5 Alabama artists appear on Rolling Stone’s 200 Best Rock Songs of the 21st Century
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Rolling Stone took on the unenviable task of tracking down the 200 best rock songs of the 21st century (so far). And five Alabama artists had tracks make the cut.
The full list from Rolling Stone includes:
- “Hold On” by Alabama Shakes
- “Never Been Wrong” by Waxahatchee
- “Marry Me” by Drive-By Truckers
- “Cumberland Gap” by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
- “Wondering Why” by The Red Clay Strays
Keep reading to see where each song landed in the rankings + what Rolling Stone had to say about them.
45. “Hold On” by Alabama Shakes
One of the first big hits from the band leads the list for songs from our state. “Hold On” was also featured on Rolling Stone’s best songs of the 21st century across all genres.
Here’s what Rolling Stone had to say about the 2012 song:
“Hold On also sported lyrics anyone could understand — about leaving your teens behind, taking on new responsibilities, and wondering if you were up to the task — along with a taut guitar groove and a Howard vocal that still grabs you by the lapel more than a dozen years later.”
55. “Never Been Wrong” by Waxahatchee
Waxahatchee, the project led by Birmingham native Katie Crutchfield, was also included in the Greatest Songs list with the song “Lilacs.” But in the rock-specific list, Rolling Stone gave the nod to a different song.
“Never Been Wrong” was the first track on the 2017 album “Out in the Storm.” Here’s what Rolling Stone had to say about the song:
“But Never Been Wrong charges hardest right out of the gate with the title track, the most rocking Waxahatchee have ever sounded on record since or before. Katie Crutchfield and multi-instrumentalist Katie Harkin’s twin guitars are front and center, and Crutchfield is channeling all her punk and indie-rock heroes as she thrashes and wails her way through this blistering breakup tune.”
99. “Marry Me” by Drive-By Truckers
There could be several songs from the 2003 album “Decoration Day” but Rolling Stone gave the nod to Marry Me. And while the band may have officially been created in Georgia, their longtime ties to north Alabama and the Shoals area is enough for us to claim them as one of our own.
“Marry Me” came out during one of the band’s most historic stretches which included having Jason Isbell as a songwriter and guitarist.
Here’s what Rolling Stone had to say about the song:
“Drive-By Truckers’ three guitar attack keeps up the thrills while Cooley spins a yarn about a young man whose casual indifference never feels totally convincing. Anger and resentment simmer, but so does love. “Marry Me” doesn’t contain the most romantic proposal — “Your momma thinks I beat anything she’s ever seen” — but as that opener reminds us, maybe rock songs aren’t the best place to find out what real love looks like anyway.”
167. “Cumberland Gap” by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Jason Isbell technically makes two appearances on the list under two different band names.
“Cumberland Gap” was released in 2017 with the album “The Nashville Sound.” That album was ranked the 21st best album of the year by Rolling Stone.
“On this rocker from his 2017 LP, The Nashville Sound, Isbell showed how hard he could still bring it, singing about working-class angst and desperation in the heart of coal country over the roaring backing of his band the 400 Unit. ‘Maybe the Cumberland Gap just swallows you whole,’ he wonders. That sense of fatalism is deep in his bones, but so is the dream of punching your way out”
Rolling Stone
175. “Wondering Why” by The Red Clay Strays
One of the newer songs on Rolling Stone’s list comes from the rising country band out of Lower Alabama.
“Wondering Why” was released in 2022 and quickly became essential to the band’s rise in popularity across the country. The song eventually became the band’s first certified triple platinum single.
“In the case of their breakout song, ‘Wondering Why,’ however, they display more of a slow burn. There’s no big riff, no bombastic intro — just Elvis-adjacent frontman Brandon Coleman’s smoldering croon, which blazes near the song’s end as drummer John Hall plays an understated beat with a few choice cymbal hits.”
Rolling Stone
THE RED CLAY STRAYS
