{"id":2488,"date":"2026-06-04T17:04:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T21:04:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/?p=2488"},"modified":"2026-06-04T17:04:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T21:04:31","slug":"3-songs-that-highlight-how-southern-rock-shaped-heavy-metal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/3-songs-that-highlight-how-southern-rock-shaped-heavy-metal\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Songs That Highlight How Southern Rock Shaped Heavy Metal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In the early days of heavy metal, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and others were transforming blues and psychedelic rock into something darker and more forceful. The genre evolved, and eventually Southern rock further shaped many of its most iconic bands. Let\u2019s revisit three heavy metal tunes featuring Southern influences, which themselves are traced back to the blues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>\u201cNo More Tears\u201d by Ozzy Osbourne<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"OZZY OSBOURNE - &quot;No More Tears&quot; (Official Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CprfjfN5PRs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Ozzy Osbourne has stood on stage next to many of rock\u2019s most influential guitarists: Tony Iommi, Randy Rhoads, and Jake E. Lee. But when Zakk Wylde entered, Osbourne\u2019s latest shredder gave the Prince of Darkness a new sound. Few would have envisioned Osbourne having traces of Southern rock and country music in his doomy anthems. But Wylde\u2019s heavy riffs were buoyed by twangy licks that were equal parts virtuosity and down-to-earth relatability. \u201cNo More Tears\u201d sounds like Lynyrd Skynyrd had they grown up in Birmingham. And I\u2019m not talking about Alabama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>\u201cParadise City\u201d by Guns N\u2019 Roses<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Guns N&#039; Roses - Paradise City (Official Music Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Rbm6GXllBiw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Alabama, when \u201cParadise City\u201d arrived, many listeners noticed its similarity to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/facts\/lynyrd-skynyrd\/sweet-home-alabama\">\u201cSweet Home Alabama\u201d<\/a>. The song opens with a summery hook, but remember, we\u2019re talking about Axl Rose\u2019s band here. And these guys emerged from the Sunset Strip. While their peers may have pretended to come from the gutter, GN\u2019R didn\u2019t have to convince you otherwise. The snaking riff echoes Aerosmith in the 1970s before the track transforms into the kind of jam Lynyrd Skynyrd would appreciate. But even this might have been considered unhinged by Skynyrd\u2019s standards. If you want to know what chaos blues sounds like, Slash illustrates it here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>\u201cCowboys From Hell\u201d by Pantera<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Pantera - Cowboys From Hell (Official Music Video) [4K Remaster]\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/i97OkCXwotE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If some kind of nether realm exists and in it one found cowboys hanging out, this is what they\u2019d be listening to. Pantera emerged from Texas and redefined the genre with heavy grooves resembling a dark iteration of fellow Texans ZZ Top. Guitarist Dimebag Darrell became an instant guitar hero, with brutal riffs and Van Halen-like shredding. \u201cAin&#8217;t talking no tall tales, friend \u2019cause high noon, your doom \/ Coming for you, we\u2019re the cowboys from hell,\u201d Phil Anselmo sings here. And if you come across Texas in hell, are you going to mess with it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Photo by Martyn Goodacre\/Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the early days of heavy metal, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and others were transforming blues and psychedelic rock into something darker and more forceful. The genre evolved, and eventually Southern rock further shaped many of its most iconic bands. Let\u2019s revisit three heavy metal tunes featuring Southern influences, which themselves are traced [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":973477,"featured_media":2489,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"byline":{"profiles":[{"type":"byline_id","atts":{"term_id":316,"post_id":2139}}]},"savage_platform_role_ideator":[],"savage_platform_role_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_senior_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_photographer":[],"savage_platform_role_illustrator":[],"savage_platform_role_translator":[],"savage_platform_role_as-told-to":[],"savage_platform_role_reviewed-by":[],"savage_platform_disable_recirculation":false,"savage_platform_article_type":"news","savage_platform_vice_article_type":"article","savage_platform_article_intent":"","savage_platform_show_affiliate_disclaimer":false,"wp_curate_deduplication":false,"wp_curate_unique_pinned_posts":false,"savage_platform_featured_image_caption":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","savage_platform_subheadline":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[70,341],"byline":[316],"class_list":["post-2488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lists","tag-heavy-metal","tag-southern-rock"],"savage_platform_primary_term":{"category":{"term_name":"Lists","term_id":14,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/category\/lists\/"},"post_tag":{"term_name":"heavy metal","term_id":70,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/tag\/heavy-metal\/"}},"hide_from_homepage":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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