From Aretha Franklin to Jay-Z: the evolution of pop

Scientific study of pop genealogy pinpoints the three years that revolutionised music

Lionel Richie
(Image credit: Getty)

Scientists have created an evolutionary history of pop music, analysing 17,000 songs from America's Billboard charts to identify a series of major musical breakthroughs in the 1960s, 1980s and early 1990s.

The study, conducted by researchers from Queen Mary University of London and Imperial College London, found three musical revolutions, in 1964, 1983 and 1991, and concluded that the introduction of rap music and hip hop in the early 90s was "the single most important event that has shaped the musical structure of the American charts."

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