{{Short description|Style of music}} {{About||the painting by Grant Wood|Sentimental Ballad (painting)|information on the modified type of blues music in South Korea|Korean ballad}} {{pp|small=yes}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
A '''sentimental ballad''' is an [[emotional]] style of music that often deals with [[romance (love)|romantic]] and [[intimate relationships]], and to a lesser extent, [[loneliness]], [[death]], [[war]], [[drug abuse]], [[politics]] and [[religion]], usually in a poignant but solemn manner.<ref name="M. Curtis, 1987 p. 236">{{cite book |last1=Curtis |first1=James M. |title=Rock Eras: Interpretations of Music and Society, 1954-1984 |date=1987 |publisher=Popular Press |isbn=978-0-87972-369-9 |page=236}}</ref> Ballads are generally melodic enough to capture the listener's attention.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bronson |first1=Bertrand Harris |title=The Ballad as Song |date=1969 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-01399-5}}{{pn|date=October 2023}}</ref>
Sentimental ballads are found in most [[music genre]]s, such as [[pop music|pop]], [[contemporary R&B|R&B]], [[soul music|soul]], [[country music|country]], [[folk music|folk]], [[rock music|rock]] and [[electronic music]].<ref>Ord, J. (1990). ''Bothy Songs and Ballads''. Edinburgh: John Donald.</ref> Usually slow in [[tempo]], ballads tend to have a lush musical [[arrangement]] which emphasizes the song's [[melody]] and [[harmony|harmonies]]. Characteristically, ballads use [[Musical acoustics|acoustic]] instruments such as [[guitar]]s, [[piano]]s, [[saxophone]]s, and sometimes an [[orchestra]]l set. Many modern mainstream ballads tend to feature [[synthesizer]]s, [[drum machine]]s and even, to some extent, a [[Four on the floor (music)|dance rhythm]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://top40.about.com/od/popmusic101/a/popmusic.htm|title=Pop Music – What Is Pop Music – A Definition and Brief History|publisher=Top40.about.com|date=7 September 2012|access-date=3 October 2012|archive-date=20 October 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051020042544/http://top40.about.com/od/popmusic101/a/popmusic.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Sentimental ballads had their origins in the early [[Tin Pan Alley]] music industry of the later 19th century.<ref>P. Buckley, ''The Rough Guide to Rock'' (Rough Guides, 3rd edn., 2003), p. 378.</ref> Initially known as "tear-jerkers" or "drawing-room [[ballad]]s", they were generally sentimental, narrative, [[Strophic form|strophic]] songs published separately or as part of an [[opera]], descendants perhaps of [[broadside (music)|broadside ballads]]. As new genres of music began to emerge in the early 20th century, their popularity faded, but the association with sentimentality led to the term ''ballad'' being used for a slow [[love song]] from the 1950s onwards.<ref>Witmer. See also Middleton (I,4,i).</ref>
==History== ===Early history=== {{main|Ballad}}
Sentimental ballads have their roots from medieval [[Music of France|French]] ''chanson balladée'' or ''[[Ballade (forme fixe)|ballade]]'', which were originally "danced songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular [[poetry]] and song of the [[British Isles]] from the later [[medieval]] period until the 19th century. They were widely used across [[Europe]], and later in the [[Americas]], [[Australia]] and [[North Africa]].<ref>W. Apel, ''Harvard Dictionary of Music'' (Harvard, 1944; 2nd edn., 1972), p. 70.</ref><ref>A. Jacobs, ''A Short History of Western Music'' (1972, Penguin, 1976), p. 21.</ref><ref>W. Apel, ''Harvard Dictionary of Music'' (1944, Harvard, 1972), pp. 70–72.</ref> As a narrative song, their theme and function may originate from [[Scandinavia]]n and [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] traditions of storytelling.