The greatest rock bands of the 2000s were often on the charts, had millions of fans worldwide, and some of them played to stadium crowds. This didn’t happen so long ago. Yet, in a commercial sense, this was the last stand of rock music for a while.
All of the exposure rock bands of the 2000s received was a good thing. Being under such a magnifying glass made many groups make terrific singles and landmark albums.
For Alt77’s Top 100 Greatest Rock Bands of the 2000s list, I looked to get a good mix of all of the rock genres popular during that decade. This means that alt-rock, pop-punk, industrial, post-grunge, and, yes, even progressive-rock got a shoutout. It’s only fair.
I think that I write this list from a perspective of experience and with an insider’s view. I have, after all, been writing thousands upon thousands of music reviews for more than a decade. And, besides, I’ve been in countless bands, all of them holding a debt to 2000s rock groups.
This is a celebration of the 100 greatest rock bands of the 2000s and the 50 great bands that deserve an honourable mention but didn’t quite make the cut.
Greatest Rock Bands of the 2000s Playlist
Make sure that you check out Alt77’s playlist dedicated to The Greatest Rock Bands of the 2000s.
Top 100 Rock Bands of the 2000s
1. The White Stripes
The White Stripes wasn’t just a dynamic duo who played blues-rock. There were plenty of those around. No, Meg and Jack White redesigned indie rock music. They thought of it in small but contrasting elements. From their songs to their general sound, their look and their mythology, The White Stripes was rock music reinvented for the new century.
As a musician, I can’t help but feel slightly jealous of The White Stripes. As a music critic, I am in awe. I think that the greatest ideas are the ones that just seem to exist out in the open. The best artists are those that manage to express them clearly. This is what Jack and Megan White did.
The brilliance comes in the use of that Stooges-like garage-rock aggression. It’s in the use of blues-rock played in a manic, theatrical way. It’s there in the memorable guitar riffs on songs like “Seven Nation Army.” And, certainly, it can be found in Jack’s poetic, almost beat-poetry lyrics.
Once the duo called it a day and the hyped died down, we were left with a series of colossal rock albums. “Elephant” and “White Blood Cells” are some of the best records made around the 2000s. As it turns out, all of the hero-worshipping that accompanied The White Stripes was well warranted.
2. The Strokes
The Strokes were the most successful indie-rock band of the early 2000s in terms of impact and recognition. Blending the sounds of New York luminaries like The Velvet Underground and Television with a keen fashion sense, the quintet’s success seemed nearly instantaneous.
The band’s debut album, “Is This It?” launched a million copycat bands, creating a new interest in guitar music. Predictably, the so-called Garage Rock Revival eventually ran out of steam.
I couldn’t admit to myself that I liked The Strokes when they first came out. After all, despite being an indie band, they were inescapable in the media. But once I spent some time with the band’s debut, I couldn’t deny the group’s qualities.
The Strokes were excellent, I think, at taking the best of New York music, the sound of bands like Television or The Velvet Underground, and transforming it into something punchy, exciting, modern. I’ve also been impressed and surprised by the band’s evolution and the way they have incorporated theatrical new-wave and post-punk sounds into their later records.
But by then, The Strokes were reinventing themselves as a new wave band. Regardless, each time you hear plucky power chords played by people in skinny jeans, it may be because of Julian Casablancas and The Strokes.
3. Radiohead
Radiohead was one of the most talented and inventive alternative bands of the 1990s. But that, seemingly, wasn’t enough. By the early 2000s, the English group was ready to ditch distorted guitars and classic song structures for something all the more experimental. And in many ways, this showed the future for bands of a similarly adventurous spirit.
With the 2000s “Kid A”, Radiohead shocked fans, and it was initially dubbed “career suicide”; it became a great hit without relying on the power of melodic singles. By “In Rainbows,” the band was reinventing how the music industry could work.
