When cycling meets rock 'n' roll: legendary musicians, bands and songs that celebrate all things bike

Cycling and rock 'n' roll... an unlikely combination? Not exactly, as you're about to find out! In this article we're celebrating musicians and bands that love cycling and songs that celebrate the humble bike.  

As the title suggests, we're sticking mostly to rock 'n' roll stars for our round-up (sorry Ed Sheeran) with links to the past and present, but if you want to browse a broader listicle of famous folk who love cycling, see our feature on cycling celebrities. There are many more we won't have mentioned here, so as always drop your suggestions in the comments below and they might make the next update... 

Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker

Eric Clapton buys a Cinelli in 1985

From pedal and hum to strum and drum, two of the greatest rock musicians of all time and members of the legendary rock supergroup Cream were also avid cyclists and collectors of fine bicycles.

Both Eric Clapton and Cream's drummer Ginger Baker had ridden and raced bikes during their teens, with Baker apparently being rather good at it too – although his love for banging drums won out.

The duo discovered their mutual love for cycling during the Cream era, and both had handsome collections of steel bikes, with Cinelli being the ride of choice for Clapton. Their famous Disraeli Gears album came to be titled after another band member asked them about getting a bike – he’d seen one with 'Disraeli' gears, meaning derailleur gears, and not a former PM, which gave the band the title of the album... or so it’s believed.

Kraftwerk and the famous Tour de France song

First released in German and French languages back in 1983 by German electronic music legends Kraftwerk, Tour de France has become an eternal and iconic cycling theme tune, and rightly so.

The song was inspired by the band’s recently discovered love for cycling at the time, and co-founder Ralf Hutter even tried to talk his colleagues into making an entire cycling album... it didn't quite happpen then, but in 2003 the band finally realised Hutter's vision and released 'Tour de France Soundtracks', Kraftwerk's 11th and final album, with song names such as Tour de France Étape 1, 2 and 3, Aéro Dynamik and Titanium. 

Why did Queen write a song called Bicycle Race? Wonder no more

In 1978, the great Freddy Mercury (RIP) and Queen were recording their album 'Jazz' in Montreux, when by chance the Tour de France passed by on stage 18. Although he didn’t much like pedalling himself, Freddy and the band were inspired enough to write Bicycle Race, a classic that also had numerous reference to politics, society and culture at the time. 

Of course the song was released alongside 'Fat Bottomed Girls' as a double A-side single, and the two songs reference each other: the line "Fat bottomed girls, they'll be riding today" appears in Bicycle Race, while Mercury of course shouts "Get on your bikes and ride!" in Fat Bottomed Girls.  

The Gallagher brothers

 

 

 

 

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At the time of writing this article, the UK has gone Oasis-mad again as Liam and Noel have done their level best to put aside their differences for a huge tour in 2025; however, one of the few things they appear to agree on is cycling, with both brothers known to ride a bike.

Liam told Q Magazine in 2020 that he'd taken up cycling to replace running on the advice of his doctor after being diagnosed with arthritis; and back in 2018 he even told Bradley Wiggins to eat his heart out while cycling in a grainy video taken on his holidays. 

I'm going to take that cycle outside for a ride...
What a life
What a life

📷 Recent picture of Noel Gallagher taken by Splash News. pic.twitter.com/uFLxZkmn7B

— Latest Oasis News (@scyhodotcom) May 3, 2020

Noel, on the other hand, also revealed his fondness for cycling in 2020, saying he rides up to four times a week: "I can do two days in a row and have the third day off. I go uphill off-roading. I'm going 25k in an hour-and-a-half, it's on country roads, there's nobody on them", he told Matt Morgan's 'Funny How?' podcast.

"The only downside of the bike is the fucking helmet, but what are you gonna do?"

Noel also returned to Morgan's podcast in 2024 to say that he was just glad to still have his bike following a rather expensive divorce from music publicist Sara MacDonald. Don't look back in anger, as some might say... 

Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones

Get off of my Condor? Yep, the evergreen Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger rides a bike, albeit an e-bike these days. 

Mick and other members of the band and its management have been cyclists and fans for decades, with Mick riding since the 1960s, famously buying a Condor road bike in 1975.

The old memory cells are a bit jaded, and this was pre-internet, but if I remember correctly the band’s manager was also a member of a London cycling club, and would lend his red Ferrari as lead car for their races – although I cannot remember the exact details.

Lloyd Cole

 

 

 

 

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It’s been something of a bumpy ride from his Lost Weekend in Amsterdam to a long weekend at a sportive in Rotherham, but finally Lloyd Cole got there. The front man of Lloyd Cole and th Commotions has become something of a cycling fanatic, regularly riding gran fondos and and all kinds of bikes. He's still performing regularly off the bike too.  

