Steve Earle - Copperhead Road Apr 2026

The album version of another track on the record, "Johnny Come Lately," features the Irish punk band The Pogues .

The song reached No. 10 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, Earle's highest-peaking single. Steve Earle - Copperhead Road

On April 20, 2023, the Tennessee General Assembly officially recognized "Copperhead Road" as Tennessee's 11th official state song . The album version of another track on the

The song's steady, pounding rhythm inspired a popular country line dance that remains a staple in bars and at events. On April 20, 2023, the Tennessee General Assembly

"Copperhead Road" is the title track of Steve Earle's 1988 breakthrough album, famously dubbed by Earle as the "world's first blend of heavy metal and bluegrass". The song is a narrative epic that blends outlaw country storytelling with hard rock energy, tracking three generations of the fictional John Lee Pettimore family in rural Tennessee.

As of 2017, it has sold over 1.1 million digital copies in the U.S..

The lyrics follow a multi-generational outlaw legacy: