Song · Night Ranger
“(You Can Still) Rock in America” by Night Ranger
From the album Midnight Madness (1983)
“(You Can Still) Rock in America” by Night Ranger appears on 7 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 1997 and 2025. It was first released in 1983 on the album Midnight Madness. Its best result is #348 on the WCSX Rock & Roll 500 (2021). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,944 classic rock song of all time.
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"(You Can Still) Rock in America" was the first single from Night Ranger's 1983 album Midnight Madness, and it's a two-fisted rebuttal. The idea hit Jack Blades on a day off in Springfield, Illinois, during that year's tour with Sammy Hagar, when he picked up a pile of music magazines declaring rock dead and crowning new wave acts like the Thompson Twins and the Cure. Blades wasn't buying it, not with thousands of screaming fans turning out on the tour. He wrote the chorus first, then built the verses from fans' stories of how far they'd go to catch a rock show, and by his account it became a Night Ranger anthem.
Blades wrote it with guitarist Brad Gillis, and he and Kelly Keagy share lead vocals, with Gillis and Jeff Watson on guitars and former Deep Purple singer Glenn Hughes on backing vocals. Pat Glasser produced.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 539 | 102.3 WBAB | WBAB Top 1,023 Rock and Roll Songs of All Time (1997) | 1023 |
| 2011 | 431 | 97.9 The Loop | The Loop Rock N Roll 500 (2011) | 500 |
| 2016 | 454 | Qfm96 | Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2016) | 500 |
| 2021 | 348 | WCSX | WCSX Rock & Roll 500 (2021) | 499 |
| 2022 | 431 | 99.1 PLR | 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2022) | 500 |
| 2023 | 847 | 101.5 WPDH | WPDH Top 1015 (2023) | 1015 |
| 2025 | 476 | 97 Rock | 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2025) | 500 |
Also listed as: You Can Still Rock in America; You Can Still Rock In America; (You Can Still) Rock In ….
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