Martin Fry of ABC

Gears are not enough? Okay, it was of course Tears are Not Enough, a classic ABC hit of the mid-1980s, but did you know the band's lead singer Martin Fry is now a super keen cyclist? 

Yep, Mr Fry even took on the Eroica Brittania in 2017 and 2018, and has been known to ride a fine handmade titanium bike from Italian makers Passoni. 

Mike Edwards of Jesus Jones

Ride Here Ride Now! The frontman of one of the biggest alternative rock bands of the 1990s is also a long-time avid cyclist. During the first half of the 90s, when the band was at the peak of their fame, Edwards was a regular XC MTB rider and racer. He was even sponsored by Saracen and regularly appeared at races and in photoshoots.

Mike saw riding the bike and racing as a personal sanity saver in a world of rock 'n' roll craziness.

Danny Clarke, the 6-Day singer/songwriter

Tasmanian fast man Danny Clarke stands as one of the greatest 6-day racers, and indeed greatest track racers of all time – and he’s still out there riding bikes fast well into his 70s.

With a staggering 74 6-Day wins, four World titles and countless other medals and accolades to his name, Danny was a tough man to catch. He was largely based in Belgium during his lengthy career, and he also made numerous UK pro appearances.

Back in the '80s, the finances of a pro bike racer were not on anything like the current level, and Clarke would regularly entertain the crowds by singing and playing instruments in the track centres between 6-Day sessions. The ode to Stephen Roche above is particularly fun to listen to!

Half Man Half Biscuit

It would be wrong not to include the Birkenhead-based rock band in this article, the only group we can think of that managed to reference Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins in their lyrics; listen to Every Time a Bell Rings if you don't believe us, and then go read John Stevenson's review of the album it appeared on, imaginatively titled "No One Cares About Your Creative Hub So Get Your Fuckin' Hedge Cut". 

The song we've gone for in the link above is 1997's See That My Bike’s Kept Clean, written before we had all those fancy purpose-made bike cleaning potions... 

Eddy Planckaert

We Got to Win, quite possibly the motto of the legendary Belgian cycling dynasty of the Planckaerts, and a song that Eddy himself took to recording many years ago.

With classic victories in Paris-Roubaix, Flanders, Het Volk and E3 to his name, amongst countess grand tour stage wins, Eddy was also a born entertainer, and the family also starred in their own reality TV show in Belgium, Chateau Planckaert.

David Byrne of the Talking Heads

From Psycho Killer to cycle thriller, Dumbarton born rock legend David Byrne has had a long-term and lasting love for cycling. His leaning towards the humble bicycle isn't really of a sporting nature, more based on urban riding, which led to him releasing the superb Bicycle Diaries book in 2009.

Neal Peart of Rush 

From Tom Sawyer to touring Africa on a bike. Neal Peart, the late drummer with Canadian rockers Rush, took a month-long bike tour through Cameroon in 1998, and wrote a book about his journey, 'The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa', which was highly successful.

Later on, he also wrote other travelogue books based around motorised journeys.

The Ditty Bops 

One of the more obscure entries in our list, but we think you'll agree also one of the most committed to the bicycle. LA duet (and married couple) Abby DeWald and Amanda Barrett, known as the folk and bluegrass-inspired band The Ditty Bops when they were active, completed a huge US tour in 2006 by riding to each concert, covering a huge 4,700 miles according to reports at the time. Travelling from LA to New York, the duo played around 40 shows to promote their new album 'Moon Over the Freeway' while also promoting cycling and clean air. 

Bono

Where The Streets Have No Name... is that when U2 singer Bono uses Komoot?

It’s hard not to give the Irish icon of rock a mention when it comes to cycling, although somewhat ironically it was his New York bike crash while strutting around in his Lycra that highlighted his love for riding to the rest of the world.

Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet

To cut a long ride short? Much like the other of the New Romantic era figures we mentioned, Spandau Ballet star and actor Gary Kemp also became an avid cyclist in the late 2000s, and he took it quite seriously too, competing in various events and group rides between gigs. He was often on his Colnago C50, although we haven’t heard much of his recent two-wheeled exploits.

The Style Council

During the early 1980s, there were a handful of bands around playing in retro woollen cycling team jerseys and caps, although the all-time standout cycling-related music video from the decade must be from the Style Council. The video for their hit 'My Ever Changing Moods' saw lead singer Paul Weller and keyboard player Mick Talbot race long in retro TI-Raleigh bikes and Magniflex kit.

De Molteni’s

 

 

 

 

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Belgium is of course more famous for its historical and current cycling stars than its musicians, and one band who are unlikely to change that are De Molteni’s. Named after the legendary Italian-Belgian team of Eddy Merckx, the band perform all kinds of cheesy tunes, all whilst dressed in retro Molteni race kit.

And while we’re here, here’s a song about the great man himself...