History: London, 1876-1877, England, United Kingdom

London has numerous venues for rock and pop concerts, including large arenas such as Earls Court, Wembley Arena and the O2 Arena, as well as many mid-sized venues, such as Brixton Academy, Hammersmith Apollo and the Shepherd's Bush Empire. Several music festivals, including the O2 Wireless Festival, are held in London. The city is home to the first and original Hard Rock Cafe and the Abbey Road Studios where The Beatles recorded many of their hits. In the 1970s and 1980s, musicians and groups like David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Cat Stevens, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Madness, The Jam, The Small Faces, Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Fleetwood Mac, The Police, The Cure, Squeeze and Sade, took the world by storm, deriving their sound from the streets and rhythms vibrating through London.
London was instrumental in the development of punk music, with figures such as the Sex Pistols, The Clash, and Vivienne Westwood all based in the city. More recent artists to emerge from the London music scene include Bananarama, Bush, East 17, Siouxie and the Banshees, the Spice Girls, Jamiroquai, The Libertines, Babyshambles, Bloc Party, Coldplay and Amy Winehouse. London is also a centre for urban music. In particular the genres UK garage, drum and bass, dubstep and grime evolved in the city from the foreign genres of hip hop and reggae, alongside local drum and bass. Black music station BBC 1Xtra was set up to support the rise of homegrown urban music both in London and the rest of the UK.
In the 1980s London was the main city in the new wave of British heavy metal era which made bands like Iron Maiden and Motörhead famous all around the world.