Imagine a marriage of tuneful, rocking pop songs with instruments from the symphonic realm, and you’ve got the blueprint for what made ELO one of the most popular groups of the 1970s and beyond.

Jeff Lynne, ELO’s vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, co-founder, and frontman, conceived of a rarefied musical sphere in which cellos coexisted with guitars, and where classically tinged progressive rock intersected with hook-filled, radio-friendly pop.

The result: ELO’s boundary-breaking approach to rock that resonated with a global audience, both as a pop singles act and as album-oriented rockers with deep-track appeal.