I, like many others, have spent a good chunk of my childhood in my room listening to “Ok Computer.” And, like many others, I was suspicious of the band’s decision to move away from that sound that made them famous. But Radiohead has often, I think, glanced at the future of music and has moved both stylistically and in terms of the band’s business to keep slightly ahead of these changes.
Throughout their second act, all the way through the 2000s and beyond, Radiohead remained the guiding light for forward-thinking rock.
4. Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters promised not to take themselves too seriously in the band’s early days. What else could Dave Grohl do after having drummed in Nirvana, the biggest rock band of the 1990s?
I recently reviewed Foo Fighters’ recent album, “Your Favourite Toy.” And, as I was listening to the band trying to recapture its glory days, I was struck by how few bands can do what this group did. Taking a cue from some of the most enjoyable characteristics of both punk-rock and classic rock, Foo Fighters fashioned itself as one of the most important bands of its era.
By the 2000s, however, they were graduating to arena rock status. Foo Fighters was now, most often, a serious-minded, dependable band. And they were a reminder of the classic rock groups of the past. Through various setbacks, Grohl and Foo Fighters have maintained their status and made some strong albums along the way.
5. Weezer
Weezer may be associated, in the eyes of many, with the 1990s alt-rock boom. But, really, by the 2000s, Rivers Cuomo and the band had finally come to terms with their role in the rock music food chain.
If The White Stripes had brought back garage rock and Interpol were responsible for helping revive post-punk, Weezer was doing the same for cheerful power-pop.
I have recently started a power pop band. My songwriting has been veering in that direction for years. And, when I finally sat down and analysed my own songs, I realised just how much of an influence Rivers Cuomo has on anyone attempting to make music in this vein. I find that his use of melodies, chord progression and structure are simply amazing.
Weezer released many great albums during the 2000s, including “Weezer (The Green Album)”, “Maladroit and “Weezer (The Red Album)”. And while those sold less than their predecessors, with hindsight, it’s not a stretch to talk of Cuomo as one of the most important rock songwriters of the 2000s.
6. Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys was so hyped upon the arrival of the band’s debut album that music fans couldn’t be blamed if they’d already formed a clear idea of the Sheffield group before they’d even heard it.
A closer inspection, however, revealed the marvellous wit of Alex Turner’s lyrics and a band that played indie-rock with an intensity that was beginning to go missing.
“Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not” remains Arctic Monkeys’ piece de resistance. Their next two releases cemented their reputation across Britain in the 2000s. Meanwhile, the 2010s were beckoning with a new sound and international success.
7. System of a Down
Many didn’t know what to make of System of a Down upon first hearing them. The band played a hyper-energised mix of alt-metal, classic rock, and traditional Armenian folklore. They were ambitious but had a sense of humour.
Their sound was violent, but they were staunchly opposed to war. By the time the world had gotten over its initial shock, System of a Down was one of the biggest rock bands in the world, having sacrificed none of its quirks to get there.
8. TOOL
TOOL is the most influential progressive rock band of the 2000s. Their music was treated with the seriousness reserved for works of philosophy and The French Revolution.
But it’s unclear whether singer James Maynard Keenan and the rest of TOOL were taking things as seriously. Like System of a Down, humour was part of the equation.
What was clear was that TOOL could produce their tense, dynamic alt-metal sound better than almost anyone. Albums like “Lateralus” and “10,000 Days” placed them on a pedestal impossible to get knocked down from.
9. blink-182
blink-182, in many ways, owned rock music in the early 2000s. This wasn’t only because the band’s sound was catchy and fun. And, it wasn’t only because Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker were charismatic and relatable.
blink-182 knew when to pivot. By “Take Off Your Pants and Jacket”, their sunny pop-punk had incorporated elements of emo rock. Their self-titled 2003 album, which lasted for a while, further made the leap into melancholy-fueled rock. They then went away for the rest of the decade, making blink-182’s status even greater.
