emo (music)

Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered by bands such as Rites of Spring and Embrace. In the early–mid 1990s, emo was adopted and reinvented by alternative rock, indie rock and/or punk rock bands such as Sunny Day Real Estate, Jawbreaker, Weezer, Cap'n Jazz, and Jimmy Eat World. By the bands such as Braid, the Promise Ring, and the Get Up Kids emerged from the burgeoning Midwest emo scene, and several independent record labels began to specialize in the genre. Meanwhile, screamo, a more aggressive style of emo using screamed vocals, also emerged, pioneered by the San Diego bands Heroin and Antioch Arrow. Screamo achieved mainstream success in the 2000s with bands like Hawthorne Heights, Silverstein, Story of the Year, Thursday, the Used, and Underoath.

Often seen as a subculture, emo also signifies a specific relationship between fans and artists and certain aspects of fashion, culture and behavior. Emo fashion has been associated with skinny jeans, black eyeliner, tight s with band names, studded belts, and flat, straight, jet-black hair with long bangs. Since the early to mid 2000s, fans of emo music who dress like this are referred to as "emo kids" or "emos" and known for listening to bands like My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Hawthorne Heights, The Used, and AFI. The emo subculture was stereotypically associated with social alienation, sensitivity, misanthropy, introversion and angst. Purported links to depression, and suicide, combined with its rise in popularity in the early 2000s, inspired a backlash against emo, with bands such as My Chemical Romance and Panic! at the Disco rejecting the emo label because of the social stigma and controversy surrounding it.

Emo and its subgenre emo pop entered mainstream culture in the early 2000s with the success of Jimmy Eat World and Dashboard Confessional and many artists signed to major record labels. Bands such as My Chemical Romance, AFI, Fall Out Boy and the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus continued the genre's popularity during the rest of the decade. By the early 2010s, emo's popularity had declined, with some groups changing their sound and others disbanding. Meanwhile, however, a mainly underground emo revival emerged, with bands such as The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die and Modern Baseball, some drawing on the sound and aesthetic of 1990s emo. During the late 2010s, a fusion genre called emo rap was mainstream, with some of emo rap's most famous artists including Lil Peep, XXXTentacion and Juice Wrld.

Characteristics

Emo originated in hardcore punk and is considered a form of Nonetheless, emo has also been considered a genre of alternative rock, indie rock, punk rock and pop punk. Emo uses the guitar dynamics that use both the softness and loudness of punk rock music. Some emo leans uses characteristics of progressive music with the genre's use of complex guitar work, unorthodox song structures, and extreme dynamic shifts.

Lyrics, a focus in emo music, are typically emotional and often personal or confessional, dealing with topics such as failed romance, self-loathing, pain, insecurity, suicidal thoughts, love, and relationships. AllMusic described emo lyrics as "usually either poetry or intimate confessionals". Early emo bands were hardcore punk bands that used melody and emotional or introspective lyrics and that were less structured than regular hardcore punk, making early emo bands different from the aggression, anger, and structures of regular hardcore punk.

According to AllMusic, most 1990s emo bands "borrowed from some combination of Fugazi, Sunny Day Real Estate, and Weezer". ''The New York Times'' described emo as "emotional punk or or That is, punk that wears its heart on its sleeve and tries a little tenderness to leaven its sonic attack. If it helps, imagine Ricky Nelson singing in the Sex Pistols." Author Matt Diehl called emo a "more sensitive interpolation of punk's mission". According to Merriam-Webster, emo is "a style of rock music influenced by punk rock and featuring introspective and emotionally fraught lyrics".

History

Predecessors

''Pet Sounds'', the Beach Boys' 1966 album, is sometimes considered the first emo album. According to music writer Luke Britton, such assertions are perhaps stated "wryly", and wrote that "it’s generally accepted that the genre's pioneers" came later in the 1980s. During the decade, many hardcore punk and post-hardcore bands formed in Washington, D.C. Post-hardcore, an experimental offshoot of hardcore punk, was inspired by . Hardcore punk bands and post-hardcore bands who influenced early emo bands include Minor Threat, Black Flag and Hüsker Dü.

