2022 in rock music


This article summarizes the events related to rock music for the year of 2022.

Notable events

January

February

March

  • Swedish band Ghost release their fifth studio album, Impera. First started in 2020, the album's creation spanned 2 years as the band waited out the 2020 US Presidential Election season and some rougher parts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The latter inspired frontman Tobias Forge to revisit and complete an album idea he has had since 2014, about "the rise and fall of empires". The album debuts at number 2 on the Billboard 200 chart, moving 70,000 album equivalent units. The debut is the band best of their career in both chart position and units moved. It is the highest charting hard rock album since 2020's Power Up album by AC/DC, and the best selling hard rock album in over a year, since 2021's Medicine at Midnight album by the Foo Fighters. As of its March release, Impera was also the highest pure sales of 2022 of any album genre.
  • Feeder releases their eleventh studio album, Torpedo. Described as "heavier but still melodic", the album is themed around the band's frustrations of not being able to perform live due to COVID-19 restrictions. It debuts at number 5 on the UK all-format Official Charts Company albums chart, their tenth album to place in the top ten of the chart.
  • Machine Gun Kelly releases his sixth studio album, and second one of the rock genre. Originally announced as Born with Horns, it was later retitled to Mainstream Sellout. It tops the all-format US Billboard 200 albums chart upon release, moving 93,000 album equivalent units. It is the first rock album in over a year to top the chart, with the last ones being AC/DC and Kelly's own Tickets to My Downfall in 2020. Despite the success, Kelly announced that he would be returning to rap music for his future releases.
  • Kid Rock's twelfth studio album, Bad Reputation, fails to debut in the top 200 albums of the Billboard 200 upon its release. His prior seven albums had all debuted in the top 10 of the chart. His turn towards politics was cited as a possible reason for the steep decline since prior albums.
  • After its appearance in the March 2022 film The Batman, Nirvana's 1991 song "Something in the Way" appears on the Billboard Hot 100 all-format song chart at number 46. It is the first song of the band's to appear on the chart in 20 years, since 2002's "You Know You're Right", and the first time the song had ever appeared on the chart, with it never having been released as a single in the past.

April

May

  • Guitarist Amen leaves Finnish band Lordi after disagreements with other band members.
  • My Chemical Romance releases their first new song in 8 years, "The Foundations of Decay".
  • The Black Keys release their eleventh studio album, Dropout Boogie. It debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200, moving 33,000 album equivalent units. It is the band's sixth album to chart in the top 10 of the chart, and their second within a year, after Delta Kream in May 2021.
  • Swedish band Draconian announce the departure of singer Heike Langhans, the return of Lisa Johansson on vocals, and the addition of guitarist Niklas Nord.

June

July

  • Shinedown releases their seventh studio album, Planet Zero. The album was initially scheduled to be released in late 2021, and then delayed to April 2022, before finally being released in July. It debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200 chart, moving 43,000 album equivalent units. It's their fifth album to debut in the top 10 of the chart, but has a 17,000 unit drop from their prior album, 2018's Attention Attention.
  • Jack White releases Entering Heaven Alive on July 22, 2022, his second album of the year. His first of the year, Fear of the Dawn, highlights a heavier sound, while Entering Heaven Alive features softer and acoustic music. Entering Heaven Alive debuts at number 9 on the Billboard 200, moving 27,000 album equivalent units.
  • Dance Gavin Dance releases their tenth studio album, Jackpot Juicer. It debuts at number 8 on the Billboard 200 chart, moving 33,500 album equivalent units. It is the band's first album to debut in the top 10 of the chart.
  • Rage Against the Machine plays their first live performance in over 11 years, and makes headlines for their commentary critical of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, including the catchphrase "Abort the Supreme Court". They also commit to giving almost half a million dollars in concert ticket revenue towards reproductive rights organizations.

August

  • Panic! at the Disco releases their seventh studio album, Viva Las Vengeance. The album features work from Butch Walker who was said to add "a sound that showcases guitars and nods to the arena rock sound of decades past, primarily the 1970s". While the prior two studio albums topped the Billboard 200 chart, Viva Las Vengeance did not, and missed the top ten altogether, debuting at 13.
  • Five Finger Death Punch releases their ninth studio album, AfterLife. The album is not a formal concept album, but was created as a cohesive unit. The album debuts at number 10 on the Billboard 200 chart, moving 29,000 album equivalent units. The debut is the highest rock album of the week on the chart, landing above Panic! at the Disco's Viva Las Vengeance, and also topping the Billboard Hot Hard Rock albums chart, but it still a drop from their prior album, F8, which moved 55,000 units in its first week.
  • Muse releases their ninth studio album, Will of the People, becoming their seventh consecutive UK number one album, selling over 300,000 units by the start of 2023.

September

  • Swedish band Ghost's 2019 song "Mary on a Cross" goes viral on TikTok after a fan releases a slowed down version of the track. The band, in turn, officially releases their own slowed down version of the song, which goes on to top the Billboard Hot Hard Rock streaming songs chart, and eventually even find cross-over success, peaking at 90 on the all-format Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song is the band's first to reach the Hot 100 chart, despite not even being a single or their most recent studio album.
  • Megadeth's sixteenth studio album, The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead! debuts at number 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, moving 43,000 album equivalent units. It is their first album in 6 years, and their eighth studio album to debut in the top 10 of the chart.
  • Ozzy Osbourne releases his thirteenth studio album, Patient Number 9. It is his second album to be produced by Andrew Watt, and was recorded while Osbourne was struggling with medical issues affecting his physical health. The album debuts at number 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, moving 56,000 album equivalent units, and is his ninth album to debut in the top 10. It is also his highest ever charting album in the UK - debuting at number 2 - and hits the top 10 of over 13 other national album charts.
  • Slipknot releases their seventh studio album, The End, So Far, on September 30, 2022. It is described by frontman Corey Taylor as a heavier version of their melodic album Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses. It debuts at number 2 on the Billboard 200 chart, breaking the band's 3 album streak of topping the chart with All Hope is Gone, .5: The Gray Chapter, and We Are Not Your Kind. The album does top the UK chart.

October

November

  • The Smashing Pumpkins released their twelfth studio album, Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts. The album is described as a sequel concept album exploring concepts started in the band's prior concept albums Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Machina/The Machines of God. The release has an uncommon release format, entailing three separate 11 song releases in 11 week intervals, culminating in a boxset release that contains all 33 songs and an additional 10 exclusive songs. Atum: Act One released on November 15, 2022, while Atum: Act Two is scheduled for January 31, 2023, and Atum: Act Three and the box-set is scheduled for April 23, 2023.
  • Nickelback released their tenth studio album, and first in 5 years, Get Rollin' on November 18, 2022.
  • Disturbed releases their eighth studio album Divisive. Frontman David Draiman described the album as sounding like their older material, including their first and third albums. The album is the bands first since their debut album to not debut in the top ten of the Billboard 200 albums chart, peaking at number 13.

December

Major tours and concerts

Deaths

Band breakups