Rock and Roll
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157 free Rock and Roll trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
99 free rock and roll trivia questions with answers. Classic rock trivia is a pub-quiz staple for a reason: everybody thinks they know it, and everybody has a gap. This pool of 157 questions runs from the birth of rock and roll through the British Invasion, Woodstock, stadium rock, punk, New Wave and grunge, so a Beatles obsessive and a Nirvana kid both get their moment. The questions start easy (who is the King of Rock and Roll?) and climb to the deep cuts: the original name of Led Zeppelin, which label signed Elvis in 1955, what Deep Purple were actually watching burn when they wrote Smoke on the Water. Every answer has been checked against a real source, and each question shows where it came from, so a disputed round can be settled on the spot. Play it solo, or use it as a ready-made classic rock round for a trivia night.
30 of 157 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which Memphis mansion did Elvis Presley buy in 1957 and call home for the rest of his life?
Graceland
Graceland cost Presley just over $100,000 when he was 22; he is buried in its garden, and the house opened to the public in 1982 to ease his estate's cash-flow problem.
Q 02What was the name of The Beatles' first studio album?
Please Please Me
Please Please Me came together in a day: on 11 February 1963 the Beatles recorded ten of its songs, leaving 'Twist and Shout' to last because John Lennon, who had a cold, was losing his voice.
Q 03Which Nirvana song is the opening track and lead single of the 1991 album Nevermind?
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Smells Like Teen Spirit got its title when Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill wrote 'Kurt smells like Teen Spirit' on Cobain's wall; she meant a deodorant, which he said he had not heard of.
Q 04Which 1965 hit's fuzz-toned riff came to Keith Richards in his sleep?
Satisfaction
Satisfaction began on a bedside tape: Keith Richards woke in the night, recorded the riff and fell back asleep, leaving a cassette of a few bars followed by his snoring.
Q 05Which rock band is known for the song "Bohemian Rhapsody"?
Queen
Queen were told the single was too long for radio, but DJ Kenny Everett played it again and again on his London show, and it went on to top the UK chart for nine weeks.
Q 06Which city is home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which opened in 1995?
Cleveland
Cleveland won the museum in 1986 with a $65 million pledge from city officials and a groundswell of public support, beating rivals that included New York, Memphis and Chicago.
Q 07Which guitarist is known for playing his instrument left-handed and upside down?
Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix, a natural left-hander, turned right-handed guitars upside down and restrung them; at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 he ended his set by setting one on fire.
Q 08Which band's logo features a tongue and lips?
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones' logo began when Mick Jagger showed art student John Pasche a picture of the goddess Kali's tongue; Pasche was paid £50, and the V&A later bought his original artwork.
Q 09Which New York club became the cradle of American punk, hosting Television, Blondie and Talking Heads in the mid-1970s?
CBGB
CBGB stood for Country, Bluegrass and Blues, the music owner Hilly Kristal meant to book when he opened the Bowery club in 1973; it became famous for punk instead.
Q 10Which album by Pink Floyd features a prism on its cover?
The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon got its prism without a debate: when Hipgnosis showed the band a set of cover designs, all four members pointed to the prism at once.
Q 11Which rock band released the iconic album "Back in Black" in 1980?
AC/DC
AC/DC recorded Back in Black months after singer Bon Scott died, with Brian Johnson taking his place; the all-black cover was meant as a sign of mourning.
Q 12What was the original name of the band Led Zeppelin?
The New Yardbirds
The New Yardbirds was the name Jimmy Page's new line-up used in 1968 to play Scandinavian dates the Yardbirds had already booked; soon afterwards they became Led Zeppelin.
Q 13Which 1991 Pearl Jam debut album includes 'Alive', 'Even Flow' and 'Jeremy'?
Ten
Ten is named after the jersey number of basketball player Mookie Blaylock, whose name the band used before it became Pearl Jam.
Q 21What was the first single released by The Ramones?
Blitzkrieg Bop
Blitzkrieg Bop opens with its 'Hey, ho, let's go' chant, which the band added because they wanted their own answer to the Bay City Rollers' 'Saturday Night'.
