Jam bands are musical groups whose live albums and concerts relate to a unique fan culture that began in the 1960s with The Grateful Dead, and continued with The Allman Brothers Band, which had lengthy jams at concerts. The performances of these bands typically feature extended musical improvisation ("jams") over rhythmic grooves and chord patterns, and long sets of music that can often cross genre boundaries. The Grateful Dead continued to grow their fanbase in the second half of the 1980s. In the mid-1980s the bands Phish, Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, Blues Traveler, Ozric Tentacles, Widespread Panic, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Spin Doctors, Col Bruce Hampton and Aquarium Rescue Unit, began touring with Jam band-style concerts. In the early 1990s, a new generation of bands was spurred on by The Grateful Dead's touring and the increased exposure of The Black Crowes, Phish, Dave Matthews Band, Widespread Panic and Aquarium Rescue Unit.

The Jam were an English punk rock/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s.