First of all, when we say, “Songs about Philadelphia,” we’re talking about the soul of the city, which is intertwined with our sports and culture.
And, we’re going for positive Philly energy here, and not just literal songs about Philadelphia, like Springteen’s “Streets of Philadelphia“, which is a real downer of a song that shouldn’t be on anyone’s Philly playlist.
In Philadelphia, we don’t just love our teams, we build memories around them. The right song can take you straight back to an underdog playoff run, a parade down Broad Street, a watch party, or a freezing Eagles game where everyone lost their voice by halftime, but still sang, “Fly Eagles, Fly!“
Some of these songs are tied to championships and legendary moments. Others became classics through tradition, superstition, or pure pole-climbing Philadelphia chaos. Together, they make up the soundtrack of one of the most passionate sports cities in America.
Here’s a pretty sweet playlist of 15 songs that define Philadelphia and Philly sports:
1. “Gonna Fly Now” Bill Conti (From Rocky)
Philadelphia has an underdog mentality, no matter how much we pay our athletes. Of course, Rocky Balboa was the ultimate underdog, and you can’t talk about the best Philadelphia songs without Gonna Fly Now.
Written by Bill Conti for the movie Rocky, the song became the ultimate Philadelphia underdog anthem. It’s impossible to hear the trumpet intro without immediately picturing the Rocky statue or the Art Museum steps.
Philadelphia teams use this song constantly because it perfectly represents the city’s sports identity: gritty, emotional, determined, and impossible to count out.
Fun Philly Fact: Tourists run up the “Rocky Steps” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art literally every single day while pretending this song is playing in the background. Actual Philadelphians usually just walk past them shaking their heads.
2. “Fly Eagles Fly”
If you’re wearing Eagles merch in another city, you’ll definitely get a fe, “Go Birds!” In the same spirit, few songs unite a city like Fly Eagles Fly.
The Eagles’ fight song is more than just music, and it’s basically a religious experience inside Lincoln Financial Field. After every touchdown, fans scream the lyrics together with shocking intensity, regardless of weather conditions or emotional stability.
The famous “E-A-G-L-E-S” chant has become one of the most recognizable traditions in the NFL. The song was written in 1955, but it did not become a mainstay for every touchdown until the 1999 season.
During the Eagles’ Super Bowl parade in 2018, fans sang “Fly Eagles Fly” nonstop throughout Center City. Videos from the parade showed entire streets singing in unison while climbing poles, standing on buses, and celebrating like the city had collectively lost its mind.
Did You Know? Before the 2025 Super Bowl, a church outside Philadelphia had fans and priests singing “Fly Eagles Fly” during Mass, complete with Eagles-themed priest collars. Read the history of the song here.
3. Eye of the Tiger – Survivor (Rocky)
If Gonna Fly Now is Philadelphia’s underdog anthem, then Eye of the Tiger is its pure adrenaline soundtrack.
Written by Survivor for Rocky III, the song became permanently tied to Philadelphia sports culture almost immediately. Even though the band itself was from Chicago, the song feels completely Philly because Rocky Balboa is basically Philadelphia’s fictional patron saint.
The opening guitar riff instantly transforms any sports moment into a dramatic training montage. Eagles playoff introductions? Perfect. Phillies postseason hype videos? Absolutely. Someone jogging through South Philly at 6 a.m.? Also somehow appropriate.
The song also perfectly matches Philadelphia’s sports identity, as it’s tough, emotional, blue-collar, and obsessed with proving people wrong. That’s why it still gets crowds fired up more than 40 years later.
Fun Philly Fact: Sylvester Stallone originally wanted to use Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” for Rocky III, but Queen reportedly wouldn’t approve it. So Stallone asked Survivor to create an original song instead, and they ended up making one of the most iconic sports songs in history. In a very Philadelphia twist, the backup plan somehow became even better than the original idea.
4. “Motownphilly” – Boyz II Men
“It’s long overdue but now, Philly is slammin’
(Everybody it’s) Boyz II Men, ABC, BBD,
The East Coast family.
