60 music trivia questions by genre and decade (with answers)
Here are 60 music trivia questions with answers, sorted by genre and decade so you can balance your rounds: rock and classic rock, pop hits, hip-hop and R&B, the 80s and 90s, country and folk, and music general knowledge. Each question lists its answer right after it, ready to read aloud, print, or load into an auto-scoring quiz. Mix the categories to your crowd, and the full list is below.
Music trivia lives or dies on matching the genres and decades to your crowd, so the set below spans rock, pop, hip-hop and R&B, the 80s and 90s, country and folk, plus a general-knowledge round about music itself. Each question lists its answer, ready to read aloud or load into a quiz. Mix the categories so fans of every genre get a round to shine in, and lean on the eras your audience grew up with.
Rock & classic rock
- Which band recorded 'Bohemian Rhapsody'? — A: Queen
- Who was the lead singer of Led Zeppelin? — A: Robert Plant
- What band's albums include 'The Dark Side of the Moon'? — A: Pink Floyd
- Who is known as 'The King of Rock and Roll'? — A: Elvis Presley
- Which Beatles album features 'Come Together'? — A: Abbey Road
- What guitarist played 'Purple Haze'? — A: Jimi Hendrix
- Which band sang 'Sweet Child O' Mine'? — A: Guns N' Roses
- Who fronted the band Nirvana? — A: Kurt Cobain
- What Rolling Stones song says 'I can't get no satisfaction'? — A: '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction'
- Which band recorded 'Hotel California'? — A: The Eagles
Pop hits
- Who is known as the 'Queen of Pop'? — A: Madonna
- Which artist released the album 'Thriller'? — A: Michael Jackson
- Who sang 'Rolling in the Deep'? — A: Adele
- Which singer is associated with the song 'Shake It Off'? — A: Taylor Swift
- Who performed 'Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)'? — A: Beyoncé
- Which boy band sang 'I Want It That Way'? — A: Backstreet Boys
- Who released the hit 'Bad Guy' in 2019? — A: Billie Eilish
- Which artist sang 'Uptown Funk' with Mark Ronson? — A: Bruno Mars
- Who is the 'Material Girl' in pop music? — A: Madonna
- Which singer released 'Happy' from a 2013 soundtrack? — A: Pharrell Williams
Hip-hop & R&B
- Which rapper released 'The Marshall Mathers LP'? — A: Eminem
- Who recorded the album 'good kid, m.A.A.d city'? — A: Kendrick Lamar
- Which artist is known as 'Jay-Z's' wife and a music icon herself? — A: Beyoncé
- Who released 'In My Feelings' and is from Toronto? — A: Drake
- Which group recorded 'Straight Outta Compton'? — A: N.W.A
- Who is known for the song 'Lose Yourself' from a film? — A: Eminem
- Which late rapper released 'All Eyez on Me'? — A: Tupac (2Pac) Shakur
- Who sang 'No Scrubs' as part of the group TLC? — A: TLC
- Which artist released the album 'Lemonade'? — A: Beyoncé
- Who is known as the 'Godfather of Soul'? — A: James Brown
Add an audio round if you can. Reading 'who sang Billie Jean?' is fine, but playing a five-second clip and asking people to name the song turns a quiz into an event. If you're hosting live, queue a few snippets between the written rounds — it re-energizes the room and rewards a different kind of knowledge.
80s & 90s
- Which artist sang 'Like a Prayer' in 1989? — A: Madonna
- What 1987 Rick Astley song became an internet meme? — A: 'Never Gonna Give You Up'
- Which band released 'Wonderwall' in 1995? — A: Oasis
- Who sang 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody'? — A: Whitney Houston
- Which group sang 'Wannabe' in 1996? — A: Spice Girls
- What Prince song shares its name with a color and rain? — A: 'Purple Rain'
- Which band released 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'? — A: Nirvana
- Who sang 'Billie Jean'? — A: Michael Jackson
- Which Irish band's hits include 'With or Without You'? — A: U2
- What 1992 Whitney Houston ballad is from a film with Kevin Costner? — A: 'I Will Always Love You'
Country & folk
- Who is known as the 'Man in Black'? — A: Johnny Cash
- Which country star recorded 'Jolene' and 'I Will Always Love You'? — A: Dolly Parton
- Who sang 'Friends in Low Places'? — A: Garth Brooks
- Which artist crossed over with 'Old Town Road'? — A: Lil Nas X
- Who recorded 'Ring of Fire'? — A: Johnny Cash
- Which folk legend wrote 'Blowin' in the Wind'? — A: Bob Dylan
- Who sang 'Before He Cheats'? — A: Carrie Underwood
- Which country trio was formerly known as Dixie Chicks? — A: The Chicks
- Who recorded 'Take Me Home, Country Roads'? — A: John Denver
- Which artist is behind 'Cruise' and country-pop crossover hits? — A: Florida Georgia Line
Music general knowledge
- How many strings does a standard guitar have? — A: Six
- What Italian word means 'loud' in music? — A: Forte
- How many keys are on a full-size piano? — A: 88
- What is a group of four musicians called? — A: A quartet
- What does 'a cappella' mean? — A: Singing without instruments
- What instrument is associated with the band the Beatles' Ringo Starr? — A: The drums
- What annual U.S. music awards are called the 'Grammys'? — A: The Grammy Awards
- What is the highest female singing voice called? — A: Soprano
- How many lines are on a musical staff? — A: Five
- What family of instruments includes the violin and cello? — A: Strings
Turn these into an auto-scored quiz
Scoring a music quiz by hand gets slow once you have more than a few teams, especially with an audio round in the mix. A free quiz maker lets you paste each question, mark the right answer, set points, and grade every submission the instant it lands, with a leaderboard the room can watch. Formkii's quiz maker supports multiple-choice and multi-answer questions, optional timers for fast rounds, shuffled question order, and per-question analytics — so the categories above become a reusable, self-grading music trivia game.
Frequently asked questions
How do you choose music trivia questions for a group?
Balance the genres and decades so the rock fan and the pop fan both get a round they know, and weight toward the eras your audience grew up with. Adding a general-knowledge round about music itself — instruments, terms, awards — gives non-fans a fair entry point.
Should music trivia include an audio round?
If you're hosting live, yes. Playing a short clip and asking players to name the song or artist makes the quiz feel like an event and rewards a different kind of knowledge than written questions. Queue a handful of snippets between the written rounds to re-energize the room.
How many music trivia questions do you need?
Plan for 10 to 12 questions per themed round and three to six rounds for a full music quiz. That covers several genres while keeping each round brisk. If you add an audio round, count each clip as one question and leave a few seconds between them.
How do you score a music quiz quickly?
Use an online quiz tool that grades automatically as players submit, rather than collecting paper answers between rounds. Automatic scoring gives an instant leaderboard, settles close calls, and works for large or remote groups where hand-tallying would slow everything down.
Are these music trivia questions good for all ages?
Mostly, though some lean on specific decades. For a younger crowd, weight the pop and hip-hop rounds; for an older one, lean on classic rock and the 80s. The music general-knowledge round about instruments and terms works well for any age, including classrooms.