1984–1991: Origins

Emo, which began as a post-hardcore subgenre, was part of the 1980s hardcore punk scene in Washington, D.C. as something different from the violent part of the Washington, D.C. hardcore scene. Minor Threat fan Guy Picciotto formed Rites of Spring in 1984, using the musical style of hardcore punk and combining the musical style with melodic guitars, varied rhythms, and personal, emotional lyrics. Many of the band's themes, including nostalgia, romantic bitterness and poetic desperation, became familiar tropes of later emo music. Its performances were public, emotional purges where audience members sometimes wept. Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat became a Rites of Spring fan (recording their only album and being their roadie) and formed the emo band Embrace, which explored similar themes of self-searching and emotional release. Similar bands followed in connection with the " Revolution Summer” of 1985, an attempt by members of the Washington scene to break from the usual characteristics of hardcore punk to a hardcore punk style with different characteristics. Bands such as Gray Matter, Beefeater, Fire Party, Dag Nasty, and Soulside were associated with the movement.

Although the origins of the word "emo" are uncertain, evidence shows that the word "emo" was coined in the mid-1980s, specifically 1985. According to Andy Greenwald, author of '' Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo'', "The origins of the term 'emo' are shrouded in mystery ... but it first came into common practice in 1985. If Minor Threat was hardcore, then Rites of Spring, with its altered focus, was emotional hardcore or emocore." Michael Azerrad, author of ''Our Band Could Be Your Life'', also traces the word's origins to the mid-1980s: "The style was soon dubbed 'emo-core,' a term everyone involved bitterly detested". MacKaye traces it to 1985, attributing it to an article in ''Thrasher'' magazine referring to Embrace and other Washington, D.C. bands as "emo-core" (which he called "the stupidest fucking thing I've ever heard in my entire life"). Other accounts attribute the word to an audience member at an Embrace show, who shouted as an insult that the band was "emocore". Others have said that MacKaye coined the word when he used it self-mockingly in a magazine, or that it originated with Rites of Spring. The "emocore" label quickly spread through the DC punk scene, and was associated with many bands associated with Ian MacKaye's Dischord Records. Although many of the bands rejected the term, it stayed. Jenny Toomey recalled, "The only people who used it at first were the ones that were jealous over how big and fanatical a scene it was. ites of Springexisted well before the term did and they hated it. But there was this weird moment, like when people started calling music 'grunge,' where you were using the term even though you hated it." The Washington, D.C. emo scene lasted only a few years, and by 1986, most of emo's major bands (including Rites of Spring, Embrace, Gray Matter and Beefeater) had broken up. However, its ideas and aesthetics spread quickly across the country through a network of homemade zines, vinyl records and hearsay. According to Greenwald, the Washington, D.C. scene laid the groundwork for emo's subsequent incarnations:

1991–1994: Reinvention

As the Washington, D.C. emo movement spread across the United States, local bands began to emulate its style. Emo combined the fatalism, theatricality and isolation of The Smiths with hardcore punk's uncompromising, dramatic worldview. Despite the number of bands and the variety of locales, emocore's late-1980s aesthetics remained more-or-less the same: "over-the-top lyrics about feelings wedded to dramatic but decidedly punk music." During the early–mid 1990s, several new bands reinvented emo, making emo expand by becoming a subgenre of genres like indie rock and pop punk. Chief among them were Jawbreaker and Sunny Day Real Estate, who inspired cult followings, redefined emo and brought it a step closer to the mainstream. In the wake of the 1991 success of Nirvana's ''Nevermind'', underground music and subcultures were widely noticed in the United States. New distribution networks emerged, touring routes were codified, and regional and independent acts accessed the national stage. Young people across the country became fans of independent music, and punk culture became mainstream.

Emerging from the late 1980s and early 1990s San Francisco punk rock scene and forming in New York City, Jawbreaker combined pop punk with emotional and personal lyrics. Singer-guitarist Blake Schwarzenbach focused his lyrics on personal, immediate topics often taken from his journal. Often obscure and cloaked in metaphors, their relationship to Schwarzenbach's concerns gave his words a bitterness and frustration which made them universal and attractive to audiences. Schwarzenbach became emo's first idol, as listeners related to the singer even more than to his songs. Jawbreaker's 1994 album, ''24 Hour Revenge Therapy'', was popular with fans and is a touchstone of mid-1990s emo. Although Jawbreaker signed with Geffen Records and toured with mainstream bands Nirvana and Green Day, Jawbreaker's 1995 album ''Dear You'' did not achieve mainstream success. Jawbreaker broke up soon afterwards, with Schwarzenbach forming emo band Jets to Brazil.

