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Cover: Van Halen

Song · Van Halen

“Runnin' With The Devil” by Van Halen

From the album Van Halen (1978)

“Runnin' With The Devil” by Van Halen appears on 94 radio countdowns from 32 stations between 1978 and 2026. It was first released in 1978 on the album Van Halen. Its best result is #1 on the KISW Top 25 Rock Songs from 1978.

94countdowns
32stations
#1best position
1#1 finishes
6top 10 finishes
1978–2026years charted

Watch

Van Halen - Runnin' With The Devil (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (Van Halen). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Runnin' with the Devil" comes from Van Halen's debut album of 1978 and went out as its second single, and it's the sound of a party crashing through the front door. The four of them wrote it together, taking their cue from the Ohio Players' 1974 song "Runnin' from the Devil", and Ted Templeman produced with Donn Landee engineering, leaving the band sounding huge, loose and live.

Michael Anthony's bass pulses in stark, staccato stabs, Alex Van Halen lays down a thudding march, Edward Van Halen's guitar snarls and struts, and David Lee Roth yowls over the top with a showman's grin. Alex later said no song better shows why Eddie was a genius. VH1 named it the 9th greatest hard rock song in 2009, and it's still a staple of classic rock radio.

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

RockLists rankings

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1978 1 KISW Seattle-Tacoma, WA KISW Top 25 Rock Songs from 1978 25

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1982 110 95.5 KLOS KLOS Memorial Day 500 (1982) 499
1990 5 Z-Rock Z-Rock Top 1001 Songs of All-Time (1990) 1000
1994 7 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1994) 1000
1995 12 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995) 1000
1996 27 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996) 1000
1996 341 WNEW-FM WNEW Firecracker 500 (1996) 500
1997 25 102.3 WBAB WBAB Top 1,023 Rock and Roll Songs of All Time (1997) 1023
1998 5 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998) 1000
1999 21 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999) 998
2002 75 K-Rock K-Rock Top 92 Party Songs of All-Time (2002) 92
2002 165 KISW KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) 999
2010 11 97.9 The Loop The Loop USO Rock 'N' Roll 500 (2010) 500
2010 577 WXPN WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) 885
2011 448 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) 1100
2012 313 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2012) 500
2012 451 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) 1200
2013 74 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) 1000
2013 383 Big 100 BIG 500 Labor Day Countdown (2013) 500
2013 151 KBPI KBPI Top 200 Songs of All Time 200
2013 234 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2013) 500
2013 43 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2013) 500
2014 172 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) 1000
2014 197 Big 100 BIG 1000 New Year's Countdown (2014) 1000
2014 39 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 400 (2014) 400
2015 21 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2015) 499
2015 74 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) 1007
2015 84 I-95 I-95 Memorial Day Weekend Top 500 (2015) 500
2015 111 102.9 The Whale 102.9 The Whale Hartford 500 (2015) 500
2016 13 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2016) 500
2016 210 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 1007
2016 27 102.9 The Whale 102.9 The Whale Hartford 500 (2016) 500
2016 11 103.5 The Fox The Fox Memorial Day 500 (2016) 299
2016 246 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2016) 500
2017 258 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2017) 500
2017 96 97.9 The Loop 97.9 The Loop Top 540 Countdown (2017) 540
2017 136 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2017) 500
2018 115 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2018) 500
2018 256 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2018) 500
2019 139 102.5 KZOK KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 1025
2019 11 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2019) 499
2019 62 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2019) 500
2019 35 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2019) 500
2019 94 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2019) 500
2019 36 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2019) 500
2020 36 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2020) 500
2020 153 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2020) 1025
2020 7 Q105.7 Q105.7 Memorial Day 500 (2020) 499
2020 134 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2020) 500
2020 110 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2020) 500
2021 111 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2021) 500
2021 131 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2021) 500
2021 132 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2021) 500
2021 431 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2021) 1043
2021 83 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2021) 499
2021 40 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2021) 500
2022 708 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '70s 908
2022 159 94.1 KRNA KRNA Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 381 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2022) 500
2022 41 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2022) 1025
2022 236 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 365 97.1 The River River 500 (2022) 500
2022 134 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2022 355 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2022) 1043
2022 103 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2022) 500
2022 14 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2023 279 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 193 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2023) 500
2023 121 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2023) 500
2023 4 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2023) 500
2023 149 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 261 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2023) 1043
2023 52 97.1 The Drive 97.1 The Drive Memorial Day Weekend Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 113 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 159 101.5 WPDH WPDH Top 1015 (2023) 1015
2024 441 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2024) 500
2024 65 KQRS KQRS KQ 500 (2024) 499
2024 281 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2024) 500
2024 13 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2024) 498
2024 117 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 500
2024 518 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2024) 1043
2024 43 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 499
2024 64 KEXP The Best Opening Tracks of All Time 738
2025 164 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2025) 1043
2025 125 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 452 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2025) 500
2025 52 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2025) 500
2025 17 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2025) 498
2025 402 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2026 341 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2026) 500
2026 257 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 U-Man 500 (2026) 499
2026 410 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2026) 500
2026 232 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2026) 500
2026 416 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2026) 500

Also listed as: Runnin with the Devil; Runnin' With the Devil; Running With the Devil; Runnin' with the Devil; Runnin With the Devil; Runnin' with The Devil.

Charting alongside it in 1978

Best songs of 1978 →
  1. 2Who Are YouThe Who
  2. 3Fat Bottomed GirlsQueen
  3. 4Don't Fear the ReaperBlue Oyster Cult
  4. 5LightsJourney
  5. 6Miss YouThe Rolling Stones
  6. 7RenegadeStyx

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