| "Born to Be Wild" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single bySteppenwolf | ||||
| from the albumSteppenwolf | ||||
| B-side | "Everybody's Next One" | |||
| Released | June 1968[1] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length |
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| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) | Mars Bonfire | |||
| Producer(s) | Gabriel Mekler | |||
| Steppenwolf singles chronology | ||||
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"Born to Be Wild" is the third single off Canadian-Americanrock groupSteppenwolf'sself-titled firststudio album. The song was released in June 1968.
On theBillboard charts, the song was able to peak at #2 on theHot 100.[6]
In 2004, the song was ranked #130 on the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list byRolling Stone.[7] It has also been ranked at #53 on the 100 Hard Rock Songs list byVH1.[8] The song was first featured in the 1969 movieEasy Rider and has since been featured in many movies, trailers, TV shows and commercials. It was ranked #29 onAFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of the top songs in American cinema.[9]
Steppenwolf's 'Born To Be Wild', a gritty, hard rock song that quickly became an anthem for defiant individualism.
The brilliant soundtrack, including the Byrds' 'Wasn't Born to Follow', Steppenwolf's proto-metal 'Born to be Wild', and Jimi Hendrix's 'If Six Was Nine', helped to set the film in a kind of outlaw-rock'n'roll context.
