The 1950s would prove to be a melting pot of music like never before. Diversity was the state of affairs in this prosperous nation and individuality would take center stage. This was the era where Rock and Roll music rose to supremacy, but it certainly wasn’t independent. Blues and R&B topped the charts with artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Muddy Waters, and BB King. With the Great Depression and World War II behind them, middle-class Americans of the 1950s went back to buying houses, cars, and lots, lots of records.

The 1950s would prove to be a melting pot of music like never before. Diversity was the state of affairs in this prosperous nation and individuality would take center stage. This was the era where Rock and Roll music rose to supremacy, but it certainly wasn’t independent. Blues and R&B topped the charts with artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Muddy Waters, and BB King. Country and Western Music saw the rise of icons like Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Hank Williams. Gospel, rockabilly, pop, jazz and swing were still present. This was the decade that saw the biggest crossover of genres. Greats like Mario Lanza and Elvis Presley were some of the most successful crossover artists. Lanza, first known for his classical-style music, topped the charts in the 1950s with his pop hit, Be my Love. The king of crossover, as well as the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley crossed several musical genres, including country, gospel, and blues.

So what happened to the chart leaders of the 1940s like Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Perry Como and Bing Crosby? Well, the 1950s were good for them too. There was something for everyone and apparently enough for everyone. The “singers” of the previous decade were still going strong, especially in the early part of the decade.

A new consumer arrived on the scene in the mid-1950s, and it changed the face of music forever. Teenagers were becoming the biggest record buyers and record companies were shifting their focus to this younger generation. These young people not only tuned radios at home but also in their cars. Radio DJs were enjoying a celebrity level of success, as were the artists they promoted.

Poodle skirts and rolled up jeans replaced the straight skirt, suit and tie of the 1940s and it has since been identified with the rock and roll phenomenon of the 1950s. New dances were introduced during this time. ‘Twist’ and ‘Jitterbug’ were taking the United States by storm. Chubby Checker helped popularize the ‘Twist’ with his hit of the same name. Televisions American Bandstand began its tenure in the 1950s, when these dances were showcased and became the rage among American teens.

New radio stations were appearing all over the United States. Turning the dial would allow you to tune in to whatever genre you want. The early 1950s served up feel-good, wholesome lyrics for a post-war nation set to impeccable melodies by the likes of Pat Boone, Rosemary Clooney, Perry Como, and Dinah Shore.

By the end of this decade we would be hearing a very different style of music from demonstrative musicians like Elvis Presley and Little Richard. It wasn’t so much that the lyrics were daring or rebellious; it was the style in which they were delivered that sent parents into such disapproving shock. Before the 1950s, teenagers listened to the same music as their parents, but with the introduction of Rock and Roll, children chose their own music and formed their own ideals.

Rock & roll probably stands out as the most defining genre of the decade, but there’s no purity to the genre itself. Its origins are a mix of musical styles that existed long before it hit the stage. Fortunately, American culture has continued to diversify, and every genre that has existed since the early 20th century has been sustained by free speech. Artists who celebrate diverse genres and lend their talents to each new generation satisfy diverse musical appetites.

Each style of music speaks to a group of people. It moves them and serves to identify them with a time in history. Music tells the story of people, whether they live in times of war or peace, prosperity or poverty, self-expression or conformity. However, since its recorded beginnings, there is one theme that has been constant, and that is the expression of love. For centuries man has sung about longing for it, losing it or winning it.

Universal and timeless, no matter the instrument or rhythm, the theme of love seems to be the crossover everyone can relate to, and the 1950s was no exception.