Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater Revival, commonly abbreviated as CCR or simply Creedence, was an American rock band formed in El Cerrito, California, in 1959. The band consisted of the lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty; his brother, the rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty; the bassist Stu Cook; and the drummer Doug Clifford. These members had played together since 1959, first as the Blue Velvets and later as the Golliwogs, before settling on Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1967. The band's most prolific and successful period, between 1969 and 1971, produced 14 consecutive top-10 singles (many of which were double A-sides) and five consecutive top-10 albums in the United States, two of which—Green River (1969) and Cosmo's Factory (1970)—topped the Billboard 200 chart. The band performed at the 1969 Woodstock festival in upstate New York and was the first major act signed to appear there.

CCR's music remains popular and is a staple of U.S. classic rock radio airplay.[5] The compilation album Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits, originally released in 1976, is still on the Billboard 200 and reached the 600-week mark in August 2022. It has been certified 12-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for at least 12 million copies sold in the U.S.

Despite hailing from California, CCR "mythologized the American South with an exotic mixture of blues, New Orleans R&B, and rockabilly," according to NPR. According to AllMusic, CCR "created a unique synthesis of punchy rock & roll, swamp pop, blues, and country." CCR has been cited as pioneers of swamp rock and country rock. The band also played roots rock, blues rock, Southern rock, Americana and blue-eyed soul.