10 rock albums turning 50 this year

Don Felder of The Eagles UNSPECIFIED - JANUARY 01: Photo of Glenn FREY and Joe WALSH and Don HENLEY and Don FELDER and EAGLES and Randy MEISNER; L-R: Don Felder, Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Glenn Frey, Randy Meisner - posed, studio, group shot - Hotel California era (Photo by RB/Redferns) (RB)

In 2026, there are a handful of really good rock albums celebrating their 50th anniversary. Taking a look back, 1976 was a year of music that explored diverse sounds when rock music was evolving in so many different directions.

From KISS to Rush, here are 10 albums turning 50 this year:

1. Boston’s self-titled album “Boston,” which was their debut studio album

2. “Hotel California” from Eagles turns 50 this year, one of the best albums of all-time

3. “2112″ from Rush which was their 4th studio album

4. “Destroyer” from KISS, which had the hit songs “Detroit Rock City” and “Beth”

5. Aerosmith’s “Rock,” which still rocks 50 years later

6. “A Day at the Races” from Queen

7. The Ramones debut album “Ramones” turns 50 this year and “I Wanna Be Sedated” still kicks just as much ass today as it did in 1976

8. “Presence” from Led Zeppelin only has 7 songs, but it rocks

9. David Bowie’s “Station To Station”

10. “Jailbreak” from Thin Lizzy turns 50 this year, that’s the album with “The Boys Are Back In Town” on it

If you want to read more about each of these albums turning 50, you can check it out at Audio Ink Radio.

Jay Edwards

Jay Edwards

Jay Edwards is an Orlando native and proud to call Central Florida his home! He has lived in Seminole County since the age of 2 and attended school at Lake Brantley High School, Seminole Community College, and then graduated with a Radio/TV degree from UCF.

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