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Bob Seger helped Chevy sell a whole lotta’ trucks

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11 Jan 2022
5 min read
Question: bob seger's no. 1 hit, "like a rock," was later used to pump this car maker...

Few original hit songs, commercial jingles or advertising re-riffs or rewrites are as synonymous with a product as singer Bob Seger’s “Like a Rock” is with Chevy trucks.

Released in 1986 as the title track of Bob Seger’s (with The Silver Bullet Band) thirteenth studio album, the gritty tune reached the top spot on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart that year.

While penned as a breakup song, the undertones of Americana caught Chevy’s ear, and the carmaker soon approached Detroit-born Seger about using the song in its ads.  

Not that Seger was instantly taken by the idea.  As the musician would later tell radio host Uncle Joe Benson on the “Ultimate Classic Rock Nights” airwaves of being approached by Chevy:

“[W]hen Chevy asked for it, for a long time I turned it down, because I just didn’t want it

to be in an ad,” Seger said. “I’m really glad I did it now, because it sold a lot of trucks to save a lot of jobs, and, you know, this is my home state. So it’s a good thing. And people keep hearing it, so that’s great!”

The ad debuted in 1991 and was so popular with consumers that Chevy ran the “Like a Rock” commercial accompaniment into the New Millennium.

In the commercial, before Seger’s voice enters the fray, a series of male and female cowpokes are introduced to viewers, cut between shots of rough and rugged Chevy trucks taking on all manner of demanding terrain; a voiceover soon states:

“America is still a land of rugged individualists.”

Enter Seger: “Like a rock.  I was strong as I could be.  Like a rock – nothing ever got to me.”

Cue the continued voiceover:

“And every one of them demands something different from their Chevy truck.  But they all want the same thing: The most dependable, longest-lasting trucks on the road.”

Finishes Seger as the 30-second spot rolls out: “Oooohhh, like a rock!”

And for those really paying attention to the commercial, Seger’s voice isn’t the lone familiarity.  Responsible for the voiceover work?  That would be actor Alec Baldwin.

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