"Born to Be Wild" is a song by the band Steppenwolf, initially released in 1968, but subsequently released on many different collections, the first one being the film Easy Rider. It is often used in popular culture to denote a biker appearance or mentality, and is frequently regarded as the first 'heavy metal' song ever written.

The song's second verse, which refers to "heavy metal thunder," was said to have inspired the name of the emerging heavy metal music genre. The song has been covered by two icons of heavy metal, Slayer and Ozzy Osbourne, the latter featuring Miss Piggy on his recording. It was also a popular live favourite with Slade, and is the last track on their album Slade Alive. It was also covered by Blue Öyster Cult on 1975 album On Your Feet or on Your Knees. There's an altered-lyric version on the soundtrack to the Motion Picture Herbie: Fully Loaded ; the version by The Mooney Suzuki states 'fire all your engines at once' rather than "...Fire all of your guns at once, and explode in to space" as in the original.

This song was written by Mars Bonfire, also known as Dennis Edmonton. It peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Grammy Hall of Fame Awards | Rock songs | Songs popular at sporting events

Steppenwolf songs | Wilson Pickett songs | Slayer songs | Blue Öyster Cult songs