Never skipped a beat (Nah), while coolin’ on South Street
Jet black Benz, plenty of friends (And all the Philly steaks you can eat)”
Boyz II Men gave Philadelphia one of its smoothest hometown anthems with Motown Philly. The group also came out of The Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, which makes the song feel even more like a hometown origin story.
The song celebrates Philadelphia music culture while sounding upbeat enough to fit perfectly at sporting events. Teams across the city have used it during timeouts and celebrations for years because it instantly creates good Philly energy.
Fun fact: The Roots’ Questlove appeared briefly as a drummer in the “Motownphilly” video because he knew the group from high school. He later joked that the cameo lasted about 1.9 seconds, but after the video got heavy MTV rotation, he and Roots member, Black Thought, milked it by wearing the same outfit around South Street so people would recognize him!
5. “Philadelphia Freedom” – Elton John
“Cause I live and breathe this Philadelphia freedom
From the day that I was born, I’ve waved the flag
Philadelphia freedom took me knee-high to a man, yeah
Gave me peace of mind my daddy never had”
Philadelphia Freedom by Elton John feels like it was created specifically for Philadelphia victory montages.
Originally written for tennis legend Billie Jean King and her Philadelphia Freedoms tennis team in 1975, the song became one of the city’s unofficial sports anthems over time.
The giant chorus and triumphant energy make it perfect for playoff hype videos and stadium sing-alongs.
Fun Philly Fact: Many people assume Elton John wrote the song directly about the city itself, which technically isn’t true, but Philadelphia fans adopted it anyway because it’s a great song that says “Philadelphia” about 12 times! Also, i don’t see how it was written for a tennis team?!
6. “High Hopes” – Harry Kalas (Frank Sinatra)
Nothing captures Phillies nostalgia and underdog mentality quite like Harry Kalas singing High Hopes. (aka, the rubber tree plant song) In fact, they currently play it on the giant Phanavision screen after every Phillies win. (Don’t ever leave a Phillies win without singing!)
The song became inseparable from the Phillies’ magical 2008 World Series season. Broadcaster Harry Kalas recorded his version years earlier, but during that playoff run, it suddenly transformed into a city-wide anthem. Fans sang it in bars, at tailgates, and throughout Citizens Bank Park after huge wins.
What made it special was how perfectly it matched the mood of that team. The Phillies felt loose, lovable, and optimistic; exactly like the song itself. That’s also why High Hopes was JFK’s campaign song during his underdog 1960 presidential campaign.
Fun Philly Fact: After the Phillies won the World Series in 2008, “High Hopes” blasted throughout the clubhouse celebration while players sprayed champagne everywhere. To many fans, hearing the opening notes still feels like stepping into a time machine back to that championship run.
7. “A-O-K” – Tai Verdes
“Living in this big blue world,
With my head up in outer space,
I know I’ll be A-O, A-O-K.
I know I’ll be A-O, A-O-K.
When I see trouble come my way,
I be makin’ lemonade.
I know I’ll be A-O, A-O-K.”
When Bryson Stott chose A-O-K as his walk-up song, nobody expected it to become one of the coolest Phillies traditions in years.
But by the 2023 playoffs, entire crowds were singing along before Stott even stepped into the batter’s box. Phillies fans embraced the song because it perfectly fit the team’s personality: confident, upbeat, and having fun under pressure.
A-O-K was also an optimistic theme song for the city of Philadelphia after the Covid years, when we couldn’t enjoy games in-person and sing together.
Did You Know? During one Phillies playoff game, television broadcasts picked up fans singing “A-O-K” so loudly that viewers at home could clearly hear the crowd over the stadium speakers.
8. “I-76” – G. Love & Special Sauce
“Big shot, and Mo Cheeks, and Moses Malone
Julius Erving called Philly his home
Bobby Jones, Darryl Dawkins, Andrew Toney takin’ 3s
Rocky Balboa come from South Philly
But if you wanna make it on time to the show
There’s only one road that you really have to know
So get to Fishtown without all that jive
I suggest that you drive on I-95
Wanna get downtown but feelin’ the fix
Get on that road they call 676…
I mean, can you pack more Philly references into one verse? Few songs feel more authentically local than I-76, and it’s truly a song about Philadelphia.