10. Green Day
Green Day had brought pop-punk to the mainstream in the early 1990s. But they had to suffer the indignity of playing second-fiddle to blink-182 or Sum 41 during the late 2000s. What wretched indignity for Billie Joe Armstrong.
By the 2000s, however, Green Day was ready for one of the greatest comebacks of all time. “American Idiot” was a punk-rock opera that became a global hit. And their future releases and tours made the rock group even bigger than it had been during its original run.
11. Deftones
Deftones was always lumped in with the nu-metal crowd. But in many ways, the band was an anomaly. No other group of the era, understood dynamics better than Chino Moreno’s band. Where their peers were predictable, Deftones were subtle and surprising. “White Pony” is one of the most influential rock albums of the 2000s.
12. Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers had run out of steam during the mid 90s, after their “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” album. The unexpected return of mercurial guitarist John Frusciante turned 1999’s “Californication” into a juggernaut of an album.
That’s how, by the 2000s, RHCP was equipped to take over the world once again, one stadium at a time. The songs from albums like “By The Way” were inescapable, and the California group strutted after their reacquired success.
13. Audioslave
Audioslave was initially dubbed to be merely a “supergroup.” The term carried negative connotations that Chris Cornell and the instrumental section of Rage Against the Machine were quick to shake off.
Audioslave’s debut is one of the best of the decade, with Cornell’s heralded singing at a career peak. The band made two more albums and promptly split up. But like other rock groups on the list, Audioslave’s greatness is mostly felt through their absence.
14. The Libertines
The Libertines started as Britain’s answer to The Strokes. Singers-guitarists Peter Doherty and Carl Barat never hid that. Still, before long, the band was writing about what they knew – the British way of life.
These great songs and the chaos that always seemed to surround the band made them one of the more interesting indie-rock groups at the time. The fact that their initial run was short also felt cut from the way classic British rock bands did things.
15. Korn
Korn remade heavy rock in their own image. The only problem was that many other bands copied that image. While Korn had plenty of rivals by the early 2000s, like Limp Bizkit or Linkin Park, many fans still preferred the original blend. Free from the burden of having to be the innovators, Korn made albums like “See You on The Other Side” and solidified their role in the rock music landscape.
16. Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age brought the sounds of desert rock and stoner to the charts in the 2000s. It was through the experience that guitarist-singer Josh Homme acquired experience playing in bands like Kyuss.
Their first couple of albums made QotSA the critics’ darlings. But with a cast of top-class musicians, 2002’s “Songs for the Deaf” became the hit Homme earned. Future albums didn’t exactly innovate on the formula but cemented the rock band’s reputation.
17. Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam was the last surviving Seattle grunge band of The Big Four. The demise of Nirvana, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden had something tragic about it. This was why Pearl Jam, during the 2000s, did things their way, usually avoiding overexposure.
The group became one of the biggest touring attractions in the U.S., and albums like “Riot Act” proved that Pearl Jam was still running on a full tank of fuel.
18. Linkin Park
Linkin Park achieved success quickly but earned respect slowly. To some rock fans, they were the latest nu-metal group to make it big in the early 2000s. The band’s fame and record sales were colossal.
But after the group pulled further away from the phenomenon of “Hybrid Theory” and incorporated more innovative musical elements, critics began to respect Linkin Park and, especially, singer Chester Bennington’s vocal ability.
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19. The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta positioned itself as the wildest, most daring rock band of the 2000s. In many ways, the musicians were right.
Led by former At the Drive-In members Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez Lopez, The Mars Volta created sprawling concept albums filled with cryptic lyrics and music that incorporated Latin rhythms and avant-garde strategies. Looking back on their output during the 2000s, there are few bands with which The Mars Volta deserves comparisons.
20. Animal Collective
Animal Collective was a rock band that could’ve only begun during the 2000s. Taking the cue from The Beach Boys‘ Brian Wilson and moving the sunny, beach-soaked melodies into even more bizarre territory, Animal Collective created a new kind of psychedelic rock.
