Born to Be Wild

Mars Bonfire wrote "Born to Be Wild" as a ballad.^[7] Bonfire was previously a member of the Sparrows, the predecessor band to Steppenwolf, and his brother was Steppenwolf's drummer. Although he initially offered the song to other bands — The Human Expression, for one^[8] — "Born to Be Wild" was first recorded by Steppenwolf in a sped-up and rearranged version that AllMusic's Hal Horowitz described as "a roaring anthem of turbo-charged riff rock" and "a timeless radio classic as well as a slice of '60s revolt that at once defines Steppenwolf's sound and provided them with their shot at AM immortality".^[7]

According to Classic Rock Magazine, the track was the first in history to incorporate the word "heavy metal" into its lyrics.^[9]

"Born to Be Wild" was Steppenwolf's third single off their self-titled debut album, and became their signature song, reaching number two on the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts. It was kept from the number-one spot by "People Got to Be Free" by the Rascals.^[10]

In 2004, Rolling Stone placed "Born to Be Wild" at number 129 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.^[11] Also in 2004, it finished at number 29 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. In 2009, it was named the 53rd-best hard rock song of all time by VH1 (It had ranked 40th in the 100 Greatest Songs of Rock and Roll by VH1 nine years earlier.).^[12] In 2018, the song was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a new category for singles.^[13]

In 2021, staff writers at Classic Rock Magazine expressed the belief that "Born to Be Wild" is "probably the first real metal track."^[14]

Personnel taken from Mixonline.^[15]

• John Kay – vocals
• Michael Monarch – guitar
• Goldy McJohn – Lowrey organ
• Rushton Moreve – bass
• Jerry Edmonton – drums

In 1985, the song was covered by Australian band Rose Tattoo. Their version peaked at number 25 in Australia.^[39] In 2002, it was covered by Kim Wilde and released as a nonalbum single. Her cover reached number 84 in Germany^[40] and number 71 in Switzerland.^[41] Belgian singer Tanja Dexters also covered the song in 2002. Her version peaked at number 21 in Belgium.^[42]

Other artists who covered this song include Hinder,^[43] Etta James,^[44] Link Wray,^[44] Slade,^[45] The Cult,^[46] INXS,^[44] Ozzy Osbourne with Miss Piggy,^[47] Bruce Springsteen,^[44] Slayer,^[48] Blue Öyster Cult,^[44] Status Quo,^[44] Fanfare Ciocărlia,^[49] Krokus,^[50] Wilson Pickett,^[44] and La Renga.^[51]

• List of number-one singles of 1968 (Canada)