<ref name=Houseman1952>J. E. Housman, ''British Popular Ballads'' (1952, London: Ayer Publishing, 1969), p. 15.</ref> Musically they were influenced by the [[Minnesinger]].<ref>A. Jacobs, ''A Short History of Western Music'' (Penguin 1972, 1976), p. 20.</ref> The earliest example of a recognizable ballad in form in [[England]] is "[[Judas (ballad)|Judas]]" in a 13th-century [[manuscript]].<ref name="N. Bold, 1979 p. 5">A. N. Bold, ''The Ballad'' (Routledge, 1979), p. 5.</ref> A reference in [[William Langland]]'s ''[[Piers Plowman]]'' indicates that ballads about [[Robin Hood]] were being sung from at least the late 14th century and the oldest detailed material is [[Wynkyn de Worde|Wynkyn de Worde's]] collection of Robin Hood ballads printed about 1495.<ref name=Sweers2005>B. Sweers, ''Electric Folk: The Changing Face of English Traditional Music'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 45.</ref>
===18th century – early 20th century=== [[File:AftertheBallSheet.jpg|thumb|"[[After the Ball (song)|After the Ball]]", a ballad by [[Charles K. Harris]], was the most successful song of its era, selling over two million copies of sheet music.<ref name=matters>[http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5761/ "'After the Ball': Lyrics from the Biggest Hit of the 1890s"], History Matters</ref><ref name=Smith>{{cite book|last1=Smith|first1=Kathleen E. R.|title=God Bless America: Tin Pan Alley Goes to War|date=2003|publisher=The University Press of Kentucky|isbn=0813122562|page=91}}</ref>]]
Ballads at this time were originally composed in couplets with [[refrain]]s in alternate lines. These refrains would have been sung by the dancers in time with the dance.<ref name="British Literature pg 610">"Popular Ballads", ''The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century'', p. 610.</ref> In the 18th century, [[ballad opera]]s developed as a form of [[England|English]] [[stage play|stage entertainment]], partly in opposition to the [[Italian opera|Italian]] domination of the London operatic scene.<ref>M. Lubbock, ''The Complete Book of Light Opera'' (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1962) pp. 467–68.</ref> In [[United States of America|America]] a distinction is drawn between ballads that are versions of European, particularly British and [[Irish music|Irish songs]], and '[[Native American music|Native American ballads]]', developed without reference to earlier songs. A further development was the evolution of the [[blues ballad]], which mixed the genre with [[Afro-American music]].<ref name="I. Ousby, 2006 p. 66">D. Head and I. Ousby, ''The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English'' (Cambridge University Press, 2006), p. 66.</ref>
In the late 19th century, Danish folklorist [[Svend Grundtvig]] and Harvard professor [[Francis James Child]] attempted to record and classify all the known ballads and variants in their chosen regions.<ref name="N. Bold, 1979 p. 5"/> Since Child died before writing a commentary on his work it is uncertain exactly how and why he differentiated the 305 ballads printed that would be published as ''[[The English and Scottish Popular Ballads]]''.<ref>T. A. Green, ''Folklore: An Encyclopedia of Beliefs, Customs, Tales, Music, and Art'' (ABC-CLIO, 1997), p. 352.</ref> There have been many different and contradictory attempts to classify traditional ballads by theme, but commonly identified types are the religious, supernatural, tragic, love ballads, historic, legendary and humorous.<ref name=Houseman1952/>
