In the 00s, emo/poppunk bands were springing up left and right (especially in 2005-2007) and recieving massive airplay. Fast foward to 2011 and the genre is almost nonexistent in the mainsteam.

The decline began around 2008 or 2009.

So what happened? did its fanbase outgrow it? was it all style and no substance?  did it simply run its course?

I apologize if there are already topics on this. I haven't seen any.

In the 00s, emo/poppunk bands were springing up left and right (especially in 2005-2007) and recieving massive airplay. Fast foward to 2011 and the genre is almost nonexistent in the mainsteam.

The decline began around 2008 or 2009.

So what happened? did its fanbase outgrow it? was it all style and no substance?  did it simply run its course?

I apologize if there are already topics on this. I haven't seen any.





Isn't it obvious, it was too whiny?  >:(

Starting around 2006, an Emo backlash started to form.  This backlash began gathering ground and by the end of 2007, the word Emo was being used almost exclusively in a negative way.  The genre disappeared shortly afterward.  My little brother was just entering high school then and I noticed that in the yearbook for the school year of 2007-2008, just one year after my own graduation year (Class of 2007 right here) Emo had almost entirely disappeared.

Even when I graduated in May 2007, "real Emo" had mostly fallen by the wayside in favor of Pop-Emo like Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco.  My Chemical Romance was one of the few "real Emo" bands left that had massive popularity.

A lot of bands say Weezer as emo, but I never seen it.  They were alternative, no doubt about that, but in what ways are they connected with the emo culture.  Also, wasn't emo a very different musical genre in the mid 80s?

I never noticed that much emo in the mainstream anyway, I think it was a little fad with a few bands around 2006 and after that went out.

What? Emo is dead? YAHOO!!!!! That's one step closer to a perfect world!


A lot of bands say Weezer as emo, but I never seen it.  They were alternative, no doubt about that, but in what ways are they connected with the emo culture.  Also, wasn't emo a very different musical genre in the mid 80s?


Weezer are not emo. They are just horribly geeky.

What? Emo is dead? YAHOO!!!!! That's one step closer to a perfect world!

Weezer are not emo. They are just horribly geeky.


That is what I am thinking too, but I have it more than once that Weezer was considered the pioneer for emo.  I don't see it in the music, fashion, nor their lifestyle.

That is what I am thinking too, but I have it more than once that Weezer was considered the pioneer for emo.  I don't see it in the music, fashion, nor their lifestyle.


Me neither, that is strange you'd hear that...

Even when I graduated in May 2007, "real Emo" had mostly fallen by the wayside in favor of Pop-Emo like Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco.  My Chemical Romance was one of the few "real Emo" bands left that had massive popularity.


I lump pop-emo in with emo-emo, even though they're kinda different.

I find it crazy how in 2006 Fall Out boy and Panic! at the Disco were pretty much the 2 biggest bands in the nation, and now five years later Fall Out Boy is disbanded and gone and Panic at the Disco is broken in half and seemingly faded into obscurity (although the 2 guys who kept the name have an album coming out in March, who knows how well it will do).

Actually pa!td abandoned the emo sound and image entirely in 2008...they went all classic rock. They're a band many think of when they think of emo, so I wonder if they had anything to do with its decline.

And MCR isn't really an emo band anymore. I think they're more straightforward pop-rock now.

And MCR isn't really an emo band anymore. I think they're more straightforward pop-rock now.


Good, MCR were one of the few Emo bands I liked. Welcome to the Black Parade was like the anthem of my life when I was 13 or so.

To be serious I think the law of nature is if you rise fast you fall fast and emo rose fast. I think that's why it met its fate so quickly; but what do I know about life/nature, I'm only 22.  ::)

What is Emo?  ???

What is Emo?  ???


A subgenre of punk rock with whiny vocals and depressing, usually self-harm-oriented lyrics. The emo "look" is very slick, straightened long hair, sometimes done in weird "a flock of seagulls"-esque styles, extremely tight clothes, and, (not required but common) eyeliner.

Emo-pop (the stuff that was really popular around 2005-2007) is very similar but, well, poppier, and the violent content is toned down.

