Rock and roll is an African American genre of music, which spread across the world in the 1950s and 60s. In then-Yugoslavia, Belgrade, now in Serbia and Montenegro had among the most vibrant rock scenes. Slovenia was the center for Yugoslav punk rock, through Belgrade developed its own scene. The Paket Aranzman album was a legendary release featured New Wave bands like Sarlo Akrobata, Elektricni Orgazam , Idoli and Ekaterina Velika . Many of these bands were more popular in Croatia than Serbia, while Croatian bands like Prljavo Kazaliste and Film were more popular in Serbia than Croatia.

In the United States, there is a Serbian rock scene among the immigrants to the Greater Cleveland area.

Drawing on pioneers like Goran Bregovic, folk and rock music were combined in Serbia later in the 20th century.