output)
  8. Pat Benatar
  9. Chicago (1980-1991 output)
10. Eddie Money
11. Survivor
12. Jefferson Starship / Starship
13. Bryan Adams
14. ZZ Top (1983-1992 output)
15. Loverboy
16. Billy Squier
17. Rick Springfield
18. Asia
19. Night Ranger
20. Cheap Trick (1983-1991 output)
21. .38 Special
22. Kenny Loggins (1980-1988 output)
23. Peter Frampton
24. Kansas (1980-1988 output)
25. Bad Company (1986-1993 output)
26. Richard Marx
27. Rainbow (1979-1986 output)
28. Blue Öyster Cult (1977-1985 output)
29. Cher (1982-1992 output)
30. Michael Bolton (1983-1989 output)
31. Europe
32. Triumph
33. Bonnie Tyler (1983-1991 output)
34. April Wine
35. Yes (1983-1991 output)
36. Roger Daltrey (1980-1992 output)
37. John Farnham (1984-1991 output)
38. Jimmy Barnes
39. Corey Hart
40. John Waite
41. Petra
42. Gary Moore (1982-1989 output)
43. The Babys
44. Donnie Iris
45. Honeymoon Suite
46. Red Rider
47. Kim Mitchell
48. Aldo Nova
49. Trooper
50. Bad English
51. Glass Tiger
52. Lou Gramm
53. Steve Perry
54. Mike + the Mechanics
55. Saga
56. Harlequin
57. Mr. Mister
58. Magnum
59. Peter Cetera
60. Head East
61. Cutting Crew
62. Prism
63. Alannah Myles
64. The Johnny Van Zant Band / Johnny Van Zant
65. Chilliwack (1978-1984 output)
66. Uriah Heep (1978-1991 output)
67. Nelson
68. Little River Band (1983-1990 output)
69. John Parr
70. Zebra
71. Platinum Blonde
72. Gowan
73. Tommy Shaw
74. Russ Ballard
75. Robin Beck
76. Quarterflash
77. Harem Scarem
78. Benny Mardones
79. Tony Carey
80. Giant
81. Angel
82. FM
83. Scandal
84. Sheriff
85. Giuffria
86. Toronto
87. Autograph
88. Frozen Ghost
89. Dennis DeYoung
90. Streetheart
91. Axe
92. Le Roux
93. Icon
94. Michael Stanley Band
95. GTR
96. Shooting Star
97. Streets
98. White Sister
99. Strangeways
100. Henry Lee Summer
Journey rock band
Journey


Boston rock band
Boston


Foreigner rock band
Foreigner


Styx rock band
Styx


REO Speedwagon rock band
REO Speedwagon


Toto rock band
Toto











DigitalDreamDoor playlists on Spotify link button
101. Paul Janz
102. Praying Mantis
103. Alias
104. Noiseworks
105. Jon Butcher
106. House of Lords
107. Patty Smyth
108. Southern Sons
109. Ian Moss
110. Trevor Rabin
111. Franke and the Knockouts
112. Joe Lynn Turner
113. Planet P Project
114. Sherbet (1976-1979 output) / Sherbs
115. I-Ten
116. Mark Free / Marcie Free
117. Sad Café
118. Daryl Braithwaite
119. Gamma
120. Coney Hatch
121. Sniff 'n' the Tears
122. Jude Cole
123. Ian Thomas
124. Andy Taylor
125. Stan Bush
126. Max Webster
127. 1927
128. Blackfoot (1983-1990 output)
129. Sharon O'Neill
130. RTZ
131. Danger Danger
132. Desmond Child
133. Fiona
134. Tyketto
135. Unruly Child
136. Duke Jupiter
137. Spider
138. Charlie
139. The Law
140. Roxus
141. Benjamin Orr
142. Lee Aaron
143. Ted Nugent (1982-1988 output)
144. Saraya
145. City Boy
146. Doucette
147. Orion the Hunter
148. Haywire
149. Hardline
150. Signal
151. Shadow King
152. Fortune
153. Michael Morales
154. Dakota
155. Touch
156. Red Dawn
157. Paul Carrack
158. Jean Beauvoir
159. Dare
160. Shy
161. The Storm
162. Opús
163. Tone Norum
164. David Foster
165. Witness
166. Fair Warning
167. Treat
168. Dominoe
169. Danny Spanos
170. Voyager
171. John Hall Band
172. Steel Breeze
173. Mick Jones
174. Robert Tepper
175. 707
176. Van Zant (1985 output)
177. Marilyn Martin
178. White Heart
179. Balance
180. Stage Dolls
181. Headpins
182. Hughes / Thrall
183. Robin Zander
184. Legs Diamond
185. Jeff Paris
186. Sabu
187. Zinatra
188. Taxxi
189. Tycoon
190. Greg Guidry
191. Blackjack
192. Billy Satellite
193. Eddie Schwartz
194. Virginia Wolf
195. Cobra
196. Stabilizers
197. Van Stephenson
198. Spys
199. Cellarful of Noise
200. Diving for Pearls