A subgenre of punk rock with whiny vocals and depressing, usually self-harm-oriented lyrics. The emo "look" is very slick, straightened long hair, sometimes done in weird "a flock of seagulls"-esque styles, extremely tight clothes, and, (not required but common) eyeliner.

Emo-pop (the stuff that was really popular around 2005-2007) is very similar but, well, poppier, and the violent content is toned down.
It originally had some promise in the early 90s with bands like Fugazi and Sunny Day Real Estate. Than it got mixed with the Blink-182 and the rest is histoy....unfortuntately

EMO was there in 2003 and 2004. Than got it got real big on Top 40 radio from mid 2005-mid 2007. I think Pop EMO was big in 2008-early 2009 and than the whole EMO thing died in early spring of 2009. So EMO was big for 7 years. It didn't die quickly.

A subgenre of punk rock with whiny vocals and depressing, usually self-harm-oriented lyrics. The emo "look" is very slick, straightened long hair, sometimes done in weird "a flock of seagulls"-esque styles, extremely tight clothes, and, (not required but common) eyeliner.

Emo-pop (the stuff that was really popular around 2005-2007) is very similar but, well, poppier, and the violent content is toned down.


Thanks for that Shiv But where did Emo originate from?  Emo Phillips? ???

Thanks for that Shiv But where did Emo originate from?  Emo Phillips? ???


Emo has sort of a confusing history, Howard.

I believe it originally started in the mid 80s in Washington DC. In the 80s and 90s it was underground and much closer to hardcore punk rock.

The more well known 00s style emo began in the early 00s and is heavily influenced by Blink 182.

Blink 182 was an extremely popular and influential pop-punk band, pretty much the Beatles of Gen Y. Well, in 2003, they released an album drawing influence from the original 80s & 90s emo. All the Blink wannabe bands copied it, and, voila, 2000s emo was born.

Emo has sort of a confusing history, Howard.

I believe it originally started in the mid 80s in Washington DC. In the 80s and 90s it was underground and much closer to hardcore punk rock.

The more well known 00s style emo began in the early 00s and is heavily influenced by Blink 182.

Blink 182 was an extremely popular and influential pop-punk band, pretty much the Beatles of Gen Y. Well, in 2003, they released an album drawing influence from the original 80s & 90s emo. All the Blink wannabe bands copied it, and, voila, 2000s emo was born.




Thanks Shiv. :)

Emo (and by emo I mean what the OP is talking about, not "emotive hardcore" like Sunny Day Real Estate etc.) was one of the few genres popular music that was actually more hated than liked throughout pretty much its entire existence. Honestly, even nu metal wasn't nearly as derided, and I thought THAT genre was hated.

The singers sounded so whiny and passive and the bands looked so damn effeminate that almost no guy would be caught dead listening to them. As such, it was more restricted to a female audience (much like the tail-end hairbands of '90-91), and even they put those bands behind the more mainstream hip hop of the time. The only band that would be considered emo that were popular on a significant scale in my high school was Fall Out Boy (unless you count the All American Rejects) and that was only in 2007. The Plain White Tee's had a big hit in '07, but I can remember so many guys making fun of that song it wasn't even funny (well, actually, yes it was!).

In short, it was just so damn negative and girly and so juxtaposed to the rest of the more dominant culture at the time (Southern rap and uplifting pop music like Fergie and Britney Spears) that once it was no longer considered "fresh" it QUICKLY got pushed to the side. Hell, the most popular bands at the time (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Foo Fighters, Nickelback, Linkin Park) weren't even emo!

Emo (and by emo I mean what the OP is talking about, not "emotive hardcore" like Sunny Day Real Estate etc.) was one of the few genres popular music that was actually more hated than liked throughout pretty much its entire existence. Honestly, even nu metal wasn't nearly as derided, and I thought THAT genre was hated.

