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This arrangement -- singer and songwriter as discrete artists -- was the standard in popular music until about the 1960s. In the late 1960s, however, with the rise of new forms of folk music, and in particular the work of Bob Dylan, it began to become more common for artists to perform their own music, and for that music to be highly intertwined with the personality and viewpoint of the artist.

The first recognition of the singer-songwriter as a musical genre occurred in the early 1970sMillennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Years: 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 Events and trends when a series of folk- and countryCountry music once known as Country and Western music is a popular musical form developed in the southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, spirituals, and the blues. Vernon Dalhart was the first country singer to have a nation-wide hit-influenced musicians rose to prominence and popularity. These early singer-songwriters included Jackson BrowneJackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) was an influential singer songwriter of the 1970s and 1980s. He was born in Heidelberg, Germany, but moved to Los Angeles, California at an early age and began singing folk music locally. In 1966, his career began by, Joni MitchellJoni Mitchell (born Roberta Joan Anderson November 7 1943, Fort Macleod, Alberta) is a Canadian musician and painter. Initially working in Toronto and western Canada, she was associated with the burgeoning folk music scene of the mid- 1960s in New York Ci, Carly SimonSimon (born June 25, 1945) is an American musician who emerged as one of the leading lights of the early 1970s singer-songwriter boom. Her father was Richard Simon (co-founder of Simon & Schuster), an accomplished pianist who often played Chopin and Beeth and James TaylorJames Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, originally from Boston, Massachusetts. He grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where his father was a medical professor at the University of North Carolina. His family summered on Mar. People who had been primarily songwriters, notably Carole KingCarole King (born February 9, 1942) is an American singer and songwriter, most active as a singer during the early to mid 1970s, and active as a successful songwriter considerably longer both before and after her period as a popular singer. Born in 1942 i, also began releasing work as performers. In contrast to the storytelling approach of most prior country and folk music, these performers typically wrote songs from a highly personal (often first-person), introspective point of view. The adjectives "confessional" and "sensitive" were often used (sometimes derisively) to describe this early singer-songwriter style.

By the late 1970s and early 1980s the original wave of singer-songwriters had largely been absorbed into a more general pop or soft rockSoft rock also referred to as lite rock and formally Mellow rock is a style of music which uses the techniques of rock and roll to compose a softer, supposedly more ear-pleasing sound for listening, often at work. The appropriation of the term "rock" for format, but some new artists in the singer-songwriter tradition (notably Lucinda Williams) continued to emerge, and in other cases rock and even punk rock artists such as Peter Case and Paul Westerberg transitioned to careers as solo singer-songwriters.

In the late 1980s, the term was re-applied to a group of female singers and songwriters, beginning with Tracy Chapman, k.d. lang and P.J. Harvey. By the mid- 1990s, the term's revival had grown to encompass Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Lisa Loeb, Joan Osborne and Tori Amos, and other performers associated with the Lilith Fair. In the 1990s artists such as Dave Matthews borrowed from the singer-songwriter tradition to create new acoustic-based rock styles.

Typically, a singer-songwriter will perform solo or with understated accompaniment, accompany him- or herself on an instrument (often guitar or keyboards), and be equally well-known for the songs they write as for the way they are performed.