By the [[Victorian era]], ''ballad'' had come to mean any sentimental popular song, especially so-called "royalty ballads", for which publishers would pay a star singer to promote new songs in exchange for a lump sum or a "royalty signature" on the sheet music and a small percentage of sales.<ref>Child, F., J. (1898). ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'', Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Co</ref> Some of [[Stephen Foster]]'s songs exemplify this genre and, in England, the ballads of [[Montague Phillips]] written for his wife [[Clara Butterworth]] in the early 1900s. By the 1920s, composers of [[Tin Pan Alley]] and [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] used ''ballad'' to signify a slow, sentimental tune or love song, often written in a fairly standardized form. Jazz musicians sometimes broaden the term still further to embrace all slow-tempo pieces.<ref>Temperley (II,2).</ref> Notable sentimental ballads of this period include, "Little Rosewood Casket" (1870), "[[After the Ball (song)|After the Ball]]" (1892), and "[[Danny Boy]]" (1913).<ref name=Cohen2005p297>N. Cohen, ''Folk Music: a Regional Exploration'' (Greenwood, 2005), p. 297.</ref>
===1950s–1960s=== {{See also|Traditional pop}} [[File:Frank Sinatra in 1957.jpg|thumb|left|upright|In 1962, [[Frank Sinatra]] released ''[[Sinatra and Strings]]'', a set of standard ballads, which became one of the most critically acclaimed works of Sinatra's entire Reprise period.<ref name=sinatraasidol>{{cite news|title=Sinatra as Idol – Not Artist|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121063311685686579|date=13 May 2008|access-date=15 May 2008|last=Fusilli|first=Jim|work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref>]]
Popular sentimental ballad vocalists in this era include [[Frank Sinatra]], [[Ella Fitzgerald]], [[Andy Williams]], [[Johnny Mathis]], [[Connie Francis]] and [[Perry Como]]. Their recordings were usually lush orchestral arrangements of current or recent [[rock and roll]] or [[pop music|pop]] hit songs. The most popular and enduring songs from this style of music are known as "pop standards" or (where relevant) "American standards". Many vocalists became involved in 1960s' [[vocal jazz]] and the rebirth of [[swing music]], which was sometimes referred to as "[[easy listening]]" and was, in essence, a revival of popularity of the "[[sweet band]]s" that had been popular during the [[swing era]], but with more emphasis on the vocalist and the sentimentality.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Goldsmith |first1=Melissa Ursula Dawn |title=Lounge Caravan: A Selective Discography |journal=Notes |date=2005 |volume=61 |issue=4 |pages=1060–1083 |id={{Project MUSE|183067}} |doi=10.1353/not.2005.0059 |s2cid=191619811}}</ref>
===1970s=== {{See also|Soft rock|Easy listening}} [[Soft rock]], a subgenre that mainly consists of ballads, was derived from [[folk rock]] in the late 1960s, using acoustic instruments and putting more emphasis on melody and harmonies. Major sentimental ballad artists of this decade included [[Barbra Streisand]], [[Nana Mouskouri]], [[Elton John]], [[Engelbert Humperdinck (singer)|Engelbert Humperdinck]], [[Carole King]], [[Cat Stevens]] and [[James Taylor]]. By the early 1970s, softer ballad songs by [[the Carpenters]], [[Anne Murray]], [[John Denver]] and [[Barry Manilow]] began to be played more often on "Top 40" radio.{{fact|date=October 2023}}
Some rock-oriented acts such as [[Queen (band)|Queen]] and the [[Eagles (band)|Eagles]] also produced ballads.<ref name="M. Curtis, 1987 p. 236"/><ref>{{cite web|author=Soft Rock |url=http://www.allmusic.com/subgenre/soft-rock-ma0000011841 |title=Soft Rock : Significant Albums, Artists and Songs, Most Viewed |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=9 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://80music.about.com/od/genresmovements/p/softrockprofile.htm |title=Soft Rock - Profile of the Mellow, Romantic Soft Rock of the '70s and Early '80s |publisher=80music.about.com |date=12 April 2012 |access-date=9 January 2013 |archive-date=16 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116133043/http://80music.about.com/od/genresmovements/p/softrockprofile.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref>
