The Very Best Songs About Los Angeles, California
Discover the very best songs about Los Angeles, California. Whether you’re traveling there tomorrow or dreaming of Hollywood, we have your back. From Rosemary Clooney to Sheryl Crow, from Neil Diamond to Snoop Dogg, from The Eagles to Katy Perry, we’ve gathered the very best songs about Los Angeles, California in one place.
Start with our top ten songs about L.A., and then explore by genre—including theme songs from TV shows set in L.A., rock, blues, vocals, standards, hip hop, pop, alternative, country, folk, singer/songwriter, surf, metal, and even some holiday songs.
You’ll find all the best songs about Los Angeles, California right here.
Top 10 Songs About Los Angeles, California
- All I Wanna Do – Sheryl Crow (iTunes | Amazon) Crow sings about squandered potential and unlimited dreams in the classic “This is LA” song
- L.A. My Kinda Place – Barry White (iTunes | Amazon) Barry’s velvet undertones blanket the city where dreams are mad
- Hooray For Hollywood – Rosemary Clooney (iTunes | Amazon) George’s aunt belts out this SoCal classic. Dreams were made from this
- I Love L.A. – Randy Newman (iTunes | Amazon) Newman’s 1983 song celebrates LA landmarks – and some of the extremes of wealth and poverty around them – in this defacto LA anthem. “We love it!”
- Los Angeles, I’m Yours – The Decemberists (iTunes | Amazon) “Shallow cheeked and sure… I can see your undies” sings this cheeky ballad
- Beverly Hills – Weezer (iTunes | Amazon) Rivers Cuomo said that he wrote the song with real affection, but somehow in its journey to release people perceived it as a snarky take down
- Hollywood Nights – Bob Seger (iTunes | Amazon) Seger said he was inspired to write this song by the Hollywood Hills while driving home one night in 1977
- California – Phantom Planet (iTunes | Amazon) Made popular as the theme to the Fox series The O.C., this song resonated for Phantom Planet before the show ever aired
- Under The Bridge – Red Hot Chili Peppers (iTunes | Amazon) Penned by Peppers’ lead singer Anthony Kiedis about LA’s role as his constant companion as he recovered from drug addiction, the hit song broke the band into the mainstream
- Hollywood Swinging – Kool & the Gang (iTunes | Amazon ) This 1973 R&B funk track laid the base line for many a Hollywood soundtrack
Want more of the best songs about Los Angeles, California? Check our list below for more favorites, standbys, classics, and a few oddball selections. No matter your musical taste, you can find a sound you like among the best songs about Los Angeles. Like us on Facebook or check out more top 10 songs for other great cities and destinations.
MORE SONGS ABOUT LOS ANGELES
THEME SONGS FROM TV SHOWS SET IN L.A.
- Theme From Beverly Hills 90210 – John Davis (iTunes | Amazon) 80s America’s introduction to the 90210 zip code. Every teenager has known it since.
- 90210 Main Theme (2009 Remix) – John Davis (iTunes | Amazon)
- Theme To Fresh Prince of Bel-Air – DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince (iTunes | Amazon) “You’re movin’ with your auntie and uncle in Bel Air”
- Hey Girl (Theme to That Girl) – Zooey Deschanel (iTunes)
- Mixture (Theme From Franklin & Bash) – Pete (iTunes) A new entry into the LA TV law scene, this theme song captures the rapscallion show
- Theme From Chico & The Man – Jose Feliciano (iTunes | Amazon) Classic East Side LA, way before East LA was cool (but when shows about struggling Americans were)
- The Ballad of Jed Clampett – Flatt and Scruggs (iTunes | Amazon) How an earlier generation learned about Beverly Hills – Swimming pools, movie stars
- Theme From CHiPS – John Parker (iTunes | Amazon) Move along, nothing to see here
- Theme from Charlie’s Angels – Dominik Hauser (iTunes | Amazon)
- The Fall Guy: The Unknown Stuntman – Lee Majors (iTunes | Amazon) Leading man Majors – who played a stuntman-by-day, bounty-hunter-by-night – sang the opening title for this 80s show
- Theme From Three’s Company – Ray Charles (of The Ray Charles Singers) and Julia Rinke (iTunes | Amazon) “Take a step that is new…”
- Main Title Theme from Californication – Tree Adams & Tyler Bates (iTunes | Amazon) Introduction into the depravity of Showtime’s celebrated series
- Theme From Baywatch – Jimi Jamison (iTunes | Amazon) You know, it’s Baywatch. It was popular in syndication. And in Germany
- Superhero – Jane’s Addiction (iTunes | Amazon) This lesser known track from Jane’s Addiction caught notoriety as the theme to HBO’s uneven series Entourage
- Theme From Melrose Place – Tim Truman (iTunes | Amazon) Amanda, Michael, Jane, Sydney, Alison, Billy, Jake, Matt, Jo, Peter, Brooke, Richard, Kyle, Taylor, Samantha, etc.
