Jethro Tull

Jethro Tull came out of the late-'60s British blues scene in 1967 and quickly turned into something much odder: a band that could fold hard rock, English folk and classical music into the same song, led by Ian Anderson, the principal composer and singer, who played acoustic guitar, mandolin and harmonica but became famous for his flute. They made their name on the London club circuit, and the debut, This Was, came out in 1968.

Guitarist Mick Abrahams soon made way for Martin Barre, and Stand Up, the next year, went to number one in Britain, its folkier songs a sign of things to come. Tony Iommi even passed through the band briefly in those early days. Benefit, in 1970, brought "Teacher", and Aqualung, in 1971, became their international breakthrough and biggest seller, full of grimy, hard-rocking songs: the churning title track, "Cross-Eyed Mary" and the runaway train of "Locomotive Breath". Thick as a Brick in 1972 went all the way into progressive rock territory, and War Child in 1974 gave them "Bungle in the Jungle".

They put out an album nearly every year through the '70s, then drifted through folk rock, electronic rock and a return to hard rock on Crest of a Knave, which won them their only Grammy. The band broke up in 2011, and Anderson revived the name in 2017.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.