Did the Ramones actually invent punk music?

Just to clear up the misconceptions about grunge: grunge was a style found prominently in the Seattle area in the late 80s. Nirvana's first album, Bleach, released on Sub-Pop (who were trying to be a "grunge label"), was a grunge album. They didn't invent the style, however.

By the time Nirvana released Nevermind, they could no longer be truly called a grunge band. Grunge, however, was the buzz word at the time and the record companies were clumping any group that had long hair or flannel shirts into the grunge category (or taking a non grunge band and putting flannel shirts on them .. you get the picture).

It is in this way that Nirvana's later material was known to the mainstream world as "grunge" although their sound had lost a lot of its harder edge. I wouldn't even call Soundgarden a grunge band. Maybe Badmotorfinger but definitely not Superunknown. Alice in Chains was more of a hard rock band but they were all being called grunge bands back then.

As for the Ramones, they were practically the house band at the CBGBs club in New York City (regarded as the epicenter of punk at the time) and were very influential in spreading the sound across the pond to the UK. The sound then bounced back to the US in the form of UK punk bands. The Ramones may not have invented it but if not they were certainly founding fathers.

Neither bands invented either sounds. Punk rock gets its roots from a combination of garage rock, classic rock 'n roll and others. The Ramones were one of several bands at the time who helped give punk rock a name. Same with Nirvana. Grunge had been around before their time. Just not as popular. Nirvana brought a lime light to grunge and really changed the music game at the time. Hoped that help clear any confusion xx

Bands such as The Stooges, The Velvet Underground, The Who & The Kinks started punk rock (or, at least, were precursors to punk & had an influence on the genre), but the Ramones are generally considered to be the first punk rock band. Or, at least, they had a big role in popularizing the genre, like what other users have said in this question.

The New York Dolls were the first punk band. When they first came out in 1971 they had this rowdy sound and critics didn't know what to call it. But they DID say that their image was too disturbing for the American youuth-they dressed in drag. They were also the first glam band, but they took that too far. Critics said they looked like a bunch of prostitutes.

Extremely interesting question, hopefully we'll get some good opinions

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