The singers sounded so whiny and passive and the bands looked so damn effeminate that almost no guy would be caught dead listening to them. As such, it was more restricted to a female audience (much like the tail-end hairbands of '90-91), and even they put those bands behind the more mainstream hip hop of the time. The only band that would be considered emo that were popular on a significant scale in my high school was Fall Out Boy (unless you count the All American Rejects) and that was only in 2007. The Plain White Tee's had a big hit in '07, but I can remember so many guys making fun of that song it wasn't even funny (well, actually, yes it was!).

In short, it was just so damn negative and girly and so juxtaposed to the rest of the more dominant culture at the time (Southern rap and uplifting pop music like Fergie and Britney Spears) that once it was no longer considered "fresh" it QUICKLY got pushed to the side. Hell, the most popular bands at the time (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Foo Fighters, Nickelback, Linkin Park) weren't even emo!
Yeah thats what I felt about EMO when it was popular and I was in my 20's when EMO was popular as a whole.

The singers sounded so whiny and passive and the bands looked so damn effeminate that almost no guy would be caught dead listening to them. As such, it was more restricted to a female audience (much like the tail-end hairbands of '90-91), and even they put those bands behind the more mainstream hip hop of the time. 


LOL.  Thanks for that, that explains a lot.

Emo was way after my time, and I puzzled over it myself.  Just couldn't get it.  I could get grunge, I could get nu-metal, even though I didn't care for it, but Emo puzzled me.  Never thought of it as something listened to by one gender over another. 

Speaking for tail-end hair-metal, yeah, I listened to it even when grunge was more fashionable.  But that was because I was getting old, not because I thought it was still cool, but I listened anyway even though it was wack - it was my personal way to bring the 80s back.

Speaking of which, now I'm wondering: was Sum 41 punk or nu-metal?

I didn't even know Emo was dead.  That crap all sounds the same. 

My Chemical Romance are still around

And they still suck lol.

LOL.  Thanks for that, that explains a lot.

Emo was way after my time, and I puzzled over it myself.  Just couldn't get it.  I could get grunge, I could get nu-metal, even though I didn't care for it, but Emo puzzled me.  Never thought of it as something listened to by one gender over another. 

Speaking for tail-end hair-metal, yeah, I listened to it even when grunge was more fashionable.  But that was because I was getting old, not because I thought it was still cool, but I listened anyway even though it was wack - it was my personal way to bring the 80s back.

Speaking of which, now I'm wondering: was Sum 41 punk or nu-metal?


Sum 41 was easily Pop-Punk.

Nu Metal: Limp Bizkit, Korn, Linkin Park, Papa Roach, etc.  In later years, Nu Metal's definition got extended and groups like System of a Down and Three Days Grace were labeled "Nu Metal" even though they lacked the Hip-Hop influences that were at the root of Nu Metal.  Term basically lost all meaning.

Pop-Punk: Blink 182, Sum 41, Simple Plan, Good Charlotte, etc.  Pop-Punk was around in the mid-90s too.  The Offspring and Green Day are considered early examples of the genre.

Emo and Pop-Emo: My Chemical Romance, 30 Seconds to Mars, Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, etc.

I like to think of Emo as like an edgier version of the Pop-Punk that was popular prior to it.  Pop-Punk always had an upbeat image (with the exception of Simple Plan, which was whinier than even most Emo) compared to Emo's more downtrodden, whiny image.

Sum 41 was easily Pop-Punk.

Nu Metal: Limp Bizkit, Korn, Linkin Park, Papa Roach, etc.  In later years, Nu Metal's definition got extended and groups like System of a Down and Three Days Grace were labeled "Nu Metal" even though they lacked the Hip-Hop influences that were at the root of Nu Metal.  Term basically lost all meaning.

Pop-Punk: Blink 182, Sum 41, Simple Plan, Good Charlotte, etc.  Pop-Punk was around in the mid-90s too.  The Offspring and Green Day are considered early examples of the genre.

Emo and Pop-Emo: My Chemical Romance, 30 Seconds to Mars, Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, etc.

I like to think of Emo as like an edgier version of the Pop-Punk that was popular prior to it.  Pop-Punk always had an upbeat image (with the exception of Simple Plan, which was whinier than even most Emo) compared to Emo's more downtrodden, whiny image.


Remember Yellowcard "Ocean Avenue" in 04 would that qualify as Emo? Not totally sure.

