CBS News Report Declares That 'Emo Is Back'

Did you hear the news? US television station CBS aired a segment called “The Return Of Emo Music” a few days ago on its Mornings program. Check out the footage below.

Featuring footage and interviews with pop-punk/emo-adjacent acts Avril Lavigne, Demi Lovato, Mod Sun, Landon Parker (the son of blink-182 drummer Travis Barker) and the showrunners of Emo Nite, the news hosts walk through what they see as a reemergence of the genre that found mainstream popularity in the early 2000s. 

However, as real ones know, emo music hasn’t gone anywhere. 

Lovato explained the rockier turn on her latest album, last year’s Holy Fvck, “I grew up listening to this music, so I wanted to go back to my roots. Whether you’re going through depression or you’re having fun with your friends, there’s so many emotions that’s in this music. I think that this generation is hungry for [an emo resurgence].”

Lovato continued, “Whether it’s angst, falling in love, or sadness, I’ve always just made music to be an inspiration to other people while also just doing what I love. “I don’t know what I’m going to write about on my next album because I’m so happy.”

Barker added, "Emo music, rock music, there's no end to it ever. It can go away for ten years, but it'll always make a comeback.”

Emo music is making a comeback — and inspiring everyone from Gen Zs to 40-somethings to pack into clubs across the U.S. for @emonitela.@ddlovato, who says she is an emo kid at heart, is cheering on the genre’s resurgence: “This generation is hungry for it.” pic.twitter.com/dEncnXn4Fw

— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) April 12, 2023

Five years after its inception in 2017, last year’s When We Were Young festival stunned emo and pop-punk music fans with its huge line-up. 

With a who’s who of the 90s and early 2000s icons gracing the line-up, including My Chemical Romance, Paramore, AFI, The Used, Bring Me The Horizon, Taking Back Sunday, A Day To Remember, Jimmy Eat World, Bright Eyes and stacks more, many were saying it was simply too good to be true. 

However, it did go ahead (despite day one’s cancellation due to dangerous weather) with Paramore performing the live debut of the Brand New Eyes fan-favourite, All I Wanted. 

This year’s iteration will be headlined by blink-182 and Green Day. The pop-punk legends will be joined by Good Charlotte, The Offspring, The Veronicas, 5 Seconds Of Summer, Pierce The Veil, Rise Against, Yellowcard, Sum 41, Tigers Jaw, Simple Plan, Say Anything, New Found Glory, Thrice, Finch and many more on the epic first announcement for the event that will take place on October 21, 2023, at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds.