Chariots of Fire. The Miami Vice Theme. Green Onions. The Pink Panther Theme. Some of the most recognizable songs in music history were instrumental tracks.
Whether it’s Joe Satriani shredding on the guitar, Miles Davis blowing that trumpet, or Black Violin creating a hip-hop mood with classical instruments, there’s nothing like a great piece of music to paint a picture, without needing any words at all.
What are the best instrumental songs of all-time? Who are the best instrumental musicians still performing today? Which categories do the Grammy Awards have for instrumental music?
We’ll answer all of these questions in our comprehensive guide to good instrumental music.
Popular Instrumental Songs: A Chronological List
Let’s start by running down some of the most noteworthy and successful instrumental songs in history, in chronological order.
This obviously isn’t a complete list, but it covers many of the biggest hits. Especially noteworthy songs are listed in bold.
* Songs marked with an asterisk contain a minimal amount of vocals or a short vocal sample, but are generally still considered instrumental songs.
1958: Tequila, the Champs*
1958: Moovin’ and Groovin’, Duane Eddy
1958: Rumble, Link Wray
1959: Sleep Walk, Santo & Johnny
1960: Walk, Don’t Run, the Ventures
1960: Misirlou, Dick Dale
1960: Theme from A Summer Place, Percy Faith
1961: Wonderland By Night, Bert Kaempfert
1961: Calcutta, Lawrence Welk
1961: One Mint Julep, Ray Charles
1961: Wonderland By Night, Louis Prima
1962: Soul Bossa Nova, Quincy Jones
1962: Green Onions, Booker T. & the MG’s
1963: Wipe Out, the Safaris
1963: The Pink Panther Theme, Henry Mancini
1964: Java, Al Hirt
1965: Taste of Honey, Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
1965: The In Crowd, Ramsey Lewis Trio
1967: Third Stone From the Sun, Jimi Hendrix Experience*
1967: Interstellar Overdrive, Pink Floyd
1968: Classical Gas, Mason Williams
1968: 2001: A Space Odyssey Theme / Also Sprach Zarathustra
1969: Theme from Romeo & Juliet, Henry Mancini
1969: Hawaii Five-O, the Ventures
1969: The Star-Spangled Banner (at Woodstock), Jimi Hendrix
1969: Black Mountain Side, Led Zeppelin
1970: Wigwam, Bob Dylan
1971: Right Off, Miles Davis
1972: Outa-Space, Billy Preston
1973: Frankenstein, Edgar Winter Group
1973: Love’s Theme, Barry White & Love Unlimited Orchestra
1973: Dueling Banjos, Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell
1974: Tubular Bells, Mike Oldfield
1974: Machine Gun, the Commodores
1974: Summer Madness, Kool & the Gang
1974: TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia), MFSB featuring the Three Degrees
1974: Pick Up the Pieces, Average White Band*
1974: Jessica, Allman Brothers Band
1975: The Hustle, Van McCoy*
1975: Autobahn, Kraftwerk
1975: Freeway Jam, Jeff Beck
1975: Main Title (Theme from Jaws), John Williams
1976: A Fifth of Beethoven, Walter Murphy
1976: Breezin’, George Benson
1977: Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band, Meco
1977: Theme from Charlie’s Angels, Henry Mancini
1977: Roots Medley, Quincy Jones
1978: Feels So Good, Chuck Mangione
1979: Rise, Herb Alpert
1981: Theme from Hill Street Blues, Mike Post & Larry Carlton
1982: Sirius, Alan Parsons Project
1982: Chariots of Fire, Vangelis
1983: Rockit, Herbie Hancock
1985: Miami Vice Theme, Jan Hammer
1985: Axel F, Harold Faltermeyer
1985: Love Theme from St. Elmo’s Fire, David Foster
1986: Orion, Metallica
1987: Songbird, Kenny G
1990: Roundball Rock (The NBA on NBC theme), John Tesh
1991: Lily Was Here, Dave Stewart & Candy Dulfer
1993: Forever in Love, Kenny G
1996: Theme from Mission: Impossible, Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen
1996: Children, Robert Miles
1998: Southampton, James Horner
1999: Kernkraft 400, Zombie Nation
2000: Sandstorm, Darude
2005: Panther Dash, the Go! Team
2007: The Simpsons Theme, Green Day
2010: Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites, Skrillex*
2011: Seven Sisters, Tori Amos
2012: Greyhound, Swedish House Mafia
2012: Harlem Shake, Baauer*
2013: That’s It!, Preservation Hall Jazz Band
2014: Animals, Martin Garrix*
2014: High Ball Stepper, Jack White
2015: Cream on Chrome, Ratatat
2019: Showoff, Black Violin*
2023: I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a Rap Album, But This is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time, Andre 3000
Instrumental Music in the Culture Over the Years
In the ’60s and ’70s, instrumental songs regularly charted on the Billboard Hot 100, and even reached the Top 40 frequently.