- 77 Sunset Strip – Mack David & Jerry Livingston (iTunes | Amazon)
- (Wait ‘Til You See) My Gidget (Theme From Gidget) – Johnny Tillotson (iTunes | Amazon) “If you’re in doubt about angels being real, I can arrange to change any doubts you feel. Wait’ll you see my Gidget!”
- Theme From L.A. Law – Mike Post (iTunes | Amazon) Emmy winning theme music to an Emmy winning LA show
- N.C.I.S. Los Angeles Main Theme – Numeriklab (iTunes | Amazon) It’s the theme to a legal show. And it’s set in LA!
- Theme From Arrested Development – David Schwartz(iTunes) The Bluths are reduced to their simple familial relationships to protagonist Michael in this cult (and recurring) favorite
- Frolic – Luciano Michelini (iTunes | Amazon) This pleasant classical evoking tune belies the frustrations felt by everyone in Larry David’s LA life on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm
- Theme From Modern Family – Gabriel Mann (iTunes | Amazon) Hey, hey! Hey, hey! Hey, hey!
- Theme From Six Feet Under – Thomas Newman (iTunes | Amazon) Winner of two Grammys in 2003, Newman’s music set the perfectly and beautifully creepy tone for LA’s creepy Fisher and Sons Funeral Home
ROCK SONGS ABOUT L.A.
- Join Me In L.A. – Warren Zevon (iTunes | Amazon)
- Santa Monica – Savage Garden (iTunes | Amazon)
- LA Woman – The Doors (iTunes | Amazon)
- Dead Loss Angeles – The Stranglers (iTunes | Amazon)
- Hotel California – The Eagles (iTunes | Amazon)
- Free Fallin’ – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (iTunes | Amazon)
- Revolution Blues – Neil Young (iTunes | Amazon)
- California (Hustle & Flow) – Social Distortion (iTunes | Amazon)
- Walking in L.A. – Missing Persons (iTunes | Amazon)
- Malibu – Joe Walsh (iTunes | Amazon)
- Redondo Beach – Patti Smith (iTunes | Amazon)
- Bel Air Rain – Lindsay Buckingham (iTunes | Amazon)
- Big City – Wall of Voodoo (iTunes | Amazon)
- Born In East L.A. – Cheech & Chong (iTunes | Amazon)
- Cowboy – Kid Rock (iTunes | Amazon)
- American Bad Ass – Kid Rock (iTunes | Amazon)
- Diary of a San Fernando Sexx Star – Butch Walker (iTunes | Amazon)
- Hell Looks A Lot Like LA – Less Than Jake (iTunes | Amazon)
- Hollywood – Collective Soul (iTunes | Amazon)
- L’america – The Doors (iTunes | Amazon)
- L.A.P.D. – The Offspring (iTunes | Amazon)
- Old School Hollywood – System of a Down (iTunes | Amazon)
- Lost In Hollywood – System of a Down (iTunes | Amazon)
- Los Angeles Is Burning – Bad Religion (iTunes | Amazon)
- Riot On Sunset Strip – The Standells (iTunes | Amazon)
- Valley Girl – Frank Zappa (iTunes | Amazon)
- City of Angels – Red Elvises (iTunes | Amazon)
- Venice USA – Red Elvises (iTunes | Amazon)
- We Built This City – Jefferson Starship (iTunes | Amazon)
- Los Angeles – Morten Harket (iTunes | Amazon)
HEAVY METAL SONGS ABOUT L.A.
- Hollyweird – Poison (iTunes | Amazon)
- Saints of Los Angeles – Motley Crue (iTunes | Amazon)
- Angel City – Motörhead (iTunes | Amazon)
- Old L.A. Tonight – Ozzy Ozbourne (iTunes | Amazon)
STANDARDS & VOCAL SONGS ABOUT L.A.
- Hooray For Hollywood – Don Swan (iTunes | Amazon)
- Hooray For Hollywood – Nancy Sinatra (iTunes | Amazon)
- San Fernando Valley – Nancy Sinatra (iTunes | Amazon)
- Do You Know The Way To San Jose? – Dionne Warwick (iTunes | Amazon) Although a Bay Area city now known better as for technology may be in the the title, this song is really about a failed show business career in LA
- L.A. Is My Lady – Frank Sinatra (iTunes | Amazon)
- Love Potion #9 – The Searchers (iTunes | Amazon)
- Los Angeles Is Burning – Vitamin String Quartet (iTunes | Amazon)
- Hollywood – Connie Francis (iTunes | Amazon)
- Hollywood Movie Girls – Dusty Springfield (iTunes | Amazon)
- I Am, I Said – Neil Diamond (iTunes | Amazon)
- We Think The West Coast Is The Best Coast – Mel Torme & Marty Paich (iTunes | Amazon)
- Pacific Coast Highway – Burt Bacharach (iTunes | Amazon)
- Los Angeles Blues – Peggy Lee (iTunes | Amazon)
HIP HOP SONGS ABOUT L.A.
