20 Classic Rock Hits To Road Trip With

When we think of the classic rock persuasion we are prone to remember the epic bands through the early 60’s and late 90’s. Such as AC/DC, The Rolling Stones, White snake, Poison, Queen, etc, all affording us melodies to sway our lighters to while also giving us memorable anthems to head rock our hair with.

When road tripping you need some tunes to match kicking your travels into high gear! Weather your adventuring with your sweetie or crossing all 50 states here is a list of some of the best classic rock hits to keep your travel spirits elevated.

01) “More Than A Feeling” – Boston

The band Boston, did in reality form in no other place than Boston. Tom Scholz wrote the classic hit in the basement of his house where it took five years to produce.

02) “Dream On” – Aerosmith

This was the first single ever released by Aerosmith and was the song that saved them from being dropped by their label company. The lead singer, Steven Tyler actually says in his book Does the noise in my head bother you that “Dream On” is about “hungering to be someone.”

03) “Don’t Stop Believin” – Journey

Probably, the number one song in the world that every person can hum along too. Journey’s keyboard player got the idea to write the song when he moved to hollywood to pursue his dreams, his father told him, “Son, don’t stop believin.”

04) “Back In Black” – AC/DC

The “Back In Black” album was released five months after the death of lead singer Bon Scott. This album did in fact prove to the world that AC/DC could continue successfully without their lost member.

05) “Juke Box Hero” – Foreigner

“Juke Box Hero” was inspired by a fan that stood in the rain alone for five hours to be able to have the opportunity to meet the members of Foreigner. The band was so impressed they took the fan backstage with them and saw how amazed he was by everything, that they ended up basing a song off of what they imagined was going through that fans mind. I’d give anything to be that fan! 

06) “No One Like You” – Scorpions

Known as the Scorpions breakout song in America, “No One Like You” hit number one on the mainstream rock charts. The german band was a tremendous hit among english speaking countries and continued there success based on “american thinking.”

07)  “Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love” – Van Halen

The hard guitar tune gets more radio play now than it did when it originally came out. While driving in the car you can’t help but feel like a rockstar alongside the guitar solo in the middle of the song. Trust me you will!

08) “Livin’ On A Prayer” – Bon Jovi

Jon Bon Jovi wanted to leave “Living On A Prayer” off the album “Slippery When Wet” because he believed that it wasn’t good enough. But a meeting with a group of teenagers is what at the last minute changed his mind.

09) “Pour Some Sugar On Me” – Def Leppard

The album that “Pour Some Sugar On Me” was featured on was delayed because the band drummer Rick Allen lost his arm in a car accident and after months of physical therapy learned to play with one arm only.

10) “Eye Of The Tiger” – Survivor

Better known as the theme song for Rocky III, Sylvester Stallone ended up loving the song so much that he asked for louder instruments to be used for the tune in the movie and an additional verse added.

11) “Hold The Line” – Toto

 “Hold the line” is literally used as an expression meaning to maintain your current position.  Which the lead singer, Joseph Williams, used as a way to tell the girl he was with to be patient with him and stay in the relationship.

12) “Hungry Like The Wolf” – Duran Duran

According to lead singer Simon Le Bon, the lyrics were inspired by the fairytale “little red riding hood” which features the big bad wolf.

13) “Paradise” – Meatloaf

The songs from the album “Bat Out Of Hell” are not based off experiences or events but rather images and obsessions of lead singer Marvin Lee Aday. 

14) “Free Fallin” – Tom Petty

The first verse of “Free Fallin” was made jokingly while the band’s pianist played three simple cords that resounded with the band’s lead singer Tom Petty coming up with random lyrics that strung together. The song was continually created from those first 10 words that were blurted out during the band’s practice.

15) “Sweet Child O’ Mine” – Guns N’ Roses

Axl Rose wrote “Sweet Child O’ Mine” for his girlfriend who he ended it with a month after the songs release. The song did not make the US # 1 until a year after the album “Appetite For Destruction” came out.

16) “Carry On Wayward Son” – Kansas

Lead singer, Kerry Livgren, made the tune a last minute addition to the album, the artist at the time was searching for religious inspiration and lyrics of the song as insights of his experience.