Q 22Which British band released the concept album "The Wall" in 1979?
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd's Roger Waters conceived The Wall after a 1977 stadium show in Montreal, where he grew so irritated with rowdy fans that he spat at one.
Q 23Which guitarist was known as "Slowhand"?
Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton picked up the nickname "Slowhand" in his Yardbirds days. Manager Giorgio Gomelsky coined it as a pun on the slow handclap audiences gave while he replaced broken strings on stage.
Q 14What was Kurt Cobain's primary guitar brand of choice?
Fender
Fender even built a model to Kurt Cobain's design: he cut photos of its Jaguar and Mustang guitars in half and pasted them together to make the Jag-Stang.
Q 15Which 1975 Bruce Springsteen album features 'Thunder Road' and 'Jungleland'?
Born to Run
Born to Run made Springsteen a star after two albums that sold poorly: in October 1975 he appeared on the covers of Time and Newsweek in the same week.
Q 16Which band's debut album was titled "Appetite for Destruction"?
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses first released the album with a Robert Williams painting on the cover; when stores refused to stock it, the artwork was moved inside the sleeve.
Q 17Which drummer did Ringo Starr replace in the Beatles in August 1962?
Pete Best
Pete Best was sacked after two years as the Beatles' drummer, and fans took it badly: some chanted 'Pete forever, Ringo never!' and one gave a band member a black eye at the Cavern.
Q 18Which member of The Who was known for his explosive drumming style?
Keith Moon
Keith Moon lived up to the word on US television in 1967, when the gunpowder packed into his bass drum went off with a blast that singed Pete Townshend's hair.
Q 19Which 1955 Chuck Berry debut single was adapted from the country fiddle tune 'Ida Red'?
Maybellene
Maybellene grew out of 'Ida Red', a country tune Berry heard on the radio; he rewrote it as a car chase after an unfaithful girlfriend, and it became his first hit.
Q 20Which Birmingham band, fronted by Ozzy Osbourne, released 'Paranoid' and 'Iron Man' in 1970?
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath wrote 'Paranoid' as a last-minute three-minute filler to round out the album; it became the title track and their first hit single, reaching No. 4 in the UK.
Q 24Which punk band's only studio album was 1977's Never Mind the Bollocks?
Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols were dropped by both EMI and A&M within months, so Virgin, their third label, released the album; the band broke up in January 1978 at the end of a US tour.
Q 25Which band did Joy Division's surviving members form after Ian Curtis died in 1980?
New Order
New Order took a new name by prior agreement: Joy Division's members had vowed to drop that name if anyone left, so the three survivors started afresh and added Gillian Gilbert.
Q 26Which band backed Buddy Holly on the 1957 hit 'That'll Be the Day'?
The Crickets
The Crickets recorded the hit version in Clovis, New Mexico after Decca shelved Holly's first attempt; the title was John Wayne's catchphrase in the western The Searchers.
Q 27Which rock pioneer was nicknamed "The Architect of Rock and Roll"?
Little Richard
Little Richard first sang 'Tutti Frutti' with lyrics thought too suggestive to release; songwriter Dorothy LaBostrie rewrote them for the recording, and it became his first major hit.
Q 28Which Nirvana album, their last studio record, did Steve Albini produce in 1993?
In Utero
In Utero was meant to sound raw after the polish of Nevermind, so Nirvana hired Steve Albini, who took a flat fee and refused the royalties he could have earned.
Q 29Which 1969 rock event is remembered for the Hells Angels' fatal stabbing of a fan?
Altamont Free Concert
Altamont Free Concert: Meredith Hunter was stabbed near the stage, and the Hells Angel charged with his murder was acquitted after jurors saw film of Hunter drawing a revolver.
Q 30Which Clash album's cover, with Paul Simonon smashing his bass, borrows its lettering from Elvis Presley's debut LP?
London Calling
London Calling's cover photo was one its own photographer argued against: Pennie Smith called the shot too out of focus to use, but the band's singer insisted on it.