63 Or So Historic Moments In Music That Have All Happened During The Queen's Reign

Here in the colonies, we don't really have a great contemporary obvious reference point for political stability — after all, we've seen three Prime Ministers in the past eight years (four if you count the Ruddnaissance), and party in-fighting routinely dominates, or at least frequents, the news cycle.

While our brethren back in the UK aren't exactly exempt from parliamentary-level spats, behind all the barbs and smear campaigns, they — and we — have had a constant head of state for the past 63-and-a-halfish years, and on 10 September Queen Elizabeth II hits the record books as the longest-serving female monarch in history, surpassing Queen Victoria.

It's a hell of an achievement, and one that is put in stark and frightening context when you consider just how much has happened and changed — even in the world of music alone — while Lizzie has occupied the throne. 

Given her reign has lasted an entire half-century and the first 15 years of a second, there'll undoubtedly be some (or a lot of) missing items here — but here's a solid crack at some of the more significant events in music history that have gone down on QE2's watch since her inauguration in February 1952…

1953: bill haley & his comets' crazy man, crazy becomes first 'rock and roll' single to make billboard charts

1954: first documented use of the term 'rock'n'roll' (rather than 'rock and roll'); elvis presley makes his radio debut

1955: first riot at an elvis show goes down in florida; simon & garfunkel start writing tunes together

1956: first-ever eurovision song contest held in switzerland

1957: john lennon & paul mccartney meet for the first time; simon & garfunkel start performing as 'tom & jerry'

1958: elvis joins the army; marvin gaye begins his recording career

1959: buddy holly, richie valens and the big bopper killed in plane crash; first-ever grammy awards are held

1960: a pre-ringo starr beatles (as "the silver beetles") tour for the first time; deep purple's ritchie blackmore starts his musical career

1961: mick jagger & keith richards meet for the first time; the beach boys release their debut 45rpm single, surfin'/luau

1962: bob dylan releases his self-titled debut album; the beatles fire pete best and bring in ringo starr 

1963: the rolling stones release their first single; patsy cline is killed in a plane crash

1964: the beatles hit the united states and break the world; roger daltrey, pete townshend and john entwistle found the who

1965: bob dylan 'plugs in' at newport folk festival, angers everyone; the beatles and elvis presley meet for the first and only time

1966: john lennon says the beatles are bigger than jesus; the jimi hendrix experience drops their first UK single

1967: "the summer of love" and the early rise of psych-rock; the who play their first concert in the united states

1968: yes performs together for the first time, as does led zeppelin; the beatles release the beatles/'the white album'

1969: the beatles unknowingly cause decades of frustration for car drivers on abbey road; motherflippin' woodstock

1970: black sabbath release their debut record, giving rise to heavy metal; the beatles officially break up

1971: the doors frontman jim morrison is found dead in paris; legendary uk rock outfit queen is founded

1972: the velvet underground & jefferson airplane disband; abba is founded

1973: queen elizabeth II opens the sydney opera house; angus & malcolm young perform under the name 'ac/dc' for the first time

1974: kiss release their debut album; the ramones and van halen play their first concerts

1975: formation of the sex pistols and iron maiden; double j starts broadcasting

1976: the ramones release their debut full-length; elton john gets a wax statue at madame tussaud's

1977: the sex pistols release god save the queen in ironic honour of lizzie's silver jubilee and just about cause a riot; elvis presley dies

1978: the sex pistols disband; midnight oil release self-titled debut album

1979: sony introduces the walkman; inxs perform in public for the first time

1980: bon scott dies; john lennon murdered; ian curtis kills himself; 1980 is awful

1981: rush release moving pictures; iron maiden play first shows with bruce dickinson

1982: ozzy osbourne mistakenly eats a bat's head; madonna releases her debut single; michael jackson releases thriller

1983: compact discs go on sale in the united states; phish and nofx play their first documented shows; the misfits go on hiatus

1984: the first cd-based walkman — the discman — is released; michael jackson burns his scalp while filming a pepsi commercial

1985: south african broadcasting corporation bans stevie wonder's music after wonder dedicates his oscars win to nelson mandela; wham! becomes first western pop group to perform in china

1986: the smiths play last show before split; green day forms

1987: aretha franklin smashes the glass ceiling, becomes first woman to be inducted in the rock and roll hall of fame; video hits premieres on australian tv

1988: cypress hill forms, as does aussie thrash metal outfit addictive; ex-pop singer sonny bono becomes mayor of palm springs, california

1989: michael jackson dubbed 'king of pop' for the first time; australia welcomes inaugural livid festival 

1990: port fairy spring music festival is founded down under by michael easton and len vorster; ice ice baby is released

1991: nirvana releases nevermind; perry farrell launches lollapalooza

1992: sony introduces minidisc format; blink-182 forms, as does silverchair; first-ever big day out held in sydney

1993: the birth of nu-metal; denis leary's asshole wins first-ever triple j hottest 100; prince becomes "the artist formerly known as prince"

1994: green day release dookie; the offspring release smash; death of kurt cobain 

1995: the grateful dead play final show with jerry garcia; the misfits return from hiatus; silverchair release debut full-length frogstomp

1996: first-ever homebake festival happens in oz; the spice girls release their debut single; mc hammer files for bankruptcy

1997: michael hutchence dies; paul mccartney is knighted by queen elizabeth ii; backstreet's back kicks off the boy-band resurgence of the late 1990s

1998: korn help nu-metal go mainstream with follow the leader; britney spears releases debut single ...baby one more time

1999: diverse breakthroughs galore — eminem's slim shady lp, limp bizkit's significant other, red hot chili peppers' californication, blink-182's enema of the state all released; oz company liberation music is formed

2000: the artist formerly known as prince reverts to "prince"; metallica sues napster

2001: apple releases first ipod; inaugural splendour in the grass festival held in byron bay; at the drive-in implode at the big day out

2002: napster shut down permanently; britney spears is named world's most powerful celebrity by forbes

2003: apple opens itunes music store; guy sebastian wins inaugural australian idol competition

2004: first-ever soundwave festival is held in perth; pantera/damageplan guitarist dimebag darrell shot and killed on-stage

2005: youtube launches; first guitar hero game released; korn member brian 'head' welch finds jesus

2006: spotify launches; top of the pops ends on british tv after 42 years on air

2007: soundcloud and bandcamp launch; avril lavigne's the best damn thing becomes best-selling album of the year worldwide

2008: rage against the machine play their first aussie shows in 12 years at the big day out; pink hits #1 in the US for the first time

2009: michael jackson dies; kylie minogue embarks on first-ever US tour

2010: creamfields festival launches australian event; powderfinger break up 

2011: amy winehouse passes away; katy perry becomes only artist in history to spend 52 consecutive weeks in the billboard hot 100 top 10

2012: the beach boys celebrate 50th anniversary; gotye becomes first belgian-australian solo artist to hit #1 on billboard thanks to somebody that i used to know

2013: minidisc removed from market, divinyls singer chrissy amphlett passes away

2014: ipod "classic" discontinued; nirvana and kiss among acts inducted into rock and roll hall of fame

2015: katy perry becomes first female artist to have a video hit a billion views on vevo, and third-ever overall; kanye west, rihanna and paul mccartney collaborate on single fourfiveseconds

...Phew. Here's to you, Your Majesty - it's been a hell of a ride so far.