50 Best Rock Songs About Death of a Loved One
Best Rock Songs for Grieving a Loved One
There’s a strange weight that sits in the air when you lose someone close. It’s not loud, not neat, but something heavy that clings to your chest and lingers in quiet corners. The right track can make the silence bearable for a minute, or even sting worse, depending on the timing. Some songs lean right into the grief with raw words, while others circle around it with metaphors that hit even harder. A few of them were never written with loss in mind, but the way they land in that headspace makes them impossible to ignore.
Rock has always had space for messy feelings, and this is one of those places where it cuts deeper than expected. A chorus can sound like a scream in an empty room, or like someone whispering the thing you couldn’t say out loud. These songs hold a space that is more jagged than comforting. It’s not about closure, it’s about sitting inside the ache without trying to clean it up. You hear that kind of sound across pop, rock, country, and R&B songs, but here it feels raw, even when the lyrics skate around the loss instead of spelling it out.
It’s not all dirges and funeral tones either. Some tracks lean into anger, others into nostalgia, a few into an odd kind of acceptance. They capture the messy range of reactions when someone is gone and nothing feels stable anymore. The ones that last are the tracks that don’t polish the grief away, and that’s what makes them perfect for this list. Here are the best rock songs for the death of a loved one.
Top 10 Rock Songs About Loss
1. 'Tears in Heaven' by Eric Clapton
2. 'Hurt' by Johnny Cash
3. 'Wish You Were Here' by Pink Floyd
4. 'Fade to Black' by Metallica
5. 'In the Arms of an Angel' by Sarah McLachlan
6. 'The Show Must Go On' by Queen
7. 'Wake Me Up When September Ends' by Green Day
8. 'November Rain' by Guns N' Roses
9. 'Everybody Hurts' by R.E.M.
10. 'Dust in the Wind' by Kansas
Songs Exploring Grief and Death #11 to 20
11. 'Slipped Away' by Avril Lavigne
12. 'Last Kiss' by Pearl Jam
13. 'My Immortal' by Evanescence
14. 'Free Bird' by Lynyrd Skynyrd
15. 'Black' by Pearl Jam
16. 'Yesterday' by The Beatles
17. 'Stairway to Heaven' by Led Zeppelin
18. 'Fix You' by Coldplay
19. 'Angel' by Aerosmith
20. 'Brendan's Death Song' by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Songs About Loss of a Loved One #21 to 30
21. 'Changes' by Black Sabbath
22. 'So Far Away' by Avenged Sevenfold
23. 'The Living Years' by Mike + The Mechanics
24. 'Say Hello 2 Heaven' by Temple of the Dog
25. 'One More Light' by Linkin Park
26. 'Nothing Else Matters' by Metallica
27. 'Gone Away' by The Offspring
28. 'Last Resort' by Papa Roach
29. 'I Miss You' by Blink-182
30. 'Cemetery Gates' by Pantera
Mourning Rock Songs #31 to 40
31. 'Here Without You' by 3 Doors Down
32. 'Glycerine' by Bush
33. 'I Will Follow You into the Dark' by Death Cab for Cutie
34. 'The Last Carnival' by Bruce Springsteen
35. 'How to Save a Life' by The Fray
36. 'A Long December' by Counting Crows
37. 'Fire and Rain' by James Taylor
38. 'The Funeral' by Band of Horses
39. 'Who Knew' by Pink
40. 'Hallelujah' by Bon Jovi
Rock Music About Grief and Remembrance #41 to 50
41. '(Don't Fear) The Reaper' by Blue Oyster Cult
42. 'Something' by The Beatles
43. 'Love of My Life' by Queen
44. 'Angel' by Robbie Williams
45. 'I'll Remember You' by Sarah McLachlan
46. 'In Loving Memory' by Alter Bridge
47. 'The Sound of Silence' by Disturbed
48. 'Here Comes the Sun' by The Beatles
49. 'All Those Years Ago' by George Harrison
50. 'Helena' by My Chemical Romance
© 2025 Carson McQueen
