“The Devil Went Down To Georgia” by Charlie Daniels Band

"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" came out on the Charlie Daniels Band's 1979 album Million Mile Reflections, and it later turned up on the 2013 collection Hits of the South. Daniels wrote the words, John Boylan produced, and it plays like a tall tale told on a porch: the verses are more spoken than sung, telling how a young fiddler named Johnny takes on the Devil in a wager, with the two rivals' performances played out as blazing instrumental breaks. It sits in D minor, which gives the Devil's turn its menace.

It was the band's biggest hit, stuck at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 behind Earth, Wind & Fire and the Knack. In 2026 the Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.