Korean rock started in the 1950s and 1960s with musicians who played for American soldiers on army bases, among them the guitarist Shin Jung-hyeon. It was held back by censorship in the 1970s and returned in the 1980s through college bands and heavy metal, and later through the indie and punk clubs of Seoul's Hongdae area. Today the name covers everything from indie and hard rock to pop bands who play their own instruments.
Artists it is known for: Shin Jung-hyeon, YB, Jaurim, Day6.
- Family
- K-Pop
- On Spotify
- A current genre
- What it is
- A scene
- From
- South Korea, 1950s and 1960s
- Also called
- korean rock
- Trackify listeners who play it
- 2%
About 1,800 of 83,000 Trackify listeners with public profiles have k-rock among their top artists of the last four weeks. Rounded; updated 13 November 2026.
K-Rock artists
Xdinary Heroes
DAY6
Dreamcatcher
WOODZ
xikers
The Rose
JANNABI
ONEUS
The Poles
can't be blueThe k-rock artists most Trackify listeners have in their top fifty. Each opens on Spotify.
Sources
The definition is written for this site from open sources, and was checked against them on 13 November 2026.