Living Colour

It’s one thing to attempt to blend seemingly dissonant genres like heavy metal and free jazz, but to excel at is almost a miracle.. Yet this is exactly what NYC’s Living Colour was able to achieve in the late 1980s, a feat that is still hard to reconcile nearly 40 years later. The group’s open-minded musicality not only helped to make them stars, but also kicked the door wide open for a whole new generation of similarly adventurous bands who resist easy categorization. Like many great bands before them, Living Colour honed their act at N.Y.C.’s famed CBGB’s before breaking into the mainstream with their anthemic hit “Cult of Personality.” Since then, the band has continued to explore new musical ideas that most bands wouldn’t dare attempt, solidifying their reputation as one of popular music’s most singularly inventive institutions.