4 Hit Rock and Roll Songs That Were Written in Hotel Rooms While on Tour

Rock and roll stars spend the majority of their time on tour, living out of hotel rooms. While in their room between performances, they often will find inspiration and the time to write. Songs such as “Holiday Inn” by Elton John capture the life of a touring rock musician staying in hotels across the US. When they’re in the performative state of mind anyway, sometimes these hotel room writing sessions generate hit songs for the artist. Here are 4 rock and roll songs that were written in hotel rooms, while on tour.

“Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” by Journey

While on tour, Journey lead singer Steve Perry and keyboardist Jonathan Cain wrote a song using a small Casio keyboard. Inspired by divorces of the band’s members, “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” was written far in advance of the band’s next album release. They were on tour supporting their Escape album, released in 1981. The next day after writing the song in a hotel room, they performed what they had so far during the soundcheck of their next concert. The band began incorporating the song into their setlist for the rest of the 1982 tour, months before recording the track for the new album. Audiences were pleased with the new song. Released in January 1983, the song peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Every Breath You Take” by The Police

What later became the band’s biggest hit, Sting penned this song after a restless night in a hotel room. Sting claims he awoke in the middle of the night and couldn’t fall back to sleep. He began writing a song 30 minutes later. Sting brought this song to the group, who all contributed, filling out the sections of the track. The song became a No. 1 hit in 1983, outperforming “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson. It topped the chart for eight weeks. The song also reached No. 1 in the UK, where it stayed for four weeks. It won the 1983 Grammy Award for Song of the Year. “Every Breath You Take” was the biggest hit of the year 1983, and it all started with a restless night in a hotel room.

“I Wanna Be Sedated” by The Ramones

Written by Joey Ramone during Christmas in 1977, the song’s lyrics describe exactly what the band was facing. Boredom, with nothing to do and nowhere to go. The group was excited to be in the UK for the first time. In a hotel room in London, Joey and Dee Dee Ramone were sitting around, watching American movies. London shuts down during Christmas time, and they were bored out of their minds. Joey began writing about the situation, and out came one of The Ramones most identifiable songs. Joey drew inspiration from Alice Cooper’s 1972 song “Elected” while writing the lyrics. “I Wanna Be Sedated” placed No. 145 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list in 2004.

“Turn The Page” by Bob Seger

While on tour in 1972, Bob Seger wrote “Turn The Page” about experiences on tour. In a hotel room in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Seger wrote about the harassment the group faced at a truck stop in Wisconsin at two in the morning. Seger wanted to capture that experience, plus the weariness of life on the road. The song not only captures the feeling of a traveling rock group, but also of truckers and traveling businessmen as well. It caters to a larger audience that way. Though the 1973 studio version never charted, the live version from the 1976 album Live Bullet gained massive popularity. The song then became one of Seger’s signature songs. Metallica covered the song in 1998, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.