10 Best Rock Songs About A Broken Heart

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Our 10 Best Rock Songs About a Broken Heart looks at some classic songs that we’ve all turned to during those times in our lives when we’ve experienced the pain of being dumped. For many of us, that began in our early teens, and for some, sadly, it still happens. It’s just part of life. Somehow, though, these songs could make us feel a little better because they taught us we weren’t alone. We weren’t the only ones who had our hearts ripped to shreds. It scares me that it was so easy to pick ten of these, given how much experience I have.

# 10 – Missing You – John Waite

We all loved John Waite when he was with The Babys. The man knew how to write great pop rock songs and deliver them with a vocal style that was slick, cool, and captivating. However, in 1984, he released what was possibly the biggest song of the year. This one was played nonstop because it had a groove and soulfulness that just resonated with everyone. You could feel his pain, you could feel his hurt, but he kind of did it with style.

# 9 – Cold as Ice – Foreigner

Continuing with our 10 Best Rock Songs About a Broken Heart list, we highlight an all-time rock classic by one of our favorite bands. Foreigner’s first album was filled with songs that would become all-time classics. “Cold as Ice” was definitely one of them. That opening piano riff commanded everyone’s attention instantly. This is most definitely a song about heartbreak, but it’s an angry one. Of course, that’s okay because the angry ones can sometimes be the best ones.

# 8 – Fade Away – Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen has tons of songs in his catalog about heartbreak, especially early in his career. However, “Fade Away,” obviously inspired by the sound of bands like The Drifters, is one that just stabs you in the heart. It’s one of the deeper songs in his catalog, even though it was released as a single. The chorus on this one was brilliant. However, it was the song’s ending that really drove the point home. It’s fantastic.

# 7 – Crying – Roy Orbison

In the number seven position on our 10 Best Rock Songs About A Broken Heart list, we are starting to get into some serious territory, if you know what I mean. As sad as this song is, it’s almost impossible to feel his pain because Roy Orbison sang it so beautifully. No one had a voice like Roy Orbison. He was one of a kind. Still, you get the point.

# 6 – Hurt So Bad – Linda Ronstadt

In 1980, Linda Ronstadt released an album that would become a major outlier in her career. As the new wave scene raged on, Linda jumped on board and released a killer record of new wave-infused rock songs with material written by artists and songwriters like Elvis Costello, Mark Goldenberg, and Billy Steinberg. However, one of the songs that sort of broke the mood of the new wave styles on the record was the standout recording of the song “Hurt So Bad.” This one was tragic in every glorious sense of the breakup world.

Read More: Top 10 Linda Ronstadt Songs

# 5 – Every Breath You Take – The Police

At the halfway point on our top 10 songs list is a song that stands as one of the most popular songs of the decade. The Police had the biggest hit of their career with a song that became the number one track of 1983. And what did they do not long after they accomplished such a huge feat? They went their separate ways. That’s rock and roll.

Read More: The Top 10 Police Songs

# 4 – Hurting for You – Todd Rundgren

Todd Rundgren stands as one of the most interesting artists in rock and roll history. The man could compose outrageous progressive rock music—heavy, hard, insane, and tremendously original—then, with the same ease, compose and record sweet, tender pop songs, which is an art in itself. In the end, it seems he is a man who just doesn’t care what anyone thinks; he does things his own way, and that’s probably why so many people love him. My favorite Todd Rundgren album has always been Hermit of Mink Hollow. It’s an album in which he visits the pain of heartache and breakup multiple times. However, no song on the album captures the essence of a broken heart more poignantly than this one.

Read More: Top 10 Todd Rundgren Songs

# 3 – She’s Gone – Hall & Oates

The next three songs on this list are such breakup classics that we just couldn’t leave them off. It would be hard to find anyone alive on this planet who doesn’t know this one. It’s the ultimate “she’s gone” song, to put it quite simply. The song was originally released in 1973 on the Abandoned Luncheonette album. It was the album’s fourth track. However, what people may not remember is that after “Sara Smile” became a hit a few years later, “She’s Gone” was released as a single again and became an even bigger hit, breaking into the Billboard Top 10.

# 2 – You Oughta Know – Alanis Morissette

Has there ever been an angrier breakup song than this? I don’t think so. Alanis Morissette quickly became a household name when she broke through worldwide in 1995 with this grunge-infused pop-rock song that shocked everyone. How many couples thought a little bit differently about going to the movies after they heard this song?

# 1 – Without You – Harry Nilsson

We close out our 10 Best Rock Songs About A Broken Heart list with this classic Harry Nilsson song. Of course, this was no Harry Nilsson original. The song was composed by Pete Ham and Tom Evans of Badfinger. However, Harry made this one his own. It was released in 1971 on the album Nilsson Schmilsson. Harry Nilsson won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male for “Without You” in 1973.

Updated August 28, 2026.

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