50 Best Rock Songs About Gangsters
Greatest Rock Tracks With a Gangster Edge
There’s a certain pulse that runs through songs tied to that outlaw image. Not the cartoon version with pinstripes and cigars, but the sound that catches the swagger, the tension, the slow build of someone who knows they’re walking a thin line. A guitar riff can hit like the click of a lighter before trouble sparks, a drumbeat like a chase down a back alley. These tracks live in that world where cool and danger blur together, the kind that makes you feel like the story could tilt either way in the next verse.
Some of these songs never mention a gangster, yet the mood fits too perfectly to leave out. The sneer in the vocal delivery, the heavy rhythm section, the way everything leans forward like it might tip over. You can hear that same charge running through pop, rock, country, and R&B songs when they tap into rebellion and grit. There’s a kind of theatrical tension in them, a flash of power that feels earned through chaos, not control.
It’s not the clean-cut anthems that stick. It’s the ones that sound like they’ve seen something they shouldn’t have, the ones that move with the weight of stories never told straight. These songs might stretch the definition, but they still hold that dark glint that pulls you in. Here are the best rock songs about gangsters.
Top 10 Outlaw Rock Songs
1. 'Midnight Rambler' by The Rolling Stones
2. 'I Fought the Law' by The Bobby Fuller Four
3. 'The Night Chicago Died' by Paper Lace
4. 'Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap' by AC/DC
5. 'Out Ta Get Me' by Guns N’ Roses
6. 'The Ripper' by Judas Priest
7. 'Maxwell’s Silver Hammer' by The Beatles
8. 'Criminal' by Fiona Apple
9. 'Jenny Was a Friend of Mine' by The Killers
10. 'Highwayman' by The Highwaymen
Gangster-Themed Crime Rock Songs #11 to 20
11. 'Bankrobber' by The Clash
12. 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen
13. 'The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde' by Georgie Fame
14. 'Woke Up This Morning' by Alabama 3
15. 'Smuggler’s Blues' by Glenn Frey
16. 'The Last of the Famous International Playboys' by Morrissey
17. 'Cop Killer' by Body Count
18. 'I Don't Like Mondays' by The Boomtown Rats
19. 'Angel of Death' by Slayer
20. 'Sympathy for the Devil' by The Rolling Stones
Songs About Infamous Criminals #21 to 30
21. 'The Boston Strangler' by Macabre
22. 'Gimme Shelter' by The Rolling Stones
23. 'Criminal World' by David Bowie
24. 'Pistol Packin' Mama' by The Brian Setzer Orchestra
25. 'Been Caught Stealing' by Jane's Addiction
26. 'Hurricane' by Bob Dylan
27. 'The Curse of Millhaven' by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
28. 'Dead Skin Mask' by Slayer
29. 'Polly' by Nirvana
30. 'Psycho' by The Sonics
Best Hard Rock and Metal Crime Songs #31 to 40
31. 'Breakin' the Law' by Judas Priest
32. '18 and Life' by Skid Row
33. 'Run Like Hell' by Pink Floyd
34. 'The Unforgiven' by Metallica
35. 'Smooth Criminal' by Alien Ant Farm
36. 'Hey Joe' by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
37. 'Folsom Prison Blues' by Johnny Cash
38. 'The Road Goes On Forever' by The Highwaymen
39. 'Copperhead Road' by Steve Earle
40. 'Bad Habit' by The Offspring
More Classic Rock Songs About Outlaws #41 to 50
41. 'Take the Money and Run' by Steve Miller Band
42. 'Riders on the Storm' by The Doors
43. 'The House of the Rising Sun' by The Animals
44. 'Tommy Gun' by The Clash
45. 'The Long Black Veil' by The Band
46. 'Caught by the Fuzz' by Supergrass
47. 'Stagger Lee' by Lloyd Price
48. 'Running Down a Dream' by Tom Petty
49. 'Cocaine Blues' by Johnny Cash
50. 'I Shot the Sheriff' by Eric Clapton
© 2025 Carson McQueen
