The 20 best Classic Rock road trip and driving songs
24 May 2024, 11:11 | Updated: 30 May 2024, 13:23
As we approach another Bank Holiday, we compile some of the best Classic Rock songs for your long weekend road trip.
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As another Bank Holiday weekend approaches, we're taking a trip with some our favourite Classic Rock anthems for road trips.
Whether you’re hitting the open road... or you’re stuck in traffic – this is the perfect soundtrack for you. Get ready to rock out with everyone from Fleetwood Mac to Iggy Pop helping you get to your destination.
Get our rundown some of the best Classic Rock driving songs below.
Classic Rock driving and road trip songs:
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AC/DC - Highway To Hell
AC/DC - Highway to Hell (Official Video)
The AC/DC banger, which features on the band's 1979 album of the same way, will be sure to get you to your destination.
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ZZ Top - Gimme All Your Lovin
ZZ Top - Gimme All Your Lovin' (Official Music Video) [HD Remaster]
Taken from the band's 1983 album Eliminator, there's no way we could eliminate this from the list!
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Golden Earring - Radar Love
Golden Earring - Radar Love (Official Music Video [HD])
The Dutch rock band's single, which reached Top 10 in several countries, is made for the open road.
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Tom Petty - Runnin Down A Dream
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Runnin' Down A Dream (Official Music Video)
Let's be fair, there could have been several Tom Petty tracks on this list, but nothing quite gets our motors running quite like Runnin' Down A Dream.
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Iggy Pop - The Passenger
Iggy Pop - The Passenger (Official Video)
Nothing quite makes us call shotgun than Iggy Pop's classic, The Passenger, which features on his 1977 Lust For Life album.
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Allman Brothers Band - Jessica
Jessica
The instrumental piece from the American rockers was the second single from their 1973 album Brothers and Sisters.
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America - Ventura Highway
Ventura Highway
With a name like Ventura Highway, is there any wonder the 1972 single from their Homecoming album makes the list?
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Eagles - Hotel California
Eagles - Hotel California (Live 1977) (Official Video) [HD]
As Radio X's Sunta Templeton said herself during our Classic Rock Top 10, is there anywhere better to make a pit stop than the Hotel California? Just make sure you can leave...
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Free - All Right Now
Free - All Right Now (Doing Their Thing, 1970) Official Live Video
Free's 1970 classic isn't just perfect for listening to while you chew on Wrigley's Spearmint gum, it also makes a pretty perfect road trip track too.
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Fleetwood Mac - The Chain
Fleetwood Mac - The Chain (Official Audio)
No driving or road trip playlist is complete without the iconic Fleetwood Mac epic The Chain.
The only song which credits all five members of the band, The Chain is best known in the UK for its instrumental section, which has been the F1 theme tune for decades.
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Lynyrd Skynyrd – Sweet Home Alabama
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama (1974)
Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1974 hit will have you thinking of the Southern US state as you head home to anywhere.
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Eagles – Take It Easy
Eagles - Take It Easy (Live on MTV 1994) (Official Video) [HD]
Take It Easy, taken from Eagles' eponymous debut, is good advice to adhere to if you get caught in the Bank Holiday rush.
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B52's – Roam
The B-52's - Roam (Official Music Video)
The fourth single to be taken from the B-52's Cosmic Thing album sees epic vocalists Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson transport us all over the world in their ode to travelling.
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Foghat – Slow Ride
Foghat - Slow Ride (Official Audio)
After being lifted up we're taking it easy with Foghat, whose Slow Ride -from their Fool For The City album - is the perfect track for long drive.
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Jackson Browne – Running On Empty
Jackson Browne - Running On Empty - OFFICIAL VIDEO MONTAGE
We're anything but running on empty for the Jackson Browne ode to the open road, which comes from his 1977 album of the same name.
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Meatloaf – Paradise By The Dashboard Light
Meat Loaf - Paradise By The Dashboard Light
It might not be driving he's strictly talking about in the 1978 single, but Paradise By The Dashboard Light does involve a car.
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Whitesnake – Here I Go Again
Whitesnake - Here I Go Again '87 (Official Music Video)
The 1982 single, which was re-recorded for 1987 self-titled album is a stone cold Classic Rock staple, whether you're driving or indeed walking down the only road you've ever known...
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Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run
Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run (Official Video)
Bruce Springsteen might be talking about being Born To Run, but his classic 1975 single was absolutely made for being blasted out of an open top car.
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Steppenwolf – Born To Be Wild
Steppenwolf - Born To Be Wild (Easy Rider) (1969)
The 1968 Steppenwolf track, which featured on the 1969 film Easy Rider, is probably more responsible for getting people on motorbikes than any song ever release, so it of course has to have its place at the absolute climax of any road trip playlist.
Now which way to Route 66?
