50 Best Rock Songs About Breaking Up

Top Rock Songs for Breakup Playlists

There’s a strange kind of quiet that follows a split. Not peaceful, not clean, more like an echo that hangs in the air long after everything’s been said. You’re stuck replaying old fights in your head while a favorite track kicks on, suddenly too sharp to listen to but too perfect to skip. Some songs spell it out with messy detail, others circle the feeling without naming it. A few weren’t even written for heartbreak at all, yet somehow they slip into that mood and fit like they were.

Breakups rarely play out like movie scenes. It’s awkward encounters at the same bar, group texts you no longer belong in, friends picking sides while pretending they’re neutral. The music you lean on during all that can be equally chaotic. A jagged guitar riff that rattles like anger simmering under the skin. A soft acoustic ballad that feels too quiet, like an empty apartment at night. These tracks don’t try to smooth over the cracks or tie things up neatly. They sit in the mess, loud or hushed, unfiltered and raw.

Sometimes it’s catharsis, sometimes it’s a punch in the gut. The best playlists mix pop, rock, country, and R&B songs without worrying about neat categories, because heartbreak doesn’t play by genre rules. These picks range from slow burns to full-on anthems, and a few might surprise you with how they cut through when the timing’s right. Here are the best rock breakup songs to blast when the silence feels too heavy.

1. 'Go Your Own Way' by Fleetwood Mac

2. 'Love Hurts' by Nazareth

3. 'She's Gone' by Hall & Oates

4. 'Black' by Pearl Jam

5. 'I Miss the Misery' by Halestorm

6. 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' by Bonnie Tyler

7. 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' by Joy Division

8. 'You Oughta Know' by Alanis Morissette

9. 'Don't Speak' by No Doubt

10. 'Don't Look Back in Anger' by Oasis

11. 'Love Bites' by Def Leppard

12. 'Since U Been Gone' by Kelly Clarkson

13. 'I Hate Everything About You' by Three Days Grace

14. 'Broken' by Seether featuring Amy Lee

15. 'The Scientist' by Coldplay

16. 'I'm Goin' Down' by Bruce Springsteen

17. 'Without You' by Harry Nilsson

18. 'Angie' by The Rolling Stones

19. 'Pictures of You' by The Cure

20. 'Somebody That I Used to Know' by Gotye featuring Kimbra

21. 'Layla' by Derek and the Dominos

22. 'Used to Love Her' by Guns N' Roses

23. 'I Will Survive' by Gloria Gaynor

24. 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine' by Marvin Gaye

25. 'Love Is a Battlefield' by Pat Benatar

26. 'I Don't Owe You Anything' by The Smiths

27. 'Still Loving You' by Scorpions

28. 'Already Gone' by Eagles

29. 'Changes' by Black Sabbath

30. 'The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)' by The Greg Kihn Band

31. 'It's Too Late' by Carole King

32. 'Casanova Lament' by Frank Turner

33. 'I'd Rather Go Blind' by Etta James

34. 'Since U Been Gone' by A Day to Remember

35. 'How Can You Mend a Broken Heart' by Al Green

36. 'Love Song' by The Damned

37. 'Every Breath You Take' by The Police

38. 'Wicked Game' by Chris Isaak

39. 'Creep' by Radiohead

40. 'I'm Not Okay (I Promise)' by My Chemical Romance

41. 'With or Without You' by U2

42. 'You're So Vain' by Carly Simon

43. 'Don't Think Twice, It's All Right' by Bob Dylan

44. 'Yesterday' by The Beatles

45. 'The Thrill Is Gone' by B.B. King

46. 'I Will Always Love You' by Dolly Parton

47. 'Torn' by Natalie Imbruglia

48. 'I'm Goin' Down' by Mary J. Blige

49. 'My Friends Over You' by New Found Glory

50. 'I Miss You' by Blink-182