Supernatural's Best Music Moments
There are three things Supernatural's Dean Winchester loves more than anything: His family (both blood and chosen), his Baby and classic rock music. The hunter's affection for old time rock and roll dates all the way back to the pilot, when Sam mocked his brother's cassette collection, prompting Dean to respond, "Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole."
Ever since that first episode, classic rock has been embedded in the show's DNA, with tunes from bands and singers such as AC/DC, STYX, Def Leppard, Bob Seger and many more music icons featured on the series. And while the earlier seasons were definitely heavier on the use of classic rock, the later years also produced many memorable marriages of song and scene.
In honor of Supernatural Finale Week, TVLine has gathered 20 of the show's best music moments, complete with video so you can fully relive the scenes, fall down a YouTube rabbit hole and get the lyrics stuck in your head, too. (Sorry, not sorry.) Our picks include classics like "Back in Black," "Heat of the Moment" and "Renegade," as well as an unexpected pop tune and an entire episode's worth of songs.
Review our list below, then hit the comments with your top music moments!
"(Don't Fear) the Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult
Season 1, Episode 12, "Faith"
There was no more perfect choice for the moment that Dean and Sam realized they were dealing with a reaper.
"Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Season 1, Episode 22, "Devil's Trap"
The Season 1 finale concluded with a huge life-and-death cliffhanger, with Dean, Sam and John's car getting T-boned by a semi-truck. The use of "Bad Moon Rising" added an ominous note to the climactic scene.
"Back in Black" by AC/DC
Season 2, Episode 3, "Bloodlust"
Let's call this montage, with its slick Baby close-ups and "Back in Black" soundtrack, what it is: Impala porn.
"Renegade" by STYX
Season 2, Episode 12, "Nightshifter"
There is perhaps no better music cue in the show's history than the moment when Dean and Sam just barely escaped the FBI and these oh-so-perfect lyrics started playing: "Oh Mama, I'm in fear for my life / From the long arm of the law"
Then it got even better when Dean noted, "We are so screwed," right before the song upped the tempo and declared, "This jig is up, the news is out / They've finally found me"
"Silent Lucidity" by Queensryche
Season 2, Episode 17, "Heart"
How could anyone not well up as a teary Sam prepared to kill Madison while the emotional power ballad started softly playing in the background?! If ever a song upped the emotion in a scene, it was this one.
"Heat of the Moment" by Asia
Season 3, Episode 11, "Mystery Spot"
It's a good thing the Asia tune is so catchy, because it played over and over and over in the Groundhog Day-esque episode.
"Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor
Season 4, Episode 6, "Yellow Fever"
The outtake, which aired right after the episode, became an instant classic thanks to star Jensen Ackles' pitch-perfect lip-sync performance.
"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" by Bob Dylan
Season 5, Episode 16, "Dark Side of the Moon"
This was not the first time the show used the Dylan track — it also played in Season 2's "Houses of the Holy" — but the juxtaposition of Dean reliving a treasured memory with young Sam in Heaven made it extra powerful the second time around.
"O Death" by Jen Titus
Season 5, Episode 21, "Two Minutes to Midnight"
The moody, eerie cover was an "A+" choice to accompany Death's slow-motion introduction. We've still got chills.
"Rock of Ages" by Def Leppard
Season 5, Episode 22, "Swan Song"
Dean rolled up to Season 5's final battle between Lucifer and Michael with his own selection playing on the Impala's cassette deck, and it, well, rocked.
"Beautiful Loser" by Bob Seger
Season 6, Episode 1, "Exile on Main St."
The Season 6 opener kicked off with a montage of Dean's new normal life, and you immediately knew domestication wasn't the right fit for the hunter, thanks to the song choice. (Hey, at least he was still beautiful!)
"Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple
Season 6, Episode 2, "Two and a Half Men"
We like to think of this one as the Dean/Impala reunion song: After a brief attempt at a non-hunter life, Dean dusted off Baby to the sounds of this '70s rock classic.
"Goodbye Stranger" by Supertramp
Season 8, Episode 17, "Goodbye Stranger"
This pick played to the idea that Cas had become like a stranger to the Winchesters and also doubled as a "goodbye" song for the closing scene, in which the angel left on a Greyhound bus.
The Musical Episode
Season 10, Episode 5, "Fan Fiction"
It is simply impossible to select just one moment from the 200th episode, which featured three clever original songs ("The Road So Far," "A Single Man Tear" and "I'll Just Wait Here Then"), as well as a stirring rendition of "Carry On Wayward Son" that even got Dean and Sam a little misty. So please enjoy this compilation of every musical performance from the milestone installment.
"Night Moves" by Bob Seger
Season 11, Episode 4, "Baby"
In a rare and wonderful brotherly sing-along moment, both Dean and Sam belted out their best "Night Moves" rendition after the elder Winchester interrupted Sam's morning-after with a waitress.
"Fare Thee Well" by Rob Benedict
Season 11, Episode 20, "Don't Call Me Shurley"
Just ahead of Dean and Sam discovering that Chuck is God, the Almighty got up on stage and performed a tender cover of the folk classic.
"Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica
Season 13, Episode 1, "Lost and Found"
The show has used many songs to accompany its "The Road So Far" recaps. Of course, Kansas' "Carry On Wayward Son," which has played ahead of almost every season finale, is the best, but this Metallica track also did its job very well for the Season 13 premiere recap.
"God Was Never on Your Side" by Motörhead
Season 14, Episode 20, "Moriah"
The Motorhead anthem pretty much said everything you needed to know about Chuck/God's dark turn, while also lending an epic feel to the beginning of the end.
"I Want You" by Savage Garden
Season 15, Episode 13, "Destiny's Child"
Bet you weren't expecting to hear this '90s pop classic on the show — and that is exactly what made it so fitting for the bizarre moment in which Dean and Sam met their yuppy Alt World selves.
"Running on Empty" by Jackson Browne
Season 15, Episode 19, "Inherit the Earth"
If the penultimate episode's nostalgic montage of the past 15 seasons, set to the Jackson Browne oldie, doesn't get you, we don't know what will!