Goth Rock — 1980s Genre Guide

Goth Rock built a dark, dramatic identity from post-punk's edges. Discover its essential artists, songs and albums.

Goth Rock crystallised in the early 1980s around bands like Bauhaus, The Sisters of Mercy and Siouxsie and the Banshees. It took post-punk's atmospheric edge and gave it a fully realised aesthetic — black clothes, theatrical vocals, drum-machine pulses and lyrics steeped in death, romance and decadence.

Key artists

• The Cure — Goth's most commercially successful band.
• Bauhaus — The genre's founders.
• Siouxsie and the Banshees — Punk's most theatrical and influential post-punk progression.
• The Sisters of Mercy — Drum-machine-driven goth perfected.