RCA RecordsHere are a few other notable things that happened in the world of rock in 2016:
-- Kings of Leon, Panic! at the Disco, The Lumineers and The 1975 all earned number-one albums on the Billboard 200 for the first time in their careers. For KoL, the honor came with their seventh studio album, WALLS, while Panic! topped the chart with Death of a Bachelor, their fifth studio effort. Meanwhile, The Lumineers and The 1975 both topped the Billboard 200 with their sophomore albums: Cleopatra and I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it, respectively.
-- Disturbed found a new sound -- and a few new fans -- with their orchestral cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence." The song ruled Billboard's Mainstream Rock Songs chart for seven straight weeks, and it became the first Disturbed song to be sent to Top 40 radio. Paul Simon himself praised the cover as "powerful." Disturbed's performance of "The Sound of Silence" on Conan is nominated for Best Rock Performance at the 2017 Grammys.
-- The most unlikely of reunions happened when Slash and Duff McKagan rejoined Axl Rose in Guns N' Roses. The "Welcome to the Jungle" rockers headlined Coachella, and embarked on the Not in This Lifetime stadium tour. Perhaps even more surprisingly, Rose also toured with AC/DC in place of vocalist Brian Johnson, who was forced to retire from the road because of hearing-loss issues.
-- Radiohead returned this year in typically cryptic fashion. After deleting their social media presence, the band released a new song called "Burn the Witch," which was accompanied by a creepy Claymation video. They then announced that they would be releasing their new album, titled A Moon Shaped Pool, in full that weekend. A Moon Shaped Pool is nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 2017 Grammys.
-- Coldplay kicked off a busy 2016 by performing at the Super Bowl 50 halftime show alongside Beyonce and Bruno Mars. They spent the rest of the year touring in support of their album A Head Full of Dreams. The eventful trek, which saw Chris Martin and company play stadiums all over the world, was highlighted by a performance of the Chuck Berry classic "Johnny B. Goode" alongside Marty McFly himself, Michael J. Fox.
-- Avenged Sevenfold took a page out of Beyonce's book when they surprise-released their new album. After leaking fake info that the album would be called Voltaic Oceans and would be released in December, A7X announced their actual, called The Stage, during a special virtual reality event at the end of October. The Stage turned out to be one of the band's most complex albums, from its eight-minute title track -- also called "The Stage" -- to its themes of artificial intelligence.
-- Korn unleashed their new album, The Serenity of Suffering. Along with the single "Rotting in Vain," the album also includes the song "A Different World," featuring vocals from Slipknot's Corey Taylor.
-- Iggy Pop teamed up with Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme to record the Godfather of Punk's new album, Post Pop Depression. The pair recorded the album in secret along with The Dead Weather guitarist Dean Fertita and Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders. The album gave Pop his highest debut on the Billboard 200.
-- Pearl Jam was chosen for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. The induction ceremony will take place in April 2017.
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