Sunny Day Real Estate formed in Seattle at the height of the early-1990s grunge boom. The music video for "Seven", lead track of the band's debut album ''Diary'' (1994), was played on MTV, giving the band more attention. Another emo band which emerged at the same time was California's Weezer, which also released its self-titled debut album in 1994. Also known as the ''Blue Album'', Weezer's self-titled album was certified 2× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on August 8, 1995, and was certified 3× platinum by the RIAA on November 13, 1998. As of August 2009, Weezer's self-titled album sold at least 3,300,000 copies in the United States. According to ''NME'', Weezer's debut album "pretty much invented emo's melodic wing". Jimmy Eat World, an Arizona emo band, also emerged at this time. Influenced by bands such as the Mr. T Experience and Horace Pinker, Jimmy Eat World released its self-titled debut album in 1994.

1994–1997: Underground popularity

The American punk and indie rock movements, which had been largely underground since the early 1980s, became part of mainstream culture during the mid-1990s. With Nirvana's success, major record labels capitalized on the popularity of alternative rock and other underground music by signing and promoting independent bands. In 1994, the same year that Jawbreaker's ''24 Hour Revenge Therapy'' and Sunny Day Real Estate's ''Diary'' were released, punk rock bands Green Day and the Offspring broke into the mainstream with diamond album ''Dookie'' and 6× platinum album '' Smash'', respectively. After underground music went mainstream, emo retreated and reformed as a national subculture over the next few years. Inspired by Jawbreaker, Drive Like Jehu and Fugazi, the new emo was a mixture of hardcore punk passion and indie-rock intelligence, with punk rock's anthemic power and do-it-yourself work ethic but smoother songs, sloppier melodies and yearning vocals.

Many new emo bands, such as Cap'n Jazz, Braid, Christie Front Drive, Mineral, Jimmy Eat World, the Get Up Kids and the Promise Ring, originated in the central U.S. Many of the bands had a distinct vocal style and guitar melodies, which was later called Midwest emo. According to Andy Greenwald, "this was the period when emo earned many, if not all, of the stereotypes that have lasted to this day: boy-driven, glasses-wearing, overly sensitive, overly brainy, chiming-guitar-driven college music." Emo band Texas Is the Reason bridged the gap between indie rock and emo in their three-year lifespan on the East Coast, melding Sunny Day Real Estate's melodies and punk musicianship and singing directly to the listener. In New Jersey, the band Lifetime played shows in fans' basements. Lifetime's 1995 album, ''Hello Bastards'' on Jade Tree Records, fused hardcore punk with emo and eschewed cynicism and irony in favor of love songs. The album sold tens of thousands of copies, and Lifetime paved the way for New Jersey and Long Island emo bands Brand New, Midtown, The Movielife, My Chemical Romance, Saves the Day, Senses Fail, Taking Back Sunday and Thursday.

The Promise Ring's music took a slower, smoother, pop punk approach to riffs, blending them with singer Davey von Bohlen's imagist lyrics delivered in a froggy croon and pronounced lisp and playing shows in basements and VFW halls. Jade Tree released their debut album, '' 30° Everywhere'', in 1996; it sold tens of thousands of copies and was successful by independent standards. Greenwald describes the album as "like being hit in the head with cotton candy." Other bands, such as Karate, the Van Pelt, Joan of Arc and the Shyness Clinic, played emo music with post-rock and noise rock influences. Their common lyrical thread was "applying big questions to small scenarios." A cornerstone of mid-1990s emo was Weezer's 1996 album, '' Pinkerton''. After the mainstream success of Weezer's self-titled debut album, ''Pinkerton'' showed a more dark and abrasive style. Frontman Rivers Cuomo's songs focused on messy, manipulative sex and his insecurity about dealing with celebrity. A critical and commercial failure, ''Rolling Stone'' called it the second-worst album of the year. Cuomo retreated from the public eye, later referring to the album as "hideous" and "a hugely painful mistake". However, ''Pinkerton'' found enduring appeal with young people who were discovering alternative rock and identified with its confessional lyrics and theme of rejection. Sales grew steadily due to word of mouth, online message boards and Napster. "Although no one was paying attention", writes Greenwald, "perhaps ''because'' no one was paying attention—''Pinkerton'' became the most important emo album of the decade." In 2004, James Montgomery of MTV described Weezer as "the most important band of the last 10 years". ''Pinkerton'' success grew very gradually, being certified gold by the RIAA in July 2001 and eventually being certified platinum by the RIAA in September 2016.