At times childlike and playful, at times dark and unsettling, the band reached its peak with 2009’s “Merriweather Post Pavilion.” Enough to warrant a place among the greatest rock bands of the 2000s? You bet!
21. LCD Soundsystem
Just dance! And then, dance some more! Even I could get behind this uber-cool New York outfit who took so much of its sound and aesthetic from German Kosmische Musik, British post-punk and New York punk ethos.
The hype was immense. And I’m not sure that LCD Soundsystem quite ever lived it down. Looking back on the 2000s, and the band’s influence on dance and rock music, I think it’s hard to deny the band’s place on this list.
22. Modest Mouse
The cult of Modest Mouse proves what originality and resilience can, ultimately, create.
Modest Mouse’s DIY tactics had already secured a small, devoted audience when, in 2004, “Float On” turned the group into an indie-rock sensation.
Mean-sounding, but forward-thinking to a fault, Modest Mouse is one of the most important bands of the 2000s.
23. Interpol
Interpol knew precisely what they wanted to sound and look like. They wanted to be a stylish, modern Joy Division. Nothing wrong with that!
But it wasn’t until 2001 that the band’s music began to resonate with audiences looking for something moodier, darker.
I have very often found myself, alone in a room playing bass guitar to Carlos Dengler’s fantastic, post-punk and disco-inspired riffs.
During the 2000s, indeed, there were few bands who could read the room quite as well as Interpol. Many of the band’s early songs are bona fide classics.
24. Wilco
Wilco was a band that achieved success through great songs and elbow grease. Initially, a country-rock offshoot of Uncle Tupelo, Wilco’s consistent release schedule and, eventually, incorporation of more and more sonic influences made the group the critics’ darlings throughout the 2000s.
It was no accident. I’ve been greatly inspired by Jeff Tweedy’s self-help book “How to Write a Song.” Reading the tome, it becomes easy to understand the band’s calculated path to success.
25. The Dandy Warhols
You have to respect the kind of people who have dedicated their lives to looking, sounding and being cool. I think you’ll find a perfect example of that in The Dandy Warhols.
Looking back at the band’s 2000s releases, I’m amazed by their sheer cleverness. Stonesy riffs and Duran Duran-like new-wave sounds are brought together in a perfectly delicious boho-rock. I can’t deny the band a place on this list when I look at their sheer influence.
26. Slipknot
There’s always a band with more hunger that rises to the top. In the 2000s nu-metal, that band was Slipknot, and virtually no other group could match its intensity or the group members’ shared desire for success.
In the 2000s, the Iowa-born group also made its most aggressive records, albums that felt genuinely menacing, created in some kind of mania. Sure, in the following decades, Slipknot became something on par with KISS, a horror travelling circus. The group’s early legacy, however, is undeniable.
27. Avenged Sevenfold
I think that Avenged Sevenfold always had to happen. For all intents and purposes, in the 2000s, the group remade commercial heavy metal as per their own specifications.
Indeed, for the 2000s crowds, Avenged Sevenfold’s albums were as important as Guns N’ Roses or Limp Bizkit had been to previous generations. They’re still selling tickets to arenas filled with fans.
And while I have never personally been enamoured with the group’s sound, closely analysing it makes me realise that the band’s fame is warranted.
28. The Killers
As I write this, the North American-held 2026 World Cup is underway. During every break, the speakers blare out inspiring rock songs. You can hear Bon Jovi and Journey at practically every game. And what’s playing alongside them? The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside.”
Indeed, of all the 2000s indie bands, The Killers were the ones most likely to have their songs being played in stadiums. One of the great singles bands of the era, this Las Vegas band has carved its place in history.
29. Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon promised so damn much. The band’s first three albums were Southern U.S. born garage rock. The Followills were impossibly cool and seemed driven by an inextinguishable need to rock despite their Church-born origins.
The 2000s were the greatest era for Kings of Leon. It deserves celebrating. The following decades were, mostly, reserved for Kings of Leon pop records and stadium tours. But, for a while KoL promised so much.
