A hybrid musical genre combining elements of the blues with rock and roll, with an emphasis on the electric guitar.

While rock and blues have historically always been closely linked, blues-rock as a distinct genre began to develop as a particular style in the mid-1960s in England and the United States as bands experimented with music from the old bluesmen such as Elmore James, Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters. In the UK, artists like Alexis Korner and John Mayall led blues bands that acted as a training ground for future blues-rock artists such as Free, Savoy Brown and Fleetwood Mac, while American artists such as Johnny Winter, Paul Butterfield and Canned Heat were also pioneers.

In particular, Jimi Hendrix, who was a veteran of many American rhythm and blues and soul groups from the early-mid 1960s, had a major influence on the development of blues-rock, especially for guitarists. Eric Clapton was another guitarist with a lasting influence on the genre, with his work in the 1960s and 1970s with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, the Yardbirds, Cream, Blind Faith and Derek and the Dominos, which was seminal in bringing blues-rock into the mainstream. In the late 1960s, Jeff Beck further developed blues-rock into a form of heavy rock, while Jimmy Page formed Led Zeppelin, which was a huge force in the early 1970s blues-rock scene.

Beginning in the early 1970s, American blues-rock grew to include Southern rock and hard rock bands such as the Allman Brothers Band, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Blues-rock had a re-birth in the early 1990s and continues to have lasting influence today.