The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, in 1964 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most important and influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm and blues and Merseybeat, and were briefly part of the British Invasion of the United States until their touring ban in 1965. Their third single, the Ray Davies-penned "You Really Got Me", became an international hit, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and reaching the Top 10 in the United States.

The Kinks are regarded as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the 1960s and early 1970s. Stephen Thomas Erlewine called The Kinks "one of the most influential bands of the British Invasion". They were ranked 65th on Rolling Stone Magazine's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" list.  Artists influenced by The Kinks include punk rock groups such as the Ramones, The Clash, and The Jam, heavy metal acts including Van Halen and Britpop groups such as Oasis, Blur and Pulp. Craig Nicholls, singer and guitarist of The Vines, described the Kinks as "great songwriters, so underrated". Pete Townshend, guitarist with the Kinks' contemporaries the Who, credited Ray Davies with inventing "a new kind of poetry and a new kind of language for pop writing that influenced me from the very, very, very beginning." Jon Savage wrote that The Kinks were an influence on late 1960s American psychedelic rock groups "like The Doors, Love and Jefferson Airplane". Music writers and other musicians have acknowledged the influence of the Kinks on the development of hard rock and heavy metal. Musicologist Joe Harrington stated: "'You Really Got Me', 'All Day and All of the Night' and 'I Need You' were predecessors of the whole three-chord genre... [T]he Kinks did a lot to help turn rock 'n' roll (Jerry Lee Lewis) into rock (Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, The Stooges)." Queen guitarist Brian May credited the band with planting "the seed which grew into riff-based music."  A musical, Sunny Afternoon, based on the early life of Ray Davies and the formation of the Kinks, opened at the Hampstead Theatre in April 2014. The musical's name came from the band's 1966 hit single "Sunny Afternoon" and features songs from the band's back catalogue.  In 2015, it was reported that Julien Temple would direct a biopic of The Kinks titled You Really Got Me, with singer-songwriter Johnny Flynn and actor George MacKay cast to play Ray and Dave Davies, respectively.

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