This 70s hard rock quintet can really blow the roof off a venue with its chunky guitar riffs and thunderous drum beats. At one point, it was recognized as the loudest band of all time by the Guinness Book of World Records after playing a famously noisy show at the Rainbow Theater in London. Noise levels reached an astounding 117 dB that night, and three fans were allegedly knocked unconscious by the sound pressure.

Another group of rock gods known for its ability to blow out eardrums, The Who once played a concert that reached sound levels of 126 dB, officially claiming the title of the world’s loudest band at the time. The concert was in support of the band’s seventh album, The Who by Numbers, and was held at a London sports arena called The Valley. Funny enough, there is no evidence proving the English rockers were intentionally cranking up the volume to break the record.

Even when they have little to cheer about, Sacramento Kings fans can still get loud. On November 15, 2013, a sellout crowd of 17,317 Kings fans set the record for loudest crowd roar in an indoor sports stadium twice. The first time, the fans roared at an impressive 124.9 dB, and the second time they reached an even more impressive level of 126 dB. Fun fact: the Kings’ record at the time was 2-6, and they finished the season with a pitiful 28-54 record. Needless to say, those are some dedicated fans.

A fun fact about Ted Nugent is that he spent some of his teenage years living in my home town. Another interesting tidbit is that he once played a concert so loud in Kansas City that farmers who lived 18 miles away complained. Moreover, Nugent’s shows have been measured to be as loud as 130 dB. To quote the legendary musician, “When you come into a place, you might as well devastate it.” Well said, Ted.

Commonly known as one of the founders of heavy metal, Led Zeppelin’s guitar-driven sound led to some incredibly loud concerts. Rolling Stone writer David Krebs firmly believed that the band’s performances of “Whole Lotta Love” were the loudest live music acts of 1970. More notably, The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) once measured a performance of “Heartbreaker” at an astounding 130 dB. My ears hurt just thinking about that…

Fast, hard, and loud are the best words to describe Mötorhead’s unique brand of metal. I mean, they did title one of their albums Everything Louder Than Everyone Else, if that tells you anything. Reportedly, the band reached a decibel level of 130 dB at The Variety Theater in Cleveland during a live performance in 1984. The noise was so great that it caused the ceiling to crack, and the band was forced to stop playing as a safety precaution. Two years later, The Variety Theater closed its doors for good.

Officially the loudest fanbase in all of college sports, Kansas Jayhawks basketball fans broke the record for loudest indoor crowd noise by generating 130.4 dB of sound during a February 13, 2017 matchup against West Virginia. Not surprising seeing that Allen Fieldhouse is notoriously one of the hardest stadiums for opposing teams to play in, mainly due to the earth-rattling cheers from the stands.

Kiss has been making music and performing it since the early 1970s, but it wasn’t until recently that the hard rockers joined the club as one of the loudest bands ever. During a 2009 concert in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, the group achieved an SPL of 136 dB. It was reportedly so loud that residents of the area filed noise complaints, ultimately forcing Kiss to turn the volume down mid show.

Never heard of them? Me neither. But this heavy metal group currently holds the title of world’s loudest band. There is a catch, however. While they did achieve the highest dB level ever recorded by a musician or band, generating a SPL of 139 dB, they did it during a sound check; not during an actual performance. Regardless, that’s extremely impressive. Probably a good thing they got that out of their system during sound check, or else a lot of fans would have probably left with permanent hearing damage.