When the word ''ballad'' appears in the title of a song, as for example in [[the Beatles]]' "[[The Ballad of John and Yoko]]" (1969) or [[Billy Joel]]'s "[[The Ballad of Billy the Kid]]" (1974), the [[folk music]] sense is generally implied. The term ''ballad'' is also sometimes applied to strophic story-songs more generally, such as [[Don McLean]]'s "[[American Pie (song)|American Pie]]" (1971).<ref>D. R. Adams, ''Rock 'n' roll and the Cleveland Connection Music of the Great Lakes'' (Kent State University Press, 2002), {{ISBN|0-87338-691-4}}, p. 70.</ref><ref>C. H. Sterling, M. C. Keith, ''Sounds of Change: a History of FM broadcasting in America'' (UNC Press, 2008), pp. 136-7.</ref><ref name=SoftRockClassificationBBC>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11733277|title=Journey: The band who did not stop believing|publisher=BBC News|access-date=6 December 2010|date=12 November 2010}}</ref>
===1980s–1990s=== {{See also|Adult contemporary music}} [[File:Celine Dion Concert Singing 'Taking Chances' 2008.jpg|thumb|[[Celine Dion]]'s albums were generally constructed on the basis of melodramatic [[soft rock]] ballads, with sprinklings of [[uptempo]] pop and rare forays into other genres.<ref>Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r328599|pure_url=yes}} Let's Talk About Love: Album review]. Allmusic. Retrieved 12 October 2009.</ref>]]
Prominent artists who made sentimental ballads in the 1980s include [[Stevie Wonder]], [[Lionel Richie]], [[Peabo Bryson]], [[Barry White]], [[Luther Vandross]] and [[George Michael]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=McNulty |first1=Bernadette |last2=Green |first2=Thomas H. |last3=Sweeting |first3=Adam |title=The 50 best love songs of the 1980s |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/what-to-listen-to/50-best-love-songs-1980s/ |work=The Telegraph |date=10 September 2018}}</ref>
The 1990s include mainstream pop/R&B singers such as [[Boyz II Men]], [[Celine Dion]], [[Shania Twain]], [[Whitney Houston]] and [[Mariah Carey]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Roberts |first1=Amy |title=This '90s Love Song Playlist Is The Only Thing You'll Need To Listen To This Valentine's Day |url=https://www.bustle.com/p/this-90s-love-song-playlist-is-the-only-thing-youll-need-to-listen-to-this-valentines-day-8105686 |work=Bustle |date=2 February 2018}}</ref> {{Clarify|date=June 2025}}
Newer female singer-songwriters such as [[Sarah McLachlan]], [[Natalie Merchant]], [[Jewel (singer)|Jewel]], [[Melissa Etheridge]] and [[Sheryl Crow]] also broke through on the AC chart during this time owing to their ballad-sound.<ref name="Hyatt">Hyatt, Wesley (1999). ''The Billboard Book of Number One Adult Contemporary Hits''. New York City: [[Billboard Books]]. {{ISBN|978-0-823-07693-2}}.{{pn|date=October 2023}}</ref>
===2000s=== A popular trend in the early 2000s was remixing or re-recording [[dance music]] hits into [[acoustic pop|acoustic]] ballads (for example, the "Candlelight Mix" versions of "[[Heaven (Bryan Adams song)#DJ Sammy and Yanou version|Heaven]]" by [[DJ Sammy]], "[[Listen to Your Heart (Roxette song)#DHT version|Listen to Your Heart]]" by [[DHT (band)|DHT]], and "[[Everytime We Touch (Cascada song)|Everytime We Touch]]" by [[Cascada]]).<ref>[[Joel Whitburn|Whitburn, Joel]] (2007). ''Billboard Top Adult Songs 1961-2006'' (Record Research Inc.), page 373.</ref>