Emo has sort of a confusing history, Howard.

I believe it originally started in the mid 80s in Washington DC. In the 80s and 90s it was underground and much closer to hardcore punk rock.

The more well known 00s style emo began in the early 00s and is heavily influenced by Blink 182.

Blink 182 was an extremely popular and influential pop-punk band, pretty much the Beatles of Gen Y. Well, in 2003, they released an album drawing influence from the original 80s & 90s emo. All the Blink wannabe bands copied it, and, voila, 2000s emo was born.




I don't remember this album so it must have been a flop. Blink 182 was pretty much gone from mainstream radio after "The Rock Show" in 2001. By 2002 post-grunge had become the dominant force in mainstream rock.

I don't remember this album so it must have been a flop. Blink 182 was pretty much gone from mainstream radio after "The Rock Show" in 2001. By 2002 post-grunge had become the dominant force in mainstream rock.


It was very sucessful commercially, it went 3x platinum and actually sold more than their previous album Take off Your Pants and Jacket, and most of the singles were hits on rock radio. I was in 7th grade when it came out and believe me, it was a hit.

However you are right in that they wern't as big on top 40 radio after 2001...but rock in general wasn't.

I think post grunge and pop-punk/emo dominated rock about equally in the 00s.

according to google trends, emo reached its zenith in 2008 and has since been in decline and is around half as popular as it was at the top of its day.

according to google trends, emo reached its zenith in 2008 and has since been in decline and is around half as popular as it was at the top of its day.


I would have figured more like 2006. But ok

according to google trends, emo reached its zenith in 2008 and has since been in decline and is around half as popular as it was at the top of its day.
Emo has no popularity. None.

Emo has no popularity. None.


You mean to tell me none of your girl classmates are swooning over Pete Wentz???!!  ;D

I'm joking.

You mean to tell me none of your girl classmates are swooning over Pete Wentz???!!  ;D

I'm joking.
Most don't even know who he is. Emo is so out dated, it's too out dated to make fun of it.

A new generation of youth is running the show.  Emo was simply was a generation Y thing and that was a continuation of grunge.  More emotional grunge - this stuff has been around since the 1990s but you didn't know about it.  Generation Z, starting for ones born in 1991, seems to be happier kids to listen to emo.

Most don't even know who he is. Emo is so out dated, it's too out dated to make fun of it.



around 2007 it started loosing steam

A new generation of youth is running the show.  Emo was simply was a generation Y thing and that was a continuation of grunge.  More emotional grunge - this stuff has been around since the 1990s but you didn't know about it.  Generation Z, starting for ones born in 1991, seems to be happier kids to listen to emo.


Generation Z doesn't start with 1991 births.

Yeah, 1991 births are part of the tail end of Generation Y. Generation Z doesn't start until mid-90's births (I believe 1995).

Emo was only a fad. It didn't have staying power and died a quick death.

No, offense. But emo was a boring dull genre that seemed to draw influence from goth as well as pop-punk. A lot of people were mocked for liking emo, so by the time 2010 came around people in the emo culture had moved on too Metalcore, dubstep, Post-hardcore etc

When I was in high school, you just couldn't escape emo. It was ubiquitous and everywhere, not to mention extremely annoying.

But some time in 2007, I noticed it starting to decline, and of course a few years later it totally faded away. I'm glad it did, but I wish emo had a more dramatic downfall like disco or glam metal.

I was in high school from Fall 2005 to Spring 2009, pretty much during the peak of the emo phase. During my freshman and sophomore years, there were plenty of emo kids around, but by my senior year, you could tell it was rapidly disappearing. When I started college (Fall 2009) I don't recall seeing any emo kids on campus, but maybe they had just outgrown it and it was strictly a high school fad (meaning there could have still been some emo kids left in high schools during the '09-'10 school year...you tell me)

I myself was never emo. I was kind of a fashion mess in high school. I had the kind of shaggy, emo-inspired hair, but wore preppy shirts and baggy jeans. It was like I was trying to be emo, preppy, and gangsta all at once. Don't expect me to go posting any photos :P

I graduated high school right as emo was becoming widely popular (2005), it really was a short-lived fad mainly focusing on 2006. I'm not a big fan though I do like a few songs that are classified as "emo". I like the band Paramore for example.  ;D I mainly was into hip-hop/r&b and post-grunge/nu-metal in high school. My fashion was somewhere in between preppy and urban which was typical of the early to mid '00s.

