Football, America’s sport. Before storming the gridiron or lining up for the kickoff, you can hear these tunes blaring over the sound system. 60 minutes of hard hitting action, big plays and an energetic crowd are the lifeblood of the stadium sounds.

Below is a compiled list of some of the most hard-hitting, blood pumping songs to get the crowd ready for a battle in todays NFL.

1. Kernkraft 400 – Zombie Nation

   A trance style song performed by German electronic artist Zombie Nation, released in 1999 has become common place as a chant in sports stadiums everywhere. A commodore 64 game Lazy Jones by David Whittaker, which is a collection of Sub-games, one of which known as “Star Dust” a shoot ’em up that shoots balls of dust, provides the melody for the 12″ single known as Kerncraft 400. Everywhere from Friday Night Lights in High school games across America to the NFL you can hear the famous chant to rally the players or to celebrate a touchdown.

2. Sandstorm – Darude

   Released in 1999 as the lead single from Finnish DJ Darude’s debut studio album Before the Storm. This globally recognized trance song is a mainstay at many sporting venues across the globe. College football’s South Carolina Gamecocks can be attributed for accidentally playing the song in 2009 during the waning minutes of the Gamecocks victory over rival team Ole Miss, it has since become the rallying anthem for South Carolina fans. Many other teams have periodically adapted Sandstorm as their stadium entrance music.

3. Never Scared – Bone Crusher

   American hip hop recording artist Bone Crusher released this song as his debut single in 2003. Featuring other notable rappers in the hip hop scene T.I. and Killer Mike, this song instantly became a top-40 hit, reaching 26 on the Billboard Hot 100, and top 10 of the Billboard Hot R&B Hip-Hop and Rap charts.
   This song has been remixed several times, one of which was featured on the video game Madden NFL 04. In the mid 2000’s this song was commonly heard briefly during defensive stand situations or heading into overtime.






4. Til I Collapse – Eminem

   Released in 2002 and sampling the “stomp-stomp-clap” beat made famous by Queen on their song “We Will Rock You” (1977), and incorporating a militaristic melody of marching down the field, the Detroit native Eminem has produced hard hitting hype song that will even bring the 0-16 Detroit Lions out of a funk.
   Often heard in segments on NFL commercials, previews and highlight reels this is one song that gets the blood pumping and tops several workout playlists.

5. Boom – P.O.D.

   More of a highlight reel song and popular in the MMA world, P.O.D.’s hit song Boom has graced the airwaves since 2002. A Nu-Metal song that mixes rap style lyrics with heavy metal sound is also used as an opener for the bands concerts, P.O.D. does a good job of producing a fun rock song that engages the audience. Several sports related movies have also incorporated this song such as Balls of Fury and Here Comes the Boom. This is also probably the only rock song that has ever made a table tennis tournament hardcore.

6. Bodies – Drowning Pool

   What better way to prepare for a hard hitting defensive football game than with a song whose riff, and lyrics build gradually counting up from one to four until it reaches the aggressive chorus “let the bodies hit the floor”. Let’s face it, everyone loves those highlight reel hits a linebacker or defensive back lays on an opposing teams star running back or wide receiver.






7. Thunderkiss ’65 – White Zombie

   The only official single from White Zombie’s album La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One. It’s upbeat riff accompanied by Rob Zombie’s voice is a great song that pumps the fans up periodically at sporting events. More common in games with continuous action like the NBA or Hockey, it has been heard playing in several NFL stadiums such as the Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns and at various Monday Night Football games throughout the league.

8. Down With The Sickness – Disturbed

   “Down with the Sickness” features the famous “ooh-wah-ah-ah-ah” staccato noise from front man David Draiman at the end of the intro and several times throughout the song. It has been used often as entrance music in sports, college teams like Rutgers and Delaware and even the Dallas Cowboys have been caught coming through the tunnel blaring the likes of this song. This is one of Disturbed’s best known songs to date, as well as their first single to be certified platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America.

9. Enter Sandman – Metallica

   One of Metallica’s most played songs, having been performed live by the band 1,133 times – it has become an entrance staple in many sports venues. First used by the Louisville Cardinals as tunnel music, and later to become the renowned entrance for Major League Baseball’s closer Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees. Several other football teams used this song as well including the Virginia Tech Hokies, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Iowa Hawkeyes, and Souther Illinois Salukis to name a few.

10. Seven Nation Army – The White Stripes

    American rock duo The White Stripes released this song as their lead single from their fourth studio album, Elephant in 2003. The underlying riff which plays mostly throughout the song, and a combination of its popularity can be attributed to the widespread adaption into sports venues across the globe. The song is extremely popular in many European football stadiums and even became the unofficial anthem of Italy’s World Cup win in 2006. In America, many college football teams have played this song as not only stadium entrances, but bands can be heard playing it throughout.

    In 2011 the Baltimore Ravens have used this as the official hype song. During Super Bowl XLVII, Ravens fans were heard chanting the song as the power went out during live TV coverage in the third quarter.






11. Thunderstruck – AC/DC

    The first song on their 1990 album The Razors Edge, this is one of the only two songs released after “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)” that the band still performs live in concert, the other is “Rock ‘N’ Roll Train”. This song is played before the start of every Florida Gators home game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Marshall Thundering Herd frequently play it as well as several other college teams. In the NFL it can be heard at many stadiums including the Pittsburgh Steelers who frequently play it in the fourth quarter when the defense is on the field in need of a big stop. The Kansas City Chiefs also frequently play this song at Arrowhead Stadium and is a fan and player favorite across the league.

12. Welcome to the Jungle – Guns ‘N’ Roses

    Released in 1987 this song has been very popular with the Cincinnati Bengals, this song is also frequently heard prior to the kickoff at almost every football game in America. Rated one of the greatest metal songs of all time, Guns N’ Roses will not be going away anytime soon in the stadium as this timeless tune still engages the crowd. Up until 2009 this song was used exclusively as the bands show opener before being replaced by their “Chinese Democracy” song.

13. Crazy Train – Ozzy Osbourne

    The first single from heavy metal vocalist Ozzy Osbourne’s debut solo album, Blizzard of Ozz, released in 1980. The songs main riff uses the full minor scale and is a staple in about every sports venue in America. The New England Patriots have used this song as their entrance music and the Kansas City Chiefs play this song before a kickoff. In 2009 Crazy Train was named the 23rd greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1, and is the highest placement of a solo artist on that list.

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