Song · Don Henley
“Sunset Grill” by Don Henley
From the album Building the Perfect Beast (1984)
“Sunset Grill” by Don Henley appears on 12 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 1991 and 2025. It was first released in 1984 on the album Building the Perfect Beast. Its best result is #302 on the KZEP Memorial Weekend Top 500 (1997). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,200 classic rock song of all time.
"Sunset Grill" takes its name from a burger joint on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, and it's one of the moodiest things on Building the Perfect Beast, Don Henley's second solo album, from 1984. Henley wrote it with Danny Kortchmar and Benmont Tench and co-produced it with Kortchmar and Greg Ladanyi, and they let the synthesizers do the brooding: Tench and Michael Boddicker on synths, Kortchmar on guitar synth, with Randy Newman among the arrangers. Pino Palladino plays fretless bass, David Paich takes a piano solo and Scandal's Patty Smyth harmonizes behind Henley.
It hit 7 on Billboard's Top Rock Tracks in January 1985, then went out as the album's fourth single that August and reached 22 on the Hot 100. Billboard heard a mood of aimless discontent in it; Cashbox called it melancholy and beautifully orchestrated.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 350 | WNEW-FM | WNEW Firecracker 500 (1991) | 500 |
| 1997 | 302 | 104.5 KZEP | KZEP Memorial Weekend Top 500 (1997) | 500 |
| 2002 | 588 | 92.3 KGON | KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2002) | 923 |
| 2004 | 587 | 92.3 KGON | KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2004) | 923 |
| 2011 | 755 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) | 1100 |
| 2012 | 780 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) | 1200 |
| 2014 | 428 | Big 100 | BIG 1000 New Year's Countdown (2014) | 1000 |
| 2016 | 781 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 | 1007 |
| 2019 | 650 | 102.5 KZOK | KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 | 1025 |
| 2020 | 608 | 102.5 KZOK | KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2020) | 1025 |
| 2022 | 615 | 102.5 KZOK | KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2022) | 1025 |
| 2025 | 946 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2025) | 1043 |
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