===2010s=== In the 2010s, indie musicians like [[Imagine Dragons]], [[Mumford & Sons]], [[Of Monsters and Men]], [[the Lumineers]] and [[Ed Sheeran]] had indie songs that crossed over to the adult contemporary charts, due to their ballad-heavy sound.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kelley |first1=Frannie |title=Has 'Indie' Become 'Adult Contemporary'? |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2011/10/26/141694029/has-indie-become-adult-contemporary |work=The Record |publisher=NPR |date=26 October 2011}}</ref>
==Genres== ===Jazz and traditional pop=== Most [[traditional pop|pop standard]] and jazz ballads are built from a single, introductory ''verse'', usually around 16 [[bar (music)|bars]] in length, and they end on the [[dominant (music)|dominant]] – the ''chorus'' or ''[[refrain]]'', usually 16 or 32 bars long and in [[AABA form]] (though other forms, such as ABAC, are not uncommon). In AABA forms, the B section is usually referred to as the ''[[bridge (music)|bridge]]''; often a brief ''[[coda (music)|coda]]'', sometimes based on material from the bridge, is added, as in "[[Over the Rainbow]]".<ref>D. Randel, ''The New Harvard Dictionary of Music'', (Cambridge MS: Harvard University Press, 1986) {{ISBN|0-674-61525-5}}, p. 68.</ref><ref>Buchan, D. (1972). ''The Ballad and the Folk.'' East Linton: Tuckwell Press</ref>
===Pop and R&B ballads=== The most common use of the term "ballad" in modern [[pop music|pop]] and [[contemporary R&B|R&B music]] is for an emotional song about romance, breakup and/or [[Desire|longing]].<ref name="Cohen2005p297"/> The singer would usually [[lament]] an [[unrequited love|unrequited]] or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a [[romance (love)|romantic]] [[affair]] has affected the relationship.<ref>Smith, L.: ''Elvis Costello, Joni Mitchell, and the Torch Song Tradition'', p. 9. Praeger Publishers, 2004.</ref><ref name=forte>Allan Forte, M. R.: ''Listening to Classic American Popular Songs'', p. 203. Yale University Press, 2001.</ref>
===Power ballads=== {{redirect|Power ballads|other uses|Power Ballads (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox music genre | name = Power ballad | stylistic_origins = * [[Arena rock]] * [[pop rock]] * [[hard rock]] * [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] * [[soft rock]] | cultural_origins = Early 1970s | image = Ec-hasslau.de 010.jpg | caption = To emphasize the emotional aspect of a power ballad, crowds customarily hold up [[lighter]]s adjusted to produce a large flame (or, as a more recent alternative, a turned-on [[smartphone]] screen or flashlight function).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Powers |first1=Ann |title=POP VIEW; The Male Rock Anthem: Going All to Pieces |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/01/arts/pop-view-the-male-rock-anthem-going-all-to-pieces.html |work=The New York Times |date=1 February 1998}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Burgess |first1=Darrin |title=Rock Concert Question: Are Lighter Salutes Bad for the Environment? |url=https://www.livescience.com/4157-rock-concert-question-lighter-salutes-bad-environment.html |work=Live Science |date=15 July 2006}}</ref> | derivatives = | subgenres = | fusiongenres = | regional_scenes = | local_scenes = | other_topics = * [[Soft rock]] * [[glam metal]] * [[power pop]] * [[post-grunge]] * [[adult contemporary music|adult contemporary]] }}
