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• folk rock
  folk rock

  noun

  a style of music combining characteristics of rock-'n'-roll and folk music, often exemplified by protest songs to a rock-'n'-roll beat, and at its height of popularity in the late 1960s.
• folk-rock
  folk-rock

  noun

  a style of rock music influenced by folk, including traditional material arranged for electric instruments

folk rock

American  

Or folk-rock

noun

1. a style of music combining characteristics of rock-'n'-roll and folk music, often exemplified by protest songs to a rock-'n'-roll beat, and at its height of popularity in the late 1960s.

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folk-rock British  

noun

1. a style of rock music influenced by folk, including traditional material arranged for electric instruments

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• folk-rocker
  noun

Etymology

Origin of folk rock

First recorded in 1965–70; folk + rock ²

Example Sentences

Jesse Colin Young, whose vocals as frontman of folk rock band the Youngbloods gave voice to the 1960s’ counterculture, died on Sunday at his home in Aiken, S.C.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2025

Woman of the moment Sabrina Carpenter kicked off the show by performing a duet alongside Paul Simon of folk rock duo Simon and Garfunkel.

From BBC • Feb. 17, 2025

It was on a song called “Insomniac,” by a folk rock duo called Billy Pilgrim.

From New York Times • Jan. 8, 2024

With his brother Michael Bacon, he fronts a band, the Bacon Brothers, whose style is a blend of alt country and soulful folk rock.

From Salon • Nov. 28, 2022

Early on, her label, Columbia Records, marketed Carpenter as a country artist, even though her music also had elements of folk, rock and pop.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 24, 2022