- To Live and Die in L.A. – 2PAC (iTunes | Amazon)
- I Left My Wallet in El Segundo – A Tribe Called Quest (iTunes | Amazon) A hip hop cross country excursion bears repeating after someone left his wallet down in El Segundo
- I’m In LA B**** – LMFAO (iTunes | Amazon)
- Straight Outta Compton – N.W.A. (iTunes | Amazon)
- Deez Hollywood Nights – Snoop Dogg (iTunes | Amazon)
- El Lay – Snoop Dogg feat. Marty James (iTunes | Amazon)
- Going Back To Cali – The Notorious B.I.G. (iTunes | Amazon)
- The LA Song – People Under The Stairs (iTunes | Amazon)
- L.A. Fresh – Visionaries (iTunes | Amazon)
- In LA – Wicked Minds (iTunes | Amazon)
- To Live and Die in L.A. – Makaveli (iTunes | Amazon)
- California Love – 2Pac, Roger Troutman, Dr. Dre (iTunes | Amazon)
- Boyz-n-the-Hood – N.W.A feat. Eazy-E (iTunes | Amazon)
- Inglewood Swangin – Mack 10 (iTunes | Amazon)
POP SONGS ABOUT L.A.
- Hollywood – Madonna (iTunes | Amazon)
- Hollywood Tonight – Michael Jackson (iTunes | Amazon)
- California Gurls – Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg (iTunes | Amazon)
- L.A. Baby (Where Dreams Are Made Of) – The Jonas Brothers (iTunes | Amazon)
- Tonight Tonight – Hot Chelle Rae (iTunes | Amazon) Bubblegum Pop: “There’s a party on the rooftop, top of the world. Tonight, tonight, and we’re dancin’ on the edge of the Hollywood sign”
- Welcome to Hollywood – Beyonce feat. Jay-Z (iTunes | Amazon)
- Party in the U.S.A. – Miley Cyrus (iTunes | Amazon)
- I Can’t Stand LA – Bowling For Soup (iTunes | Amazon)
- I Will Talk And Hollywood Will Listen – Robbie Williams (iTunes | Amazon)
- Hot Fudge (Moving To L.A.) – Robbie Williams (iTunes | Amazon)
- This Town – The Go-Go’s (iTunes | Amazon)
- La La Land – The Go-Go’s (iTunes | Amazon)
- Say Goodbye to Hollywood – Billy Joel (iTunes | Amazon)
- Ain’t Nobody Straight in L.A. – The Miracles (iTunes | Amazon)
- Bi-Coastal – Peter Allen (iTunes | Amazon)
- Hollywood USA – RuPaul (iTunes | Amazon)
- Barefoot in Beverly Hills – Grace Jones (iTunes | Amazon)
- Hollywood Liar – Grace Jones (iTunes | Amazon)
- In Hollywood (Everybody Is A Star) – Village People (iTunes | Amazon)
- Pacific Coast Party – Smash Mouth (iTunes | Amazon)
- West of Hollywood – Steely Dan (iTunes | Amazon)
ALTERNATIVE SONGS ABOUT L.A.
- L.A. –The Nighttime Adventure Society (Artist)
- I Heart LA – Subtle (iTunes | Amazon)
- Californication – Red Hot Chili Peppers (iTunes | Amazon)
- Goodnight LA – Counting Crows (iTunes | Amazon)
- Los Angeles – Counting Crows (iTunes | Amazon)
- California One / Youth and Beauty Brigade – The Decemberists (iTunes | Amazon)
- Hooray For Hollywood – Neon Trees (iTunes | Amazon)
- Hollywood Kids – The Thrills (iTunes | Amazon)
- California – Rufus Wainwright (iTunes | Amazon)
- What I Got – Sublime (iTunes | Amazon)
- Why You’d Want To Live Here – Death Cab For Cutie (iTunes | Amazon)
- The Dope Show – Marilyn Manson (iTunes | Amazon)
- Electrolite – R.E.M. (iTunes | Amazon)
- Hollywood Freaks – Beck (iTunes | Amazon)
- Qué Onda Guero? – Beck (iTunes | Amazon)
- Out In L.A. – Red Hot Chili Peppers (iTunes | Amazon)
- Hollywood – The Cranberries (iTunes | Amazon)
- Hollywood Is High – Violent Femmes (iTunes | Amazon)
- Pacific Coast Highway – Sonic Youth (iTunes | Amazon)
- Beverly Hills – Circle Jerks (iTunes | Amazon)
- Bel-Air – The Church (iTunes | Amazon)
- Beverly Kills – Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti (iTunes | Amazon)
- Time Spent in Los Angeles – Dawes (iTunes | Amazon)
- Drinking In LA – Bran Van 3000 (iTunes | Amazon)
- California – EMA (iTunes | Amazon)
- Los Angeles – Frank Black (iTunes | Amazon)
- The First of The Gang To Die – Morrissey (Amazon)
- Los Angeles – They Might Be Giants (iTunes)
- Anaheim (House of Blues) – They Might Be Giants (iTunes)
- The West Coast Rain – The Orange Peels (iTunes | Amazon)
- Boyz-n-the-Hood– Dynamite Hack (iTunes | Amazon)
- Cowboys From Hollywood – Camper Van Beethoven (iTunes | Amazon)
COUNTRY SONGS ABOUT L.A.
