50 Best Rock Songs About Heroes

Best Rock Tracks That Channel the Hero Spirit

There’s a weird pulse that comes with songs that reach for something bigger. Not the clean, comic-book kind of hero, but the messier kind. The ones who trip before they save the day or never even realize they did. The guitars hit different here. There’s grit, a scrape of reality under the distortion, and still a flicker of belief hiding in the noise. These tracks pull at that feeling—the small, quiet urge to stand up again when the world leans too hard. Some of these tunes came from old stadium anthems, others from bands that never cracked the charts, but they share the same heartbeat.

No one walks around wearing capes, though a few probably wish they could. Most of these songs talk through cracked voices and blown-out amps, chasing courage in the middle of chaos. You’ll find singers pushing past their limits or naming the ones who carried them when they couldn’t move themselves. It’s less perfection, more persistence. Even the glossy pop, rock, country, and R&B songs that brush against this space carry the same thread—the ache of trying to be good when everything pulls the other way. And yeah, not every track spells out heroism, but they land in the same orbit.

These are the songs that hit hardest when you need to remember who you are, or who you used to be before things got complicated. Turn them up when the world feels a size too big and your footing slips. Here are the best rock songs about heroes.

1. 'Heroes' by David Bowie

2. 'Holding Out for a Hero' by Bonnie Tyler

3. 'My Hero' by Foo Fighters

4. 'Juke Box Hero' by Foreigner

5. 'Superman (It's Not Easy)' by Five for Fighting

6. 'The Man' by The Killers

7. 'Hero of the Day' by Metallica

8. 'We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)' by Tina Turner

9. 'Working Class Hero' by John Lennon

10. 'Eye of the Tiger' by Survivor

11. 'Flash' by Queen

12. 'Kryptonite' by 3 Doors Down

13. 'Nobody's Hero' by Rush

14. 'Superman' by R.E.M.

15. 'The Warrior' by Scandal featuring Patty Smyth

16. 'Spider-Man' by The Ramones

17. 'A World Without Heroes' by Kiss

18. 'Zero the Hero' by Black Sabbath

19. 'Waiting for Superman' by The Flaming Lips

20. 'Celluloid Heroes' by The Kinks

21. 'Brand New Hero' by Thunder

22. 'Too Late the Hero' by John Entwistle

23. 'Rock 'n' Roll Hero' by The Spencer Davis Group

24. 'Everyday Superhero' by Smash Mouth

25. 'Magneto and Titanium Man' by Paul McCartney and Wings

26. 'Rock N' Roll Hero' by Hanoi Rocks

27. 'Heroes and Villains' by The Beach Boys

28. 'Billy Don't Be a Hero' by Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods

29. 'Go the Distance' by Michael Bolton

30. 'The Hero' by Queen

31. 'Superman Tonight' by Bon Jovi

32. 'Heroes Are Forever' by Electric Boys

33. 'Compulsory Hero' by 10,000 Maniacs

34. 'The Man' by James Brown

35. 'The Hero' by Thin Lizzy

36. 'Invincible' by Pat Benatar

37. 'Wind Beneath My Wings' by Bette Midler

38. 'Ode to a Superhero' by Weezer

39. 'Superheroes' by The Script

40. 'Yesterday's Hero' by John Paul Young

41. 'Glory of Love' by Peter Cetera

42. '(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman' by The Kinks

43. 'Like a Hero' by The Outfield

44. 'Hero Worship' by The Undertones

45. 'Stories of a Hero' by The Crüxshadows

46. 'Love Is the Hero' by Billy Squier

47. 'A Real Hero' by College & Electric Youth

48. 'Save Me' by Queen

49. 'The Diary of Horace Wimp' by Electric Light Orchestra

50. 'No More Heroes' by The Stranglers