I was in high school from Fall 2005 to Spring 2009, pretty much during the peak of the emo phase. During my freshman and sophomore years, there were plenty of emo kids around, but by my senior year, you could tell it was rapidly disappearing. When I started college (Fall 2009) I don't recall seeing any emo kids on campus, but maybe they had just outgrown it and it was strictly a high school fad (meaning there could have still been some emo kids left in high schools during the '09-'10 school year...you tell me)

I myself was never emo. I was kind of a fashion mess in high school. I had the kind of shaggy, emo-inspired hair, but wore preppy shirts and baggy jeans. It was like I was trying to be emo, preppy, and gangsta all at once. Don't expect me to go posting any photos :P


I was in high school then, and there were a few people with elements of the style still around (razored/layered haircuts, checkered vans), but on the whole it was dead.

Now we all have hipsters to contend with  ;D

Lady Gaga busted on the scene ushered in the dance era and from then on it was out with emo as well as hip-hop.  There were some remnants of emo even in 2008 but by 2009 it was all but gone.

I was in high school from Fall 2005 to Spring 2009, pretty much during the peak of the emo phase. During my freshman and sophomore years, there were plenty of emo kids around, but by my senior year, you could tell it was rapidly disappearing. When I started college (Fall 2009) I don't recall seeing any emo kids on campus, but maybe they had just outgrown it and it was strictly a high school fad (meaning there could have still been some emo kids left in high schools during the '09-'10 school year...you tell me)


I was also in high school during that time. I definitely remember emo being a huge thing freshmen and sophomore year, but was already starting to disappear by junior year.

God, emo sucked.

KSHE 95 and 105.7 The Point played emo all the time from late 2005 to mid to late 2006.

By the time I graduated HS in '07 emo was thankfully dead.

By about 2007, every pop rock band with somewhat angsty lyrics was classified emo whether they were or not; the label just became meaningless.  If you want to check out good post-hardcore, listen to Fall of Troy.

I remember I entered my 'emo' phase in 2007, but by then emo started to die. Scene became more popular around 2008, which I was also briefly part of.

I remember I entered my 'emo' phase in 2007, but by then emo started to die. Scene became more popular around 2008, which I was also briefly part of.


Scene was popular by 2004 tho lol

Scene was popular by 2004 tho lol
Really? Well I was 10 in 2004 so it's not like I'd be paying attention to that at the time.

Really? Well I was 10 in 2004 so it's not like I'd be paying attention to that at the time.


Of course you wouldn't, you're too young to have full-monty experienced the decade.

Of course you wouldn't, you're too young to have full-monty experienced the decade.


There you go arguing again.  You seem to like to start up trouble ::)

Pop punk was in it's phase 2 era in late 2001, by the time 2004 happened EMO meshed with its "myspace/mall/lifestyle"

In 2007 Emo meshed with Scene, and by the time 2008 happened people were more looking forward to the sounds of Dance pop
which was a new trend at the time and took over the radio.

My guess is that people thought it sounded whiny and also manufactured. Worse still, it could have sounded satanic to some people. I guess this decade's music sounds bland in order to separate itself from the childish and manufactured sound of the previous decade. As for the emo fashion, I bet there's been a lot of homophobia and transphobia around in its heyday to discourage people from having the look further.

My guess is that people thought it sounded whiny and also manufactured. Worse still, it could have sounded satanic to some people. I guess this decade's music sounds bland in order to separate itself from the childish and manufactured sound of the previous decade. As for the emo fashion, I bet there's been a lot of homophobia and transphobia around in its heyday to discourage people from having the look further.


A lot of it was because scene meshed with it in 2007, and also Dance pop was taking over the radio.
Myspace was dead by 2010 and EMO is mostly associated with Myspace.