Mid-1990s emo was embodied by Mineral, whose ''The Power of Failing'' (1997) and ''EndSerenading'' (1998) encapsulated emo tropes: somber music, accompanied by a shy narrator singing seriously about mundane problems. Greenwald calls "If I Could" "the ultimate expression" of 1990s emo, writing that "the song's short synopsis—she is beautiful, I am weak, dumb, and shy; I am alone but am surprisingly poetic when left alone—sums up everything that emo's adherents admired and its detractors detested." Another significant band was Braid, whose 1998 album ''Frame and Canvas'' and B-side song "Forever Got Shorter" blurred the line between band and listener; the group mirrored their audience in passion and sentiment, and sang in their fans' voice.

Although mid-1990s emo had thousands of young fans, it did not enter the national consciousness. A few bands were offered contracts with major record labels, but most broke up before they could capitalize on the opportunity. Jimmy Eat World signed to Capitol Records in 1995 and developed a following with their album, '' Static Prevails'', but did not break into the mainstream yet. The Promise Ring were the most commercially successful emo band of the time, with sales of their 1997 album ''Nothing Feels Good'' reaching the mid-five figures. Greenwald calls the album "the pinnacle of its generation of emo: a convergence of pop and punk, of resignation and celebration, of the lure of girlfriends and the pull of friends, bandmates, and the road"; mid-1990s emo was "the last subculture made of vinyl and paper instead of plastic and megabytes."

1997–2002: Increased popularity

Emo's popularity grew during the late 1990s, laying the foundation for mainstream success. Deep Elm Records released a series of eleven compilation albums, ''The Emo Diaries'', from 1997 to 2007. Emphasizing unreleased music from many bands, the series included Jimmy Eat World, Further Seems Forever, Samiam and the Movielife. Jimmy Eat World's 1999 album, ''Clarity'', was a touchstone for later emo bands. In 2003, Andy Greenwald called ''Clarity'' "one of the most fiercely beloved rock 'n' roll records of the last decade." Despite a warm critical reception and the promotion of "Lucky Denver Mint" in the Drew Barrymore comedy ''Never Been Kissed'', ''Clarity'' was commercially unsuccessful. Nevertheless, the album had steady word-of-mouth popularity and eventually sold over 70,000 copies. Jimmy Eat World self-financed their next album, ''Bleed American'' (2001), before signing with DreamWorks Records. The album sold 30,000 copies in its first week, went gold shortly afterwards and went platinum in 2002, making emo become mainstream. Drive-Thru Records developed a roster of primarily pop punk bands with emo characteristics, including Midtown, the Starting Line, the Movielife and Something Corporate. Drive-Thru's partnership with MCA Records enabled its brand of emo-inflected pop to reach a wider audience. Drive-Thru's unabashedly populist, capitalist approach to music allowed its bands' albums and merchandise to sell in stores such as Hot Topic.

Independent label Vagrant Records signed several successful late-1990s and early-2000s emo bands. The Get Up Kids had sold over 15,000 copies of their debut album, '' Four Minute Mile'' (1997), before signing with Vagrant. The label promoted them aggressively, sending them on tours opening for Green Day and Weezer. Their 1999 album, ''Something to Write Home About'', reaching number 31 on '' Billboard'' Top Heatseekers chart. Vagrant signed and recorded a number of other emo-related bands over the next two years, including the Anniversary, Reggie and the Full Effect, the New Amsterdams, Alkaline Trio, Saves the Day, Dashboard Confessional, Hey Mercedes and Hot Rod Circuit. Saves the Day had developed a substantial East Coast following and sold almost 50,000 copies of their second album, ''Through Being Cool'' (1999), before signing with Vagrant and releasing '' Stay What You Are'' (2001). ''Stay What You Are'' sold 15,000 copies in its first week, reached number 100 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and sold at least 120,000 copies in the United States. The band Blink-182's song "Adam's Song" is considered an emo song. The song, which is from 1999 album ''Enema of the State'', peaked at number two on the Alternative Songs chart on April 29, 2000. Vagrant organized a national tour with every band on its label, sponsored by corporations including Microsoft and Coca-Cola, during the summer of 2001. Its populist approach and use of the internet as a marketing tool made it one of the country's most-successful independent labels and helped popularize the word "emo". According to Greenwald, "More than any other event, it was Vagrant America that defined emo to masses—mainly because it had the gumption to hit the road and bring it to ''them''." Weezer returned in the early 2000s with a pop music-influenced sound. Cuomo refused to play songs from ''Pinkerton'', calling it "ugly" and "embarrassing". Weezer released their Green Album in 2001. The Green Album was described as emo pop by AllMusic and the album was certified platinum by the RIAA on September 13, 2001. As of August 2009, Weezer's Green Album has sold 1,600,000 copies.