30. The Hives
I’ve moments, usually around morning time, that I dream of being on stage with The Hives. Why not? Is there any rock band of the 2000s a better live proposition? I don’t think so.
That high-calibre energy, however, was expertly transferred to the group’s early records, ones in which the Swedes, for all intents and purposes, remade garage-rock in their image.
And how did they survive? Didn’t the garage-rock formulas get wearisome? Somehow The Hives is able to live within the format they’ve invented for themselves, while always adding a new spice.
31. Franz Ferdinand
32. Arcade Fire
33. Muse
34. Incubus
35. The Flaming Lips
36. Vampire Weekend
37. PJ Harvey
38. Fall Out Boy
39. Underoath
40. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
41. The Offspring
42. The Vines
43. Porcupine Tree
44. Kaiser Chiefs
45. Sigur Ros
46. The Black Keys
47. Spoon
48. Simple Plan
49. AFI
50. Phoenix
51. TV on the Radio
52. Sum 41
53. Bright Eyes
54. Jimmy Eat World
55. Dinosaur Jr.
56. Bullet For My Valentine
57. Killswitch Engage
58. Rammstein
59. Paramore
60. Good Charlotte
61. Mastodon
62. Limp Bizkit
63. Panic! at the Disco
64. Velvet Revolver
65. Marilyn Manson
66. Meshuggah
67. Rilo Kiley
68. The Bravery
69. Kasabian
70. Barenaked Ladies
71. Dream Theater
72. A Perfect Circle
73. The Dillinger Escape Plan
74. Coheed and Cambria
75. Placebo
76. Evanescence
77. Opeth
78. Staind
79. Creed
80. Death Cab For Cutie
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81. My Chemical Romance
82. Shinedown
83. Seether
84. Our Lady Peace
85. Oasis
86. Trivium
87. 3 Doors Down
88. Godsmack
89. Papa Roach
90. Puddle of Mudd
91. The Fratellis
92. Rise Against
93. Three Days Grace
94. The National
95. Billy Talent
96. Nickelback
97. The Brian Jonestown Massacre
98. The Gaslight Anthem
99. P.O.D
100. The Darkness
If you’re looking to plunge yourself deeper into the waters of rock music, check out our related articles. You may be interested in our articles about The Greatest Albums of the 1990s, The Greatest indie-rock artists and bands of all time, or The Greatest Alternative Rock Songs of the 1990s.
Honorable Mentions
101. Snow Patrol
102. King Tuff
103. Drowning Pool
104. The Von Bondies
105. Aerosmith
106. 30 Seconds To Mars
107. New Found Glory
108. Sufjan Stevens
109. Lifehouse
110. U2
111. Skillet
112. Nightwish
113. Alice in Chains
114. The Fray
115. Hatebreed
116. The All-American Rejects
117. The Black Dahlia Murder
118. Breaking Benjamin
119. Stone Sour
120. OK Go
121. Shadows Fall
122. Yellowcard
123. Symphony X
124. Lamb of God
125. Metallica
126. Bloc Party
127. Hoobastank
128. Switchfoot
129. HIM
130. Daughtry
131. Zebrahead
132. Maroon 5
133. Disturbed
134. The Kooks
135. Death from Above 1979
136. MGMT
137. Yo La Tengo
138. The Thermals
139. The Shins
140. The Hold Steady
141. The Postal Service
142. The Walkmen
143. Wolfmother
144. The Decemberists
145. Between the Buried and Me
146. The Rapture
147. Gojira
148. Tegan and Sara
149. Metric
150. Editors
Thanks, Thanks from Colombia. After 16 years, I finally found a song I’d forgotten.
Kasabian – Days Are Forgotten
Hi, Dohan! Awesome!
TO tell you the truth, writing about Kasabian also made me fall back in love with that first album that I hadn’t heard in a long while.
All the best!