7 Artists Who Changed Genres and Succeeded

Hard rock head-banger Andrew W.K. recently released his first-ever EDM single. The song, “Party Til We Die,” was written by MAKJ and Timmy Trumpet, who, according to Billboard, had been working for more than two years to find the right vocalist.

Best known for his hard-rocking party anthems, especially the 2001 hit “Party Hard,” “Party Til We Die” is a big shift for Andrew W.K. sonically. Rather than screaming the lyrics, he sings them under a heavy auto-tune while being backed up by buzzing synths and a pulsing beat. The lyrics, however, are unmistakably Andrew W.K., which makes this song fit in a bit more with his discography.

Andrew W.K. is not the only artist to venture into new genres over the course of their career. Many have even done it quite successfully.

Here are Vinyl Bay 777’s seven favorite artists who started out with one genre and ended up finding success with a completely different one.

1.       Beastie Boys: Most people know the Beastie Boys as a hip hop group. But did you also know that the trio started out playing punk music? In 1978, the band formed as young Aborigines and put out one EP before a line-up shift and the release of an experimental  hip hop 12” in 1983 led them to a complete sound overhaul. Now dubbed the Beastie Boys, they released ‘Licensed to Ill’ in 1986 and the rest is history.

2.       Gwen Stefani: Rising to fame as the lead singer for ska band No Doubt, Stefani branched off in 2004 to release a solo album. ‘Love. Angel. Music. Baby.’ leaned heavily towards pop rather than rock, propelling Stefani’s music career to new heights. She hasn’t given up her ska roots though; she still plays with No Doubt from time to time.

3.       Darius Rucker: In 1995, Darius Rucker was doing well with his band Hootie and the Blowfish, releasing numerous successful singles, such as “Let Her Cry” and “Only Wanna Be With You.” But in the early 2000s, Rucker decided to go solo as a country artist. While his previous work might have been seen as a success, it paled in comparison to what he has done in country music, scoring four number one albums on the country music charts in the United States.

4.       Skrillex: At this point, most people know Skrillex for his innovative EDM mixes. But before he was a master behind the turntable, he went by his given name, Sonny Moore, and performed as the lead singer of hardcore band From First to Last. While it was a drastic jump in genres, it was probably the best thing that happened to his career.

5.       Katy Perry: It’s almost hard to believe that at one time the provocatively dressed Katy Perry was anything but over the top. But before she became the pop superstar she is today, she was Christian singer Katy Hudson. She pretty much broke that good-girl image when she released the controversial single “I Kissed A Girl” in 2008.

6.       Taylor Swift: Swift started her career out as a country singer until her country hits started to turn into crossover hits. Once that happened, she became a different performer. Her music slowly became more poppy, ultimately culminating in the non-country album ‘1989’ in 2014.

7.       David Johansen: Most people know Johansen as the lead singer of famed New York glam punk band The New York Dolls. But in the 1980s, he took on the pseudonym Buster Poindexter and became a Latin Jazz singer. He had a wildly popular hit with the song “Hot Hot Hot,” Johansen’s only hit with any of his bands.

It takes a lot of work to become successful in the music industry. Sometimes it takes a change in genre to get someone’s career going. Other times an artist’s fame will support a change in genre.

Visit Vinyl Bay 777 and vinylbay777.com to find music from all of these artists’ projects and more. New titles are being added all the time, so stop by and shop!