2002–2010: Mainstream

Emo broke into the mainstream media during the summer of 2002. During this time, many fans of emo music had an appearance of short, dyed black hair with bangs cut high on the forehead, glasses with thick and black frames, and thrift store clothes. This fashion then became a huge part of emo's identity. Jimmy Eat World's ''Bleed American'' album went platinum on the strength of " The Middle", which topped '' Billboard'' Alternative Songs chart. The mainstream success achieved by Jimmy Eat World paved the way for emo pop music that would appear during the rest of the 2000s, with emo pop becoming a very common style of emo music during the 2000s. The band Dashboard Confessional broke into the mainstream. Started by the band's guitarist and lead vocalist Chris Carrabba, Dashboard Confessional are known for sometimes creating acoustic songs. Dashboard Confessional originally was a side project, as Carrabba was also a member of the emo band Further Seems Forever, and Vacant Andys, a punk rock band Carraba helped start in 1995. Dashboard Confessional's album ''The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most'' peaked at number 5 on the Independent Albums chart. Dashboard Confessional was the first artist to record an episode of ''MTV Unplugged''. The 2002 resulting live album and video long-form was certified platinum by the RIAA on May 22, 2003, topped the Independent Albums chart, and, as of October 19, 2007, sold 316,000 copies. With Dashboard Confessional's mainstream success, Carrabba appeared on a cover of the magazine '' Spin'' and according to Jim DeRogatis, "has become the 'face of emo' the way that Moby was deemed the prime exponent of techno or Kurt Cobain became the unwilling crown prince of grunge." Three of Dashboard Confessional's studio albums, ''The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most'' (2001), ''A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar'' (2003), and ''Dusk and Summer'' (2006), all were certified gold by the RIAA during the mid-2000s. As of October 19, 2007, ''The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most'' has sold 599,000 copies. As of October 19, 2007, ''Dusk and Summer'' and ''A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar'' have sold 512,000 copies and 901,000 copies in the United States, respectively. As of October 19, 2007, Dashboard Confessional's 2000 debut album ''The Swiss Army Romance'' sold 338,000 copies. On August 10, 2003, ''The New York Times'' reported how, "from the three-chord laments of Alkaline Trio to the folky rants of Bright Eyes, from the erudite pop-punk of Brand New" to the entropic anthems of Thursday, much of the most exciting rock music" was appearing from the emo genre.

Saves the Day toured with Green Day, Blink-182 and Weezer, playing in large arenas such as Madison Square Garden. Saves the Day performed on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'', appeared on the cover of ''Alternative Press'' and had music videos for "At Your Funeral" and "Freakish" in rotation on MTV2. Taking Back Sunday released their debut album, '' Tell All Your Friends'', on Victory Records in 2002. The album gave the band a taste of success in the emo scene with singles such as "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut from the Team)" and "You're So Last Summer". ''Tell All Your Friends'' was eventually certified gold by the RIAA in 2005 and is considered one of emo's most-influential albums. As of May 8, 2009, ''Tell All Your Friends'' sold 790,000 copies. Articles on Vagrant Records appeared in ''Time'' and ''Newsweek'', and the word "emo" became a catchall term for non-mainstream pop music.

In the wake of this success, many emo bands were signed to major record labels and the genre became marketable. According to DreamWorks Records senior A&R representative Luke Wood, "The industry really does look at emo as the new rap rock, or the new grunge. I don't think that anyone is listening to the music that's being made—they're thinking of how they're going to take advantage of the sound's popularity at retail." Emo's apolitical nature, catchy music and accessible themes had broad appeal for a young, mainstream audience. Emo bands that emerged or broke into the mainstream during this time were rejected by many fans of older emo music. As emo continued to be mainstream, it became quite common for emo bands to have black hair and wear eyeliner. Taking Back Sunday had continued success in the next few years, with their 2004 album ''Where You Want To Be'' both reaching number three on the ''Billboard'' 200 and being certified gold by the RIAA in July 2005. The album, as of February 17, 2006, sold more than 700,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The band's 2006 album, ''Louder Now'', reached number two on the ''Billboard'' 200, was certified gold by the RIAA a little less than two months after its release date, and, as of May 8, 2009, sold 674,000 copies.