[[Simon Frith]], the British sociomusicologist and former rock critic, identifies the origins of the power ballad in the emotional singing of [[Soul music|soul]] artists, particularly [[Ray Charles]], and the adaptation of this style by performers such as [[Eric Burdon]], [[Tom Jones (singer)|Tom Jones]], and [[Joe Cocker]] to produce slow-tempo songs often building to a loud and emotive chorus backed by drums, electric guitars, and sometimes choirs.<ref name=Frithpop>S. Frith, "Pop Music" in S. Frith, W. Straw and J. Street, ''[[Cambridge Companions to Music|The Cambridge Companion to Pop and Rock]]'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 100-1.</ref> According to [[Charles Aaron]], power ballads came into existence in the early 1970s, when rock stars attempted to convey profound messages to audiences while retaining their "macho rocker" mystique.<ref name=aaron>{{cite book|last=Aaron|first=Charles|editor1=Jonathan Lethem |editor2=Paul Bresnick|title=Da Capo Best Music Writing 2002: The Year's Finest Writing on Rock, Pop, Jazz, Country, and More|publisher=[[Da Capo Press]]|chapter=Don't Fight the Power |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-306-81166-1|page=132}}</ref> The [[hard rock]] power ballad typically expresses love or heartache through its lyrics, shifting into wordless intensity and emotional transcendence with heavy drumming and a distorted [[electric guitar]] solo representing the "power" in the power ballad.<ref name=Metzer2017>{{cite book |title=The Ballad in American Popular Music: From Elvis to Beyoncé |page=144 |last=Metzer |first=David |date=2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781108509749}}</ref><ref name=Brown2016>{{cite book |title=Heavy Metal Studies and Popular Culture |editor1=Gabby Riches |editor2=Dave Snell |editor3=Bryan Bardine |editor4=Brenda Gardenour Walter |last=Brown |first=Andy R. |chapter=The Ballad of Heavy Metal: Re-thinking Artistic and Commercial Strategies in the Mainstreaming of Metal and Hard Rock |page=83 |publisher=Springer |date=2016 |isbn=9781137456687}}</ref>
Aaron argues that the hard rock power ballad broke into the mainstream of American consciousness in 1976 as FM radio gave a new lease of life to earlier impassioned songs such as [[Badfinger]]'s "[[Without You (Badfinger song)|Without You]]", [[Led Zeppelin]]'s "[[Stairway to Heaven]]" and [[Aerosmith]]'s "[[Dream On (Aerosmith song)|Dream On]]".<ref name=aaron/> [[The Carpenters]]' 1972 single "[[Goodbye to Love]]" has also been identified as a prototype of the power ballad, driven by the hard rock guitar sound of [[Tony Peluso]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Perrone |first=Pierre |title=Tony Peluso: Guitarist whose solos on The Carpenters' 'Goodbye to Love' ushered in the power-ballad era |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/tony-peluso-guitarist-whose-solos-on-the-carpenters-goodbye-to-love-ushered-in-the-powerballad-era-2041048.html|access-date=4 February 2013|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=2 August 2010}}</ref> British [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] band [[Judas Priest]] wrote many power ballads, starting with "[[Dreamer Deceiver]]" and "[[Beyond the Realms of Death]]".<ref name=Brown2016/>
American rock band [[Styx (band)|Styx]] has been credited with releasing the first true power ballad, the song "[[Lady (Styx song)|Lady]]", in 1973.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dominic |first1=Serene |title=Power Me, Ballad Me: The Power Ballad Timeline |url=https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/power-me-ballad-me-the-power-ballad-timeline/Content?oid=2176365 |website=Detroit Metro Times |date=3 September 2003 |access-date=21 February 2022}}</ref> Its writer, [[Dennis DeYoung]] is called the "father of the power ballad".<ref>{{cite web |title=Dennis DeYoung on Story of Styx 70s Hit Lady |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2pnyduhfjM |website=YouTube | date=25 August 2020 |access-date=21 February 2022}}</ref> In 1976 the heavy metal band [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]] shocked their fans with the release of the ballad "[[Beth (song)|Beth]]", (essentially a solo track by [[Peter Criss]], produced by [[Bob Ezrin]] on which no other members of the band played).