When the band’s 1997 album Yeah, It’s That Easy came out, Entertainment Weekly described songs like “I-76” as a “goofball paean to his native Philadelphia.”
G. Love perfectly captures the laid-back side of Philadelphia sports culture: summer Phillies games, tailgates, and stressful drives down Interstate 76.
I-76 feels like a song made for people who have sat for an hour in traffic on the way to and from the stadium complex, (WTF, SEPTA?!) and then somehow still called it a perfect day.
Anyway, I-76 is a good, authentic song about Philadelphia packed with Philly sports nostalgia.
Question: Why has 1-95 been under constant construction since 1986?!
9. “Dreams and Nightmares” – Meek Mill
Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares” is a classic rags-to-riches anthem, tracing his rise from Philadelphia’s toughest streets to rap stardom. The song is famously split into two dramatic halves: the “Dreams” section celebrates his hard-earned success, confidence, and wealth, while the “Nightmares” section confronts the struggles, doubters, and trauma that shaped him.
That’s kind of how it feels to be a Philly sports fan! No wonder Philadelphia decided to make it their official battle anthem.
Philadelphia-native Meek Mill created a song that perfectly matches the emotional intensity of Philly sports fans. The Eagles embraced it during their Super Bowl-winning season, and now it’s permanently tied to one of the greatest years in Philadelphia sports history.
The beat switch alone is enough to make an entire crowd explode.
Fun Philly Fact: Before Super Bowl LII, Eagles players blasted “Dreams and Nightmares” constantly throughout the locker room and team facilities. By the time the Eagles won the championship, the song had become inseparable from that magical season.
10. Here Come the Sixers – Fresh Aire
“One, two, three, four, five, sixers!
Ten, nine, eight, 76ers!”
Clap your hands, everybody
For Philadelphia, 76ers
Stomp your feet, everybody
For Philadelphia, 76ers!”
If you grew up around Philadelphia 76ers basketball, there’s a good chance Here Come the Sixers is permanently stuck in your head.
Performed by Fresh Aire in the 1970s, the song became one of the most recognizable team anthems in Philly sports history. “Clap your hands, everybody…” instantly turns an arena full of strangers into one giant singalong.
Unlike modern hype songs, “Here Come the Sixers” feels joyful and old-school in the best possible way. It’s tied to generations of Sixers basketball, from the Julius Erving era to Allen Iverson to today.
Fun Philly Fact: During the Allen Iverson playoff era in 2001, the contrast between Iverson’s tough image and this upbeat disco-style anthem became unintentionally hilarious, but Philly fans loved it anyway.
11. “Dancing On My Own” – Robyn / Calum Scott
“And I’m giving it my all,
But I’m not the guy you’re taking home, ooh
I keep dancing on my own…
So far away, but still so near.
The lights come on, the music dies,
But you don’t see me standing here”
No city could turn a breakup song into a baseball anthem quite like Philadelphia.
During the Phillies’ 2022 postseason run, Dancing On My Own became the team’s celebration song after wins. Soon, fans throughout Citizens Bank Park were singing it together after playoff victories.
The song somehow became emotional, triumphant, heartbreaking, and joyful all at once, which honestly describes Phillies fandom pretty accurately!
“Dancing On My Own” wasn’t designed to be a Phillies anthem. It started as a player celebration song, with Garrett Stubbs acting as the clubhouse DJ and Kyle Schwarber reportedly helping bring it over from the 2021 Red Sox. After the Phillies’ 2022 Wild Card win, the team belted it out in the champagne-soaked clubhouse, and fans quickly adopted it.
12. “Thunderstruck” – AC/DC
The Dallas Cowboys and their cheerleaders try to lay claim to this song, which is a good enough reason to put it on a list of Philadelphia songs.
