Content overview: “Will There Ever Be Another Band as Big as the Beatles or Rolling Stones?”. The Guardian Lifestyle Oct 25, 2026 • 2:00 PM The landscape of popular music has shifted dramatically in the 2020s, with individual pop artists like Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Sabrina Carpenter, and Harry Styles dominating the charts. Gone are the days when bands such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Abba defined entire eras of culture.
This raises a key question: is the era of the all-conquering group over for good? The Guardian's readers weigh in on whether the music industry's current structure, streaming economics, and cultural fragmentation make it impossible for a band to achieve that level of universal impact. The discussion matters because it reflects broader changes in how we consume music, build fandoms, and share cultural moments. This listing links straight to the original page, where the content is available in full.