Alternative rock music, also known as "indie rock" or "post-punk," grew out of the punk (see entry under 1970s—Music in volume 4) and new-wave music movements of the 1970s. In the 1980s, bands like the Replacements, Hüsker Dü, the Smiths, and the Cure came to embody the alternative style. In the 1990s, a new generation took up the alternative banner, as artists like Nirvana (see entry under 1990s—Music in volume 5) and R.E.M. took this independent, or indie, music mainstream and enjoyed enormous success.

It is hard to say where punk ended and "alternative" began, or even to come up with a precise definition for alternative rock. A few of the unique characteristics of alternative are its unease with mainstream values and musical styles, its emphasis on its musicians' nonconformity in personal habits and dress, and its adoption of a "do-it-yourself" approach to...