Born in Texarkana, Arkansas, Jeff Keith became the lead singer of Tesla when the Sacramento hard rock band formed in the early 1980s, bringing a gritty, bluesy rasp that set the band apart from the glossier hair metal acts crowding the charts. Tesla broke through with hits like "Modern Day Cowboy" and "Little Suzi," but it was their stripped down cover of Five Man Electrical Band's "Signs" and the ballad "Love Song" that made them MTV staples. In 1990, the band released Five Man Acoustical Jam, a raw, unplugged live album recorded before an audience that helped pave the way for the unplugged trend that swept rock radio in the years that followed. Keith has remained Tesla's voice through numerous lineup shakeups and reunions, keeping the band's blue collar rock sound alive for over four decades.

Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, Pat DiNizio founded The Smithereens in 1980 in Carteret, New Jersey, alongside guitarist Jim Babjak, bassist Mike Mesaros, and drummer Dennis Diken, building a sound that fused British Invasion jangle with a harder, alternative rock edge. As lead singer and primary songwriter, DiNizio wrote the band's signature hits "Blood and Roses," "A Girl Like You," and "Only a Memory," tracks powered by his rich baritone and knack for classic pop songcraft wrapped in distorted guitars. The band's 1989 album 11 became their commercial peak, cracking the Billboard Top 40 and cementing their place on college and alternative radio. DiNizio later made several long shot runs for political office in New Jersey, and remained the band's creative core until his death in 2017.

On October 12, 1979, Fleetwood Mac released Tusk, the sprawling double album they made as a defiant follow up to the sixteen times platinum juggernaut Rumours. Rather than chase another polished pop rock blockbuster, guitarist Lindsey Buckingham pushed the band toward a rawer, more experimental sound influenced by punk and new wave, recording much of his own material at home rather than in a proper studio. The sessions reportedly cost over a million dollars, making it one of the most expensive rock albums ever made at the time, and the title track famously featured the USC Trojan Marching Band stomping through the studio. Though it sold a fraction of Rumours on release, Tusk has since been reassessed as a bold, strange artistic statement that influenced generations of alternative and indie rock acts. Produced by Fleetwood Mac, Richard Dashut, and Ken Caillat.