Chicano rock, also called Chicano fusion, is rock music performed by Mexican American (Chicano) groups or music with themes derived from Chicano culture. Chicano rock combines multiple music styles instead of one distinct sound. Some of these groups do not sing in Spanish at all nor use many specific Latin instruments or sounds. Chicano rock draws its identity from the cultural backgrounds of its performers and reflects a wide range of musical styles.

There are three basic styles of Chicano rock.

1) The earliest Chicano rock emerged as a distinctive style of rock and roll performed by Mexican Americans from East Los Angeles and Southern California, containing themes from their cultural experience. Although the genre is broad and diverse, encompassing a variety of styles and subjects, the overarching theme of early Chicano rock is its rhythm and blues influence and incorporation of brass instruments like the saxophone and trumpet, Farfisa or Hammond B3 organ, funky basslines, and its blending of Mexican vocal styling sung in English.

A tradition of 60s Chicano rock emerges from these origins, following a devotion to the original rhythm and blues, rockabilly and rock and roll. Artists like Ritchie Valens, Sunny & the Sunglows, The Sir Douglas Quintet, Cannibal & the Headhunters, The Premiers, Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs and Thee Midniters, all have made music that is heavily based on 1950s R&B, even when general trends moved away from the original sound of rock as time went by.

2) The second style of 70s Chicano rock is more open to blues music, soul music, R&B, rock music, funk, Latin music, salsa music, and jazz. Santana, Malo, War, El Chicano, Sapo and other Chicano 'Latin Rock' groups follow this approach with their fusions of R&B, jazz, and Caribbean sounds. Later Chicano musicians who draw from rockabilly and country include Linda Ronstadt and Los Lobos. These musicians also draw from traditions of Norteño music or Tejano music.

3) A third style is the 80s Latin rock, Latin R&B by Tierra, Little Joe, Little Willie G, Ralfi Pagan, Sheila E, Sugar Style, Sunny and the Sunliners and Rocky Padilla.

In places such as San Antonio, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area, and Dallas and Houston, Texas, the African-American audience was very important to aspiring Latino musicians, and this kept their music wedded to authentic R&B. DJ Dick Hugg (aka Huggie Boy) and radio station KRLA 1110 played a big role in promoting this music. Chicano rock music was also influenced by the Doo-wop genre, an example being the song "Angel Baby" by the Chicana fronted group Rosie and the Originals.

Don Tosti's Pachuco Boogie, recorded in 1948, was the first Chicano million-selling record, a swing tune featuring Spanish lyrics, using hipster slang called Calo. Lalo Guerrero arrived in Los Angeles in the late 1930s and found that L.A. was "bursting with ambition". Lalo and his friend captured their spirit in music by mixing swing and boogie-woogie in a cross-cultural, dialogue between African American, Anglo, and Mexican American influences.