Punk rock is an anti-establishment rock music genre an movement that emerged in the mid-1970s. Preceded by a variety of what is now known as proto-punk music of the 1960s and early 1970s, punk rock developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Bands such as the Ramones, in New York City, and the Sex Pistols and The Clash, in London, were recognized as the vanguard of a new musical movement. By 1977, punk was spreading around the world.