- California Blues – The Weary Boys (iTunes | Amazon)
- Marina del Ray – George Strait (iTunes)
- It’s Raining in Los Angeles – Barbara Martin (iTunes | Amazon)
- Men’s Room, L.A. – Kinky Friedman (iTunes | Amazon)
- Come Monday – Jimmy Buffett (iTunes | Amazon)
- Country Boy (You Got Your Feet In L.A) – Glen Campbell (iTunes | Amazon)
- Hollywood – Alabama (iTunes | Amazon)
- Hollywood Honeys – Hank Williams, Jr. (iTunes)
- L.A. County – Lyle Lovett (iTunes | Amazon)
- L.A. Freeway – Jerry Jeff Walker (iTunes | Amazon)
FOLK SONGS & SINGER/SONGWRITER SONGS ABOUT L.A.
- Coming Into Los Angeles – Arlo Guthrie (iTunes | Amazon)
- I Hate California – Jonathan Coulton (iTunes | Amazon)
- Southern California Wants To Be Western New York – Dar Williams (iTunes | Amazon)
- Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming To The Canyon) – The Mamas & The Papas (iTunes | Amazon)
- Trouble Child – Joni Mitchell (iTunes | Amazon)
- Lullaby – Shawn Mullins (iTunes | Amazon)
- Come a Long Way – Michelle Shocked (iTunes)
- Isn’t It Nice To Be Home Again – James Taylor (iTunes | Amazon)
- Big Dumb Town – Stan Ridgway (iTunes | Amazon)
- DTLA (Downtown Los Angeles) – Gary Jules (iTunes | Amazon)
- Grey in LA – Loudon Wainwright III (iTunes | Amazon)
- California – John Callahan (iTunes | Amazon)
SURF ROCK SONGS ABOUT L.A.
- California Girls – The Beach Boys (iTunes | Amazon)
- Surfin’ Safari – The Beach Boys (iTunes | Amazon)
- Dead Man’s Curve – Jan and Dean (iTunes | Amazon)
- Little Old Lady From Pasadena – Jan and Dean (iTunes | Amazon)
- Surf City – Jan and Dean (iTunes | Amazon)
- Girl From Malibu – Red Elvises (iTunes | Amazon)
BLUES SONGS ABOUT L.A.
- Back In L.A. – BB King (iTunes | Amazon)
- My Girl Back in LA – Bob Starr (iTunes | Amazon)
- Walking on Sunset – John Mayall (iTunes | Amazon)
ELECTRONIC SONGS ABOUT L.A.
CHRISTMAS & HOLIDAY SONGS ABOUT L.A.
- Christmas in Los Angeles – Lawrence Welk and his Orchestra (iTunes | Amazon)
- Christmas in Los Angeles – Jay Nash (iTunes)
- Christmas in Los Angeles – Kennedy (iTunes | Amazon)
- (I’m Spending) Hanukkah in Santa Monica – Tom Lehrer (iTunes | Amazon)
- (I’m Spending) Hanukkah in Santa Monica – Jody Applebaum & Marc-Andres Hamelin (iTunes | Amazon)
- LA Xmas (The Los Angeles Airport Christmas Song) – Brad Stubbs (iTunes | Amazon)
- Christmas in Hollywood – Hollywood Undead (iTunes | Amazon)
- Ain’t No Holly in Hollywood – Jocko (iTunes | Amazon)
SUGGEST SONGS ABOUT LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
Is there a good song about, from, or simply referencing Los Angeles, Hollywood, Orange County, Santa Monica, Malibu or any other city in the L.A. area that we missed? Drop us a line or like us on Facebook and let us know your favorite songs about Los Angeles, California.
Photo Credit: BriYYZ