Lots of them were theme songs from movies or tv shows, like Star Wars, Hawaii Five-O, Charlie’s Angels, and Jaws. Percy Faith’s “Theme From a Summer Place” actually won the third Record of the Year Grammy Award ever given out, back in 1961.
In the 1980s, instrumental songs were less frequent on the radio, but a few smash hits broke through the pack, such as “Chariots of Fire” by Vangelis, “Axel F” by Harold Faltermeyer, “Miami Vice Theme” by Jan Hammer, and “Songbird” by Kenny G.
Starting in the ’90s, for whatever reason, wordless songs almost disappeared from Top 40 radio. One of the few instrumental ’90s hits was James Horner’s “Southampton” from Titanic, but the remixed version that got played on the radio wasn’t truly instrumental — it featured audio clips from the movie.
Instrumental music appeared to be gone from the Top 40 for good by the 2000s, but in the 2010s, the emergence of EDM brought it back, as artists like Swedish House Mafia, Skrillex, Avicii scored big dance club hits.
Modern Artists Primarily Known For Instrumental Music
Some artists work entirely in instrumental music. This ranges from hard rock acts like Ratatat and Explosions in the Sky to jazz performers like Kamasi Washington.
Here’s a list of our favorite contemporary instrumental acts. Look them up and stream their music if you like!
Alphabetical List of Recommended Contemporary Instrumental Artists:
Black Moth Super Rainbow (electronic/rock)
Black Violin (hip-hop)
Explosions in the Sky (rock)
Bela Fleck (bluegrass)
Kenny G (smooth jazz/pop)
The Go! Team (pop)
Justice (electronic dance)
Kaki King (atmospheric rock)
Lightning Bolt (hard rock)
Steve Martin (bluegrass)
Mogwai (rock)
Ratatat (rock)
Rodrigo y Gabriela (acoustic rock)
Joe Satriani (rock)
Snarky Puppy (jazz fusion)
STS9 (rock)
Swedish House Mafia (electronic dance)
Trombone Shorty (jazz)
Steve Vai (rock)
Kamasi Washington (jazz)
Artists who aren’t entirely instrumental, but have a number of great instrumental songs in their catalogue:
Jon Bastiste (pop/jazz)
Jake Blount (bluegrass)
Enya (new age)
Fever Ray (electronic)
Alison Krauss & Union Station (bluegrass/country)
M83 (rock)
Nine Inch Nails (hard rock)
Santana (rock)
Sigur Ros (rock)
Jamie xx (electronic/rock)
Instrumental Grammy Categories
Up until about 10 years ago, the Grammys used to have various categories for instrumental songs: Best Rock Instrumental, Best Country Instrumental, Best Pop Instrumental, and so on.
As Grammy nerds, we became interested in those less-visible awards that often honored some of the best musicians in the world.
Unfortunately, as part of the Grammys’ restructuring, most of the instrumental categories were eliminated. These days, there are four primary instrumental Grammy categories.
Best Jazz Instrumental Album: This is a straightforward category that rewards the top jazz performance. This award has existed since the first Grammys in 1959, and has been won by a lot of legends, including Count Basie, Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, and Herbie Hancock.
Best Latin Jazz Album: This category specifically rewards music that falls under the “Latin Jazz” umbrella. The Recording Academy clarifies, “The intent of this category is to recognize recordings that represent the blending of jazz with Latin, Iberian-American, Brazilian, and Argentinian tango music.”
Best Contemporary Instrumental Album: Basically, all instrumental albums that are not jazz get tossed into this category. Frequent nominees in this category include Bela Fleck, Snarky Puppy, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Kenny G, and Julian Lage. The Beastie Boys and Peter Frampton also won this award.
Best Instrumental Composition: This is the only Grammy Award for individual instrumental tracks. All genres are eligible. Composer John Williams has won a whopping 12 times for his film scores, which is why he ranks in the Top 10 all-time for most Grammy wins.
Instrumental music usually isn’t very high-profile, so it’s entirely possible we’ve overlooked some good tunes. Feel free to leave a comment with any of your favorites that we missed!
Last Updated on February 3, 2026
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