A darker, more aggressive style of emo was also becoming popular. New Jersey–based Thursday signed a multimillion-dollar, multi-album contract with Island Def Jam after their 2001 album, ''Full Collapse'', reached umber 178 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Their music was more political and lacked pop hooks and anthems, influenced instead by the Smiths, Joy Division, and The Cure However, the band's accessibility, basement-show roots and touring with Saves the Day made them part of the emo movement. Thursday's 2003 album, '' War All the Time'', reached number seven on the ''Billboard'' 200. "Artist Chart History – Thursday – Albums"''Billboard''. Hawthorne Heights, Story of the Year, Underoath, and Alexisonfire, four bands frequently featured on MTV, have popularized screamo. Other screamo bands include Silverstein, Senses Fail and Vendetta Red. Underoath's albums ''They're Only Chasing Safety'' (2004) and ''Define the Great Line'' (2006) both were certified gold by the RIAA. The Used's self-titled album (2002) was certified gold by the RIAA on July 21, 2003. The Used's self-titled album, as of August 22, 2009, has sold 841,000 copies. The Used's album '' In Love and Death'' (2004) was certified gold by the RIAA on March 21, 2005. ''In Love and Death'', as of January 2, 2007, sold 689,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Four Alexisonfire albums were certified gold or platinum in Canada.

Emo pop, a pop punk-oriented subgenre of emo with pop-influenced hooks, became the main emo style during the mid-late 2000s, with many of these bands being signed by Fueled by Ramen Records and some adopting a goth-inspired look. My Chemical Romance broke into the mainstream with their 2004 album ''Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge''. My Chemical Romance is known for their goth-influenced emo appearance and creation of concept albums and rock operas. ''Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge'' was certified platinum by the RIAA in 2005. The band's success continued with its third album, ''The Black Parade'', which sold 240,000 copies in its first week of release and was certified platinum by the RIAA in less than a year. Fall Out Boy's album, ''From Under the Cork Tree'', sold 2,700,000 copies in the United States. The band's album, ''Infinity on High'', topped the ''Billboard'' 200, sold 260,000 copies in its first week of release and sold 1,400,000 copies in the United States. Multiple Fall Out Boy songs reached the top ten of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Panic! at the Disco's album, ''A Fever You Can't Sweat Out'', was certified double platinum by the RIAA and its single, "I Write Sins Not Tragedies", reached number seven on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Panic! at the Disco are known for combining emo with electronics and their album ''A Fever You Can't Sweat Out'' is an emo album with elements of and baroque pop. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus' " Face Down" peaked at number 24 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and its album, ''Don't You Fake It'', sold 852,000 copies in the United States. AFI's albums ''Sing the Sorrow'' and ''Decemberunderground'' both were certified platinum by the RIAA, with ''Decemberunderground'' peaking at number 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Paramore's 2007 album ''Riot!'' was certified double platinum by the RIAA and several Paramore songs appeared on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the late 2000s, including "Misery Business", "Decode", "Crushcrushcrush", "That's What You Get", and "Ignorance". Emo band Boys Like Girls achieved mainstream success in the late 2000s with their songs experiencing ''Billboard'' Hot 100 success.

2010s–present: Decline and revival

During the mid-2010s, emo's popularity began to wane. Some bands broke up or moved away from their emo roots; According to an article from Vice Media, emo kids now grew up to be K-pop fans. My Chemical Romance's album, '' Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys'', had its traditional pop punk style. Paramore and Fall Out Boy both abandoned the emo genre with their 2013 albums, ''Paramore'' and ''Save Rock and Roll'', respectively. Paramore moved to a new wave-influenced style. Panic! at the Disco moved away from their emo pop roots to a synth-pop style on ''Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!''. Many bands (including My Chemical Romance, Alexisonfire, and Thursday) broke up, raising concerns about the genre's viability.

Meanwhile, by the 2010s, a mainly underground emo revival emerged, drawing on the sound and aesthetic of 1990s emo. Artists associated with this movement include Modern Baseball, The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die, A Great Big Pile of Leaves, Pianos Become the Teeth, Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate), Touché Amoré, Into It. Over It., and the Hotelier. While many 2010s emo bands draw on the sound and aesthetic of 1990s emo, hardcore punk elements are consistently used by 2010s emo bands such as Title Fight and Small Brown Bike.

By 2020, emo's impact on mainstream music of the 2010s, and a revival of the genre itself, was noted in some media outlets. The BBC
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