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It has been two decades since Guitar Hero first launched in North America, providing players everywhere the opportunity to become a rock star. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic crowd of friends.

Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues moving along the screen in time with the music. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, producing the sensation of a genuine performance.

The studio had already experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later acquired by Activision in 2006. Together, they established the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series that had a remarkable impact for many musicians included, showcasing decades-old groups to millions of gaming enthusiasts.

A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – even though the first two games primarily featured cover versions.

“We rerecorded all the music since the cost was so high,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. However, when the game became a hit, album purchases airtime were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”

He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the songs they adored. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”

Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans

Northern Irish group the Answer had their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician the artist remembers the way the game revived older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, younger audience. Typically such music was considered outdated material, however once it got included in the title and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, and got rid of the outdated tag. It gave all our music a new life.”

At that time, the Answer’s debut album remained not available in the US, so the game was a key medium for exposure for the group as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies had on the song on the tour bus, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.

Major Band Titles Enduring Impact

Rock’s heavyweight names soon capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated stories, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band more money than any of their records. It moved more than half a million units upon release, and demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly during an era as the industry faced decline.

The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Recently, a streamer completed a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of customisation options. This track is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention performed at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed it took nine months of practice.

“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up a real gun and go to war,” says musician Herman Li.

The band had already completed a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that we were records were moving rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”

In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it risked overshadow everything else accomplishments. Last year, the song featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has a unique musical journey and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.

The Lasting Impact from the Iconic Controller

Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, clothes or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.

The majority installments came out over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs such as the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.

Titles like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene alive, and there’s set to be something from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has begun work on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?

“Our team believed such titles might become similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “With abundant new music that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t persist with new generations.”