The diverse rock and pop scene has helped shape Wiesbaden's music scene over the past decades. At the beginning of 1967, three Germans and three Americans joined forces to form "Soul Caravan". The band was part of the so-called Krautrock movement. Tim Belbe, Hansi Fischer, Klaus Briest, Skip van Wyck, James Rhodes and Ronnie Swinson first performed in Wiesbaden pubs, then in the clubs of the American garrisons and finally nationwide. Some of the numerous highlights were a concert at the Essen Song Days, a ten-minute live performance on Radio Bremen and an appearance at the Berlin Jazz Days in 1968. The musicians played psychedelic jazz rock under the name "Xhol Caravan", from 1970 just Xhol, and disbanded in 1972. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Xhol reunited for various concerts in Wiesbaden, where some of the founding members performed their old songs again. With the death of Tim Belbe (1944-2004), the musicians decided to end their band for good.

In the 1970s, other representatives of Krautrock performed in Wiesbaden. For example, the Göttingen band "Cosmic Circus Music" with Karl-Heinz Keffer, Bernd Diesner and Ulrich Maßhöfer gave a concert at the Wartburg in July 1973. In 1979, Manfred Dünzl, Peter Wenke, Stephan Ohnhaus (later guitarist with "Die Crackers"), Hansi Wuttke and Wilmont Schulze founded the group "Mallet", initially as a school band. Their broad spectrum of classic rock includes both their own titles and cover songs from 40 years of music history. The Crackers also began their career in 1979, playing over 2,000 concerts and releasing eight albums. In 2012, the band led by Lothar "Loti" Pohl, Peter Richter, Stephan Ohnhaus, Johannes "Hansi" Malolepszy and Urban Berz disbanded with a big final concert in front of 12,000 fans in Wiesbaden. The history of a band that still performs in clubs, halls and at festivals today also began in 1979 with "Stoned Age". Clyde, Roland, Uwe, Michaela, Yo-Yo and Tommy made their melodic hard rock known throughout Germany by performing with well-known rock greats such as Uriah Heep and "The Tremeloes".

The "Psylophonics" were founded in the 1980s. Until they disbanded at the turn of the millennium, the band mainly performed songs by Frank Zappa, including at the Neroberg Festival. In 1984, Robert Hennrichs founded the "Sunnyland Bluesband", which became the most popular band of its genre in Germany in the 1990s. In the summer of 1997, "Interstellar Overdrive" formed as the youngest band of the well-known Wiesbaden rock groups, taking their audience into the world of psychedelic rock with the mystical compositions of Pink Floyd. Pofter - that's Mark Bauerfeind - Rainer Weimar, Ingo Deul, Tobi Untucht, Matze Brück, Frederik Ehmke and Markus Thurn always combine their music with a light show created by light designer Frape Hahner. The "PopJazz Chor Wiesbaden" was founded in 2010 under the direction of Clemens Schäfer. The venues in Wiesbaden were and are as diverse as the bands.

In the 1970s, world stars such as "Status Quo", "Supertramp", "Santana", Frank Zappa and "Manfred Mann's Earth Band" regularly performed at the Rhein-Main-Hallen. The former Neroberghotel served as a rehearsal room for numerous local bands. In the 1970s and early 1980s, it was also the best-known stage in the rock scene in Wiesbaden, where bands such as "Flatsch", "Rodgau Monotones", "Eloy" and many local ensembles played. In the same decade, international groups such as "The Police", "UK" and "The Clash" as well as various punk rock bands performed at the Wartburg. In the 1980s and 1990s, the pub in the former Jazzhouse in Nerostrasse developed into a meeting place for Wiesbaden's music scene. Today, the "Gestüt Renz" bar provides a venue for local bands and groups. Other club concerts are occasionally organized at the Walhalla in Mauritiusstraße.

In the 1990s, the "Rough" in the Friedrichspassage became an internationally renowned rock club for a time. Prominent musicians from Germany and abroad celebrated here after their major tour appearances in the Rhine-Main region. In the "Café Cicero", a cultural meeting place with a record and sheet music store and a small bistro with a bar in Kirchgasse, local bands performed in a club atmosphere. On 16.10.1999, the community center in the Georg-Buch-Haus was used for the first time as an event space by the "Rock für Wiesbaden" association, which was founded in 1985. Another central venue is the Schlachthof. Since the turn of the millennium, the small hall in the Tattersall community center has also been run as a cultural palace by the "Förderverein für Kultur im Bergkirchenviertel". The "Yesterday" music pub in Adolfsgässchen in Biebrich has been the meeting place for Wiesbaden's rock scene for decades.

In the summer months, Wiesbaden's rock and pop scene has long since moved outdoors. From 1977-2015, Folklore was an integral part of the Rhine-Main festival region. In 1982, there was also an open-air festival on the banks of the Rhine, where Neil Young, among others, gave a highly acclaimed performance. Despite a large turnout, this event failed to establish itself and remained a one-off project. In contrast, a longer-term festival was launched on the Neroberg in 1992. The strong response exceeded the capabilities of the initially private organizers, so that the very next year the association "Rock für Wiesbaden" took over the conception and implementation of the festival. Until it was discontinued due to a disturbance of the peace complaint in 1997, the festival developed into an integral part of Wiesbaden's music summer. From 1998, the event was then continued at Burg Sonnenberg. Despite the simplified organization due to better infrastructure and good accessibility, the festival was not able to establish itself in the long term. After declining visitor numbers, the "Rock for Wiesbaden" association organized the last event for the time being in 2005. The festival has since been revived and organized on a smaller scale by a Sonnenberg initiative. The Theatrium was another meeting place for Wiesbaden's rock scene for many years. The Kranzplatz Festival, first staged in 1979, offers various bands the opportunity to play loudly in front of a diverse audience every year. Other open-air concerts take place in the Reduit in summer. Due to its proximity to Mainz, it is mainly bands from the Rhineland-Palatinate state capital that perform here.

The Wiesbadener Musik- & Kunstschule e.V. has been promoting young up-and-coming musicians for 20 years with a "Rock and Pop Fest". In 2014, more than 60 musicians from the age of eight presented a varied program ranging from jazz to Afro percussion and rock to big band sounds in 20 different acts. Wiesbaden has also hosted the "German Rock & Pop Award" several times. Bands and musicians from a wide variety of styles last performed in the Rhein-Main-Hallen in 2010.