What’s the most popular song on the 4th of July? The answer to that question depends on where you live. And you’d be surprised at the artists and songs that always resurface around Independence Day.
When it comes to the 4th of July, a few songs pretty much dominate the entire Independence celebration. And when it comes to the biggest song, it depends on where you live. According to YouTube, it’s Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the USA’ first, followed closely by Bruce Springsteen’s classic, ‘Born In the the U.S.A.’
And if you happen to be from the state of Delaware, you’re probably singing John Mellencamp’s ‘Pink Houses’.
Any questions?
Actually, there are a lot more songs that go into heavy rotation on the 4th. According to YouTube’s stats, these patriotic songs experience the largest play increases before, during, and after the fireworks.
‘God Bless the USA’ — Lee Greenwood (24.7x)
‘Born in the U.S.A.’ — Bruce Springsteen (23.8x)
‘Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue’ — Toby Keith (12.9x)
‘Made in America’ — Toby Keith (10.7x)
‘America’ — Neil Diamond (9.3x)
‘Fourth of July’ — Fall Out Boy (8.4x)
‘American Soldier’ — Toby Keith (7.8x)
‘Arlington’ — Trace Adkins (7.3x)
‘Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)’ — Alan Jackson (5.8x)
‘Pink Houses’ — John Mellencamp (5.3x)
Accordingly, here are the artists that experience the biggest Independence Day spikes.
Unsurprisingly, country artists excel on the 4th, though plenty of other genre artists also experience gains.
Lee Greenwood (21x)
Toby Keith (3.5x)
Bruce Springsteen (2.6x)
Fito Olivares (2.5x)
Neil Diamond (2.3x)
John Mellencamp (2.2x)
Martina McBride (2.1x)
Ray Charles (2.0x)
Charlie Daniels (2.0x)
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (1.9x)
As for DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, we’re guessing ‘Summertime’ is getting all the love. And pretty much every other artist has that signature song about America.
Which brings us to Lee Greenwood, who (arguably) has most popular song about America. Actually, Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the USA’ first came out in 1984, and was largely unknown before being played at the Republican National Convention. But it really surged around the first Gulf War in the early 90s.
In terms of methodology, YouTube simply tracked play activity on July 4th, 2016, and compared it to average play data over the previous year. Also, they only tracked songs with a minimum of 1 million views.