3 Rock Bands That Seem Massive Today but Were Kind of Niche in Their Era

Sometimes in hindsight, it’s easy to think legends were known right from the beginning. Some acts hit the ground running and maintain their popularity. There are certain stars we just know will be around for a while. But then there are others that aren’t as easy to discern. The three rock bands below may feel like massive names to us today, but in their era, they were considered somewhat niche. Revisit the early years of these now iconic groups.

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Joy Division

When we look back at the late 1970s and early 1980s, Joy Division is a name we recognize as a top rock band. They were essential to the post-punk movement, using their atmospheric sounds to usher in a new era for rock music. Despite most of us now knowing their name and recognizing their iconic, waveform-esque album cover, the band’s beginnings weren’t so flashy or buzzy.

Joy Division was best known to those with their ear to the underground. They may seem like mainstream giants today, but that wasn’t really the case back then. Despite their niche start, history proved them to be foundational figures.

The Velvet Underground

In a similar vein, The Velvet Underground didn’t have mainstream appeal in their day. They were beloved by the counterculture, the art rock crowd. Today, we see them as foundational innovators in rock, but that was lost on the mainstream back then.

Their most famous album, The Velvet Underground & Nico (a.k.a. the banana cover), sold only 30,000 copies in its first few years. That didn’t exactly seem like the foundation for an iconic career. Nevertheless, this band rose above the expectations set by their early records, becoming one of the most referenced groups in rock history.

The Stooges

Despite being the forefathers of punk nowadays, The Stooges’ appeal was niche in their era. Their raw, aggressive sound helped set the framework for that sub-genre in the following decade. Despite how influential this rock band would become, they earned very little mainstream success in their day.

Their sound was a little ahead of the times, which is likely why they didn’t become mainstream darlings, but they earned something far more important: an enduring legacy that would infiltrate every corner of rock. Not to mention, they launched Iggy Pop’s career, which was also integral to the genre’s evolution.

(Photo by Tim Boxer/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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