John Denver’s hit 1971 song “Take Me Home, Country Roads” may very well be the song of the summer. It’s certainly the unofficial anthem of the 2026 World Cup for the United States. The tune has gone viral for U.S. fans belting it out following the team’s World Cup wins against Paraguay and Australia, and even after the loss against Turkey.
According to Major League Soccer, Denver’s song was submitted to FIFA by the U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) as an option to be played following World Cup wins. Amy Hopfinger, a former executive at U.S. Soccer, ultimately chose the song for the USMNT from a list of other possible hits to be used during warmups, goals and wins. Other potential song choices included “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond and Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer.”
USMNT player Chris Richard told Major League Soccer, “All of us know that part of being American is knowing ‘Country Roads,’ so we were all singing it together… It was cool, again, to hear everything from the crowd, and the crowd knows they’ve been our 12th man so far in this tournament. If we need that extra one percent, they’re always there for us. So it’s been amazing.”
Although the song was made famous by the folk singer’s distinctive voice, he had some help co-writing the lyrics to his massive hit.
The backstory of “Take Me Home, Country Roads”
Denver’s hit song was co-written by two men named Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert, according to the Library of Congress. They were Denver’s friends and fellow musicians, and had intended to sell the song to country legend Johnny Cash.
One of the song’s most famous lines is: “West Virginia, mountain mama, take me home, country roads.” Although the song is considered a tribute to the state of West Virginia, neither of the three artists had ever visited.
“The inspiration to sing about this state came from a set of beautiful postcards a friend had sent to Bill Danoff,” the Library of Congress states.
In January 1971, Denver recorded the song in New York City. It was subsequently released as a single on April 12, 1971.
It was Denver’s most successful song of his career, and peaked at #2 on the Billboard US Hot 100 singles by August 1971.
The legacy of “Take Me Home, Country Roads”
Denver told the press in 1971 more about his hit song, sharing, “We wanted it to be melancholic and nostalgic but at the same time happy… ‘Country Roads’ says good things about what people everywhere can relate to.”
Denver’s life came to a tragic end on October 12, 1997, after the plane he was piloting crashed in California. He was just 53 years old.
However, his legacy lives on through his music—particularly “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” In 1998, Denver was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for the hit song.
In 2014, the state of West Virginia made “Take Me Home, Country Roads” one of its official state anthems, and the song was also added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry in 2023.