In the 1980s, bands such as [[Foreigner (band)|Foreigner]], [[Journey (band)|Journey]], and [[REO Speedwagon]] contributed to the power ballad becoming a staple of hard rock performers who wanted to gain more radio airplay and satisfy their female audience members with a slower, more emotional love song.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maisey |first=Jeff |date=2022-07-29 |title=PREVIEW: REO Brings Power Ballad Hits |url=https://veermag.com/2022/07/preview-reo-brings-power-ballad-hits/ |access-date=2026-03-27 |website=VEER Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Mötley Crüe]] was one of the bands showcasing this style, with songs such as "[[Home Sweet Home (Mötley Crüe song)|Home Sweet Home]]" and "[[You're All I Need (song)|You're All I Need]]".<ref name=Harrison2011/> Nearly every hard rock and [[glam metal]] band wrote at least one power ballad for each album, and record labels often released these as the album's second single.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}} In 2008, ''[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]]'' critic Paul Elliott declared Journey's 1983 song "[[Faithfully (song)|Faithfully]]" to be "the greatest power ballad of all time".<ref name="elliott">{{cite web|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/journey-the-ballads-and-the-bust-ups-the-buyer-s-guide|title=Journey: a guide to their best (and worst) albums|last=Elliott|first=Paul|date=August 20, 2008|website=[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]]|publisher=Louder|access-date=September 22, 2018}}</ref>
When [[grunge]] appeared as a counterpoint to the excesses of 1980s hard rock and glam metal, one of the distinctions of the grunge style was the absence of power ballads;<ref name=Harrison2011>{{cite book |title=Music of the 1980s |page=41 |last=Harrison |first=Thomas |date=2011 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9780313366000}}</ref> however, some songs from this era such as "Rooster" by Alice in Chains (1992), which Ned Raggett described as the band's "own particular approach" to the style,<ref name="amrooster">{{cite web |last1=Raggett |first1=Ned |title=Rooster by Alice in Chains |url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/rooster-mt0027001536 |website=AllMusic |access-date=15 June 2023}}</ref> and "[[Black Hole Sun]]" by Soundgarden (1994)<ref name="kerranglaw">{{cite news |last1=Law |first1=Sam |title=The 20 greatest Soundgarden songs – ranked |url=https://www.kerrang.com/the-20-greatest-soundgarden-songs-ranked |access-date=15 June 2023 |work=Kerrang! |date=10 May 2021}}</ref> have been described using this term, and songs in its subgenre [[post-grunge]] included ballads.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}
===Latin ballad=== {{main|Latin ballad}}
[[File:Luismiguelcomplices2.jpg|thumb|left|200px|[[Luis Miguel]] in Mexico City]]
[[Latin ballad]] refers to the ballad derived from [[bolero]] that originated in the early-1960s in Latin America and Spain.
One of the most well-known Latin ballad singers of the 1970s and 1980s was [[José José]]. Known as "El Principe de La Cancion" (The Prince of the Song), he sold over 40 million albums in his career and became a huge influence to later ballad singers such as [[Cristian Castro]], [[Alejandro Fernández]], [[Nelson Ned]], [[Manuel Mijares]] and [[Lupita D'Alessio]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.famaweb.com/jose_jose_quotesta_es_mi_vidaquot_lanzamiento-6005.html |title=José José "Esta es mi Vida" LANZAMIENTO |publisher=Famaweb.com |access-date=5 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319025440/http://www.famaweb.com/jose_jose_quotesta_es_mi_vidaquot_lanzamiento-6005.html |archive-date=19 March 2014}}</ref> {{clear}}
==See also== * [[Threnody]] * [[Torch song]] * [[List of Irish ballads]] * [[List of rock ballads]] * [[Slow dance]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070426114919/http://www.smithsonianglobalsound.org/archives_05.aspx Smithsonian Global Sound: The Music of Poetry]—audio samples of poems, hymns and songs in ballad meter. * [http://www.bartleby.com/243/ The Oxford Book of Ballads, complete 1910 book by Arthur Quiller-Couch]
{{Pop music}} {{Singing}}
[[Category:Ballads| ]] [[Category:Sentimental ballads| ]] [[Category:Jazz techniques]] [[Category:Poetic forms]] [[Category:Popular music]] [[Category:Radio formats]] [[Category:Song forms]] [[Category:Easy listening music]] [[Category:Folk music]] [[Category:Pop music]] [[Category:Rhythm and blues]] [[Category:Rock music]] [[Category:Soft rock]] [[Category:Soul music]] [[Category:20th century in music]] [[Category:21st century in music]]