Why? Because Dallas sucks! Also, Thunderstruck feels custom-built for rowdy Philadelphia sports crowds.
The opening guitar riff instantly raises the energy level inside any stadium. It works especially well during Eagles games because the city naturally gravitates toward songs that feel loud, dramatic, and slightly aggressive.
Which is also a pretty accurate description of Eagles fans, especially in the 400-level at The Linc!
AC/DC themselves have a long history in Philadelphia, and have played 20+ times there, debuting at the Tower Theater in 1979.
Did you know that Flyers goalie, Carter Hart, sported a pretty sweet AC/DC helmet during the 2022 season! (Above)
13. “God Bless America” – Kate Smith Version
For generations of Flyers fans, Kate Smith singing “God Bless America” became one of the city’s most famous sports traditions.
The Flyers had an unbelievably strong record when the song was performed before games, turning it into a beloved superstition among fans.
Many Flyers fans genuinely believed the Flyers had better luck when Kate Smith’s version was played instead of the standard national anthem. That’s how seriously Philadelphia takes sports superstitions.
Speaking of Philadelphia Flyers songs, “Man I Need“ by Olivia Dean is popular after home wins and during playoff runs, and “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love“ by Van Halen was a favorite during the “Legion of Doom” Eric Lindros years.
14. “Summertime” – DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
“Back in Philly we be out in the park
A place called the Plateau is where everybody go
Guys out huntin’ and girls doin’ likewise,
Honkin’ at the honey in front of you with the light eyes…”
Summertime perfectly captures summer in Philadelphia.
Created by hometown legends DJ Jazzy Jeff and Will Smith, the song feels like block parties, basketball courts, Phillies baseball, and warm nights in the City of Brotherly Love.
“Summertime” is one of those rare songs that instantly makes Philadelphians nostalgic, no matter how old they are. The second it starts playing at a tailgate or cookout, the mood immediately improves.
Don’t be surprised if you hear Summertime play at a Phillies game. It’s relaxed, nostalgic, and deeply connected to Philadelphia culture. We even forgive Will Smith for smacking Chris Rock! Great song about Philadelphia.
Fun Philly Fact: Will Smith grew up in the Wynnefield neighborhood of West Philly near Fairmount Park, which helped inspire the famous theme song from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: “In West Philadelphia, born and raised…”
15: El Incomprendido” by Farruko
(With “Hot” by Pitbull and Daddy Yankee) If you’ve been to a close Phillies win lately, you know that the Jhoan Duran (aka “the Durantula”) entrance is fire.
Citizens Bank Park goes dark, You hear the bell ring, phones light up, and fire and tarantulas (is that a Stephen Star restaurant, haha!?) fill the screens as this song plays, and chills go up your arms.
Let’s see how long Duran’s time in Philadelphia is, and this song will climb the chart!
Bonus: “Dayman” from Always Sunny in Philadelphia
In Philadelphia, we like our mascots and heroes a little bit deranged. In that spirit, no list of the best Philadelphia songs is truly complete without a little insanity from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Probably the best song from that series is Dayman, so enjoy this video of its humble origin in a dirty Philadelphia rowhouse!
Why Philly Sports Songs Matter So Much
Philadelphia fans don’t just hear these songs, we feel them. A few opening notes can take someone right back to a playoff run, a tailgate with friends, a family party in the suburbs, or a championship parade down Broad Street.
That’s why these songs matter so much here. They aren’t just background music at the stadium. They’re tied to the moments Philly fans remember forever: hype videos, walk-up songs, fourth-quarter rallies, packed bars, backyard cookouts, and those rare, magical seasons when the whole city of Philadelphia seems to be singing along.
Over time, these songs become part of the fabric of Philadelphia sports, and maybe part of your own family history, too. No matter where you live now, hopefully hearing them brings back a little Philly nostalgia and reminds you why this city’s sports memories hit differently!
Did we forget any great songs about Philadelphia? Let us know in the comments!