Song · David Lee Roth
“Yankee Rose” by David Lee Roth
From the album Sonrisa salvaje (1986)
“Yankee Rose” by David Lee Roth appears on 5 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 1990 and 2025. It was first released in 1986 on the album Sonrisa salvaje. Its best result is #194 on the Z-Rock Top 1001 Songs of All-Time (1990). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,397 classic rock song of all time.
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"Yankee Rose" was the first single from David Lee Roth's 1986 debut solo album, a valentine to the Statue of Liberty cut while the old girl was getting a big restoration timed to the 100th anniversary of her 1886 dedication. Roth wrote it with Steve Vai, whose electric guitar is out front here as it is all over the record, and Ted Templeman produced it for Warner Bros.
Roth crams it with Fourth of July imagery, flags and firecrackers and rockets and apple pie and that torch, plus nods to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" and the national anthem. It went to 16 on the Hot 100, his third top 20 hit and the first not built on a cover, after "California Girls" and "Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody". Grand Theft Auto: Vice City later put it on V-Rock.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Classic Rock
Hard Rock & Metal
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 194 | Z-Rock | Z-Rock Top 1001 Songs of All-Time (1990) | 1000 |
| 2016 | 663 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 | 1007 |
| 2022 | 494 | 99.1 PLR | 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2022) | 500 |
| 2025 | 492 | 102.5 WDVE | DVE Memorial Day 500 (2025) | 500 |
| 2025 | 237 | 99.1 PLR | 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2025) | 400 |
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