Comedy rock is a term used to describe rock music that is mixed with satire or other forms of comedy. This tradition can be traced back to the earliest days of rock and roll itself, the most notable early examples being Stan Freberg who lampooned artists such as Elvis Presley and The Platters, and Sheb Wooley whose Purple People Eater hit on the Billboard pop charts in 1958 and stayed there 6 weeks.

Some comedy rock artists, such as Frank Zappa, Tenacious D, and more recently, Flight of the Conchords create songs with amusing, witty, and/or over-the-top lyrics. Other acts such as Dread Zeppelin, Beatallica, and GWAR rely more on gimmicks such as outrageous costumes or mixing genres for comic effect.

Many mainstream rock bands are known to incorporate comedy songs in their work: Bloodhound Gang, Blink-182, Bowling For Soup, Reel Big Fish, Sublime, Primus, System of a Down and The Presidents of the United States of America.