201. Drive, She Said
202. Novo Combo
203. Talisman
204. Device
205. Phenomena
206. Greg Lake
207. Lake
208. The Arrows
209. Paul Dean
210. New England
211. Valentine
212. Aviator
213. Erika
214. Eric Martin
215. Alien
216. Alexa
217. Judie Tzuke
218. Gregg Rolie
219. Margaret Becker
220. Grand Prix
221. DeGarmo & Key
222. Black Rose
223. G-Force
224. Keats
225. Boulevard
226. Joe Lamont
227. Romeo's Daughter
228. The Producers
229. Airplay
230. Barry Goudreau
231. Dan Lucas
232. Planet 3
233. Robby Valentine
234. Kane Roberts
235. Mastedon
236. Crown of Thorns
237. Arc Angel
238. Trillion
239. Jimi Jamison
240. Kerry Livgren / AD
241. Airrace
242. Santers
243. Tim Feehan
244. Only Child
245. Casanova
246. Robin George
247. Missouri
248. Zeno
249. Russ Taff
250. Joshua
251. Heartland
252. Fate
253. RPM
254. Teaze
255. Orphan
256. Lisa Hartman
257. Tobruk
258. Paul Laine
259. Michael Thompson Band
260. China Sky
261. Mitch Malloy
262. Skagarack
263. Beau Coup
264. Prophet
265. Alaska
266. Sweet Comfort Band
267. B.E. Taylor Group
268. Adrenalin
269. Return
270. Rik Emmett
271. Buck Dharma
272. Stingray
273. Stone Fury
274. Blue Tears
275. Martin Briley
276. Glass Moon
277. Cannata
278. The Innocent
279. Fandango
280. Piper
281. Stan Meissner
282. Lone Star
283. Jim Jidhed
284. Myles Goodwyn
285. Steve Lukather
286. From the Fire
287. Allies
288. Idle Cure
289. Fahrenheit
290. Wall of Silence
291. Jerusalem
292. Chrissy Steele
293. Steve Walsh
294. Roadmaster
295. Nantucket
296. Evenrude
297. Airkraft
298. Wrabit
299. Zon
300. Brian Spence
Honorable Mentions:
Airborne
Alpha Centauri
Aviary
Baby Grand
Craaft
Da Vinci
Fotomaker
Glory
Robert Hart
Lionheart
Mayday
Melidian
Nite City
Nuclear Valdez
Preview
Raw Silk
Refugee
Richrath
Riggs
Rio
David Roberts
Sugarcreek / The Creek
Wiggy Bits
Wildlife
Ya Ya
Top 60 Artists Who Touched on the AOR/Melodic Rock Sound During the Classic Era of That Genre, but are Generally Better Classified as Something Else:
1. Van Halen
2. Queen
3. The Who
4. Deep Purple
5. Def Leppard
6. Rush
7. Bon Jovi
8. Genesis
9. Dire Straits
10. The Cars
11. Bruce Springsteen
12. Restless Heart
13. UFO
14. Grand Funk Railroad
15. Akina Nakamori
16. S. Kiyotaka & Omega Tribe
17. Kiss
18. Fleetwood Mac
19. Nazareth
20. Meat Loaf
21. Whitesnake
22. Status Quo
23. Huey Lewis and the News
24. Sammy Hagar
25. Robert Palmer
26. Bachman-Turner Overdrive
27. The Outfield
28. Manfred Mann's Earth Band
29. Y&T
30. The Alan Parsons Project
31. Stevie Nicks
32. Ambrosia
33. Saxon
34. Wishbone Ash
35. The Tubes
36. David Lee Roth
37. The Gregg Allman Band
38. Tygers of Pan Tang
39. Juice Newton
40. The Power Station
41. Rick Derringer
42. Dokken
43. Warrant
44. Player
45. Winger
46. Lita Ford
47. White Lion
48. Vixen
49. Utopia
50. Damn Yankees
51. John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band
52. Vandenberg
53. FireHouse
54. The Firm
55. McAuley Schenker Group
56. King Kobra
57. Lucifer's Friend
58. Point Blank
59. TNT
60. Bonfire








More Music Lists