50 Best Rock Songs About Route 66

Road Trip Rock Songs for Route 66 Adventures

There’s something strange about the way Route 66 pulls at people. You can be half lost on a backroad, gas light on, wind cutting through the car window, and the right song hits. The kind that sounds like it’s been baked in sunlight and engine heat, equal parts freedom and fatigue. These tracks pick up that feeling. Some are road-weary anthems, some wide-open escapes, and a few weren’t even meant for this highway at all but still crash right into its spirit. That mix of wanderlust and noise that fills the space between pit stops.

Route 66 isn’t smooth pavement and postcard towns. It’s cracked neon, half-empty diners, the faint buzz of a jukebox that hasn’t worked right in years. The songs that stick to it come from every corner—pop, rock, country, and R&B songs that spill out of old radios or modern playlists trying to capture the same glow. They don’t need to name the road to live in its myth. The guitars grind, the drums kick like an overworked engine, and somewhere in the distance, someone’s chasing something they can’t quite name.

It’s messy and loud and perfect in that way road trips always are before the silence catches up. You might find yourself mouthing the words at a red light or scrolling through playlists looking for something that smells faintly like asphalt and freedom. Some of these tracks flirt with nostalgia, others sound like they were built from the hum of a long drive at night. Here are the best rock songs for Route 66.

1. '(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66' by The Rolling Stones

2. 'Born to Be Wild' by Steppenwolf

3. 'Life Is a Highway' by Tom Cochrane

4. 'Highway Star' by Deep Purple

5. 'I Can't Drive 55' by Sammy Hagar

6. 'Runnin' Down a Dream' by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

7. 'Roadhouse Blues' by The Doors

8. 'Take It Easy' by Eagles

9. 'Running on Empty' by Jackson Browne

10. 'Road to Nowhere' by Talking Heads

11. 'Ramblin' Man' by Allman Brothers Band

12. 'Roll Me Away' by Bob Seger

13. 'Highway to Hell' by AC/DC

14. 'Go Your Own Way' by Fleetwood Mac

15. 'Rockin' Down the Highway' by The Doobie Brothers

16. 'The Passenger' by Iggy Pop

17. 'King of the Road' by Roger Miller

18. 'Radar Love' by Golden Earring

19. 'Sweet Home Alabama' by Lynyrd Skynyrd

20. 'Here I Go Again' by Whitesnake

21. 'Little Red Corvette' by Prince

22. 'Goin' Mobile' by The Who

23. 'Drive My Car' by The Beatles

24. 'Thunder Road' by Bruce Springsteen

25. 'Truckin'' by Grateful Dead

26. 'Drive' by The Cars

27. 'Everyday Is a Winding Road' by Sheryl Crow

28. 'Panama' by Van Halen

29. 'Slow Ride' by Foghat

30. 'Free Ride' by The Edgar Winter Group

31. 'Drive All Night' by Bruce Springsteen

32. 'The Distance' by Cake

33. 'Ventura Highway' by America

34. 'No Particular Place To Go' by Chuck Berry

35. 'Going To California' by Led Zeppelin

36. 'On the Road Again' by Canned Heat

37. 'Roll On Down The Highway' by Bachman-Turner Overdrive

38. 'I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide' by ZZ Top

39. 'Dead Man's Curve' by Jan and Dean

40. 'Holiday Road' by Lindsey Buckingham

41. 'Jessica' by Allman Brothers Band

42. 'Danger Zone' by Kenny Loggins

43. 'Going Up The Country' by Canned Heat

44. 'Up Around The Bend' by Creedence Clearwater Revival

45. 'Fortunate Son' by Creedence Clearwater Revival

46. 'Cruisin' Down the Highway' by James Gang

47. 'Red Barchetta' by Rush

48. 'Mustang Sally' by The Commitments

49. 'Get Outta Dodge' by E Street Band

50. 'Travelin' Man' by Bob Seger