Emo started as a genre of hardcore punk music in the 80s which revolved around the opposite ideals than that of most hardcore punk bands of that time. Generally hardcore punk was associated with positivity and being 'manly'. Hardcore punk shows would often consist of mainly males, and females were very rarely at hardcore shows. The band members and crowd were often shirtless and it was a very rough and raw genre filled with blood and sweat. Instead of these typical styles in hardcore, emo formed and was relatively calm sounding in comparison and far more melodic.

The first emo bands to form were notably Embrace, which was a band formed by punk and straight edge veteran Ian MacKaye, another one of the first emo bands to form is the band "Rites Of Spring". The word "emocore" which stands for 'emotional hardcore' also began to be used to classify early emo bands.

In the 90s the second wave of emo began to be associated with the indie scene more than the punk scene, as the first wave of emo was. Fundamental bands during the second wave of emo consist of Sunny Day Real Estate, At the Drive-In and The Get Up Kids. Most of these bands would be considered indie to many, but as I've stated during the second wave of emo there was a grey area where the two genres seemed to meet.

The third wave of emo which is the current wave of the genre became rather mainstream, especially due to the growth of internet usage and the easy promotion of bands through social and music networking sites. There is a lot of disagreement as to what current emo and screamo bands are. Most people tend to classify the band "My Chemical Romance" as the largest and most mainstream emo band of the current wave, even though My Chemical Romance themselves have publicly stated that they do not want to be called an emo band. Other bands which are generally referred to as emo/screamo bands are Senses Fail, Bleed The Dream, Hawthorne Heights and many more.

There has been large controversy on the topic of emo over the past few years, mainly due to misinterpretation and ignorance of the topic. Since the emo genre tends to focus on emotional concepts such as loss of love, relationships and problems within life many see it as a whiny genre and feel that the genre itself is promoting depression and self-mutilation of which both have nothing to really do with emo at all. It is possible that some bands mention self mutilation and actual depression but yet so do some metal and goth bands of which are both usually the largest haters of emo culture. What many fail to realize is that you don't have to be depressed or a cutter to be interest and involved in emo music. Though it is true that many people tend to follow a culture to fit in, in those cases you will often find those who adopt the self-mutilation and depression to try fit in.

Emo has also found itself in the media lately due to claims that children listening to emo bands are more likely to commit suicide. In another incident there was large media coverage for an event in Mexico where attacks on 'emo kids' ended up in large marches in protest against the violence.