These Are the Most Popular Cars in Music

Edmunds

a day ago

Hip-hop is rife with car references, more than any other modern genre. That's no surprise, as, like in rock music decades before it, cars represent success, status and self-expression in the stories of its songs. The influence goes beyond just name-dropping, though. In a song like Ludacris' 'Roll Out (My Business),' his Mercedes becomes part of the story. Benzes, Bentleys, Ferraris, Lamborghinis all assume character roles in many modern hip-hop lyrics, as rappers boast of the wealth they've amassed in order to afford them.
Decades before, pop and rock artists used cars as symbols of freedom, rebellion, and romance in chart-topping hits and underground anthems. The Beach Boys rightfully get credit for mythologizing the early 1960s Southern California lifestyle in songs about surfing and driving, proclaiming their love for Ford hot rods ('Little Deuce Coupe') and Chevy V8 engines (' 409'). They weren't the only ones though, as a cottage industry of artists, records and songs about cars sprung up in the 1960s and 1970s, ranging from rockabilly artists like Vince Taylor, whose 'Brand New Cadillac' became a popular deep track when covered by The Clash, to Commander Cody's 'Hot Rod Lincoln.'
Cars were even central to the birth of rock music. 'Rocket 88,' by singer Jackie Brenston and future soul superstar Ike Turner, was released in early 1951. It's widely considered one of the first 'rock' recordings for its vigorous shuffling beat, lively guitar and horn parts, and song structure that became a template for rock songs for the next two decades. Naturally, the song was about a car, in this case the Oldsmobile Rocket 88 that had been introduced only a couple of years earlier.
Finally, one of the most famous songs of the 1980s was a lyrically loaded ode to love and romance wrapped in the metaphor of America's premier sports car. Prince's 'Little Red Corvette' cracked the Top 10 singles chart in the U.S., U.K., and Australia. In America, it reached number 6 in 1983. In 2016, following Prince's death, it reached Number 4. The single has sold nearly 1,000,000 copies to date.
Trucks and tradition
Hip-hop and rock artists love their luxury cars, sports cars, and hot rods, but country artists tend to prefer trucks as their mobile muses. Pickups are the original utility vehicles, combining strength, capability and dependability — themes that are also rich for material in country music lyrics.
Our data shows a wide variety of truck mentions popping up across music genres, covering everything from classic pickups to luxury SUVs often called "trucks" in song lyrics. The Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado get plenty of shoutouts, showing their iconic status in American culture, especially in country and rock music. Even SUVs get an occasional nod. The Chevrolet Tahoe is the seventh-most mentioned song in the dataset, merging the widely recognized truck brand with its popular SUV model.
Going a bit deeper, we looked at recent truck sales data to understand how popular trucks compare in the real world to their musical mentions. According to the latest data, the Ford F-Series dominates U.S. vehicle sales with 765,649 units sold in 2024, maintaining its place as America's best-selling truck. The Chevrolet Silverado follows closely, both results mirroring their prevalence in song lyrics. The relative absence of lyrics for Ram pickups, on the other hand, suggests Ram's marketing team has some work to do.
From motors to monikers