Evel Never Dies

Album: Stoners Rule (2021)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song is a tribute to Evel Knievel, the famous daredevil who captivated crowds in the '60s and '70s with his motorcycle jumps. He died in 2007 at 69, but as this song proves, his memory lives on.
  • Stöner is comprised of Nick Oliveri and Brant Bjork, founding members of the band Kyuss. Oliveri later joined another Kyuss founder, Josh Homme, in Queens Of The Stone Age.

    They put Stöner together after the pandemic took hold in 2021. They did some jamming via livestream and started writing songs together, taking care not to overcomplicate.

    "We wanted to stay really focused on keeping it simple, our version of the Ramones," Oliveri said in a Songfacts interview. "Not Ramones style, but the idea of, '1-2-3-4! Let's get it on and let's play.' So verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, out kind of thing."

    "He had some parts on most of the songs, and I came in with an old tune I had that we jammed when we were kids," he added. "This riff I had, we ended up calling it 'Evel Never Dies' – the Evel Knievel song. I didn't know what to do with the song because I always thought it was kind of silly, but Brant goes, 'I like it! It's good.' So it worked. And that's how we did Stöners Rule – we threw it together in a short period of time, and Brant had most of the ideas."
  • Considering his iconic status, it's surprising Evel Knievel isn't mentioned in more songs. In the 2010s, he started showing up in songs by rappers who weren't alive when he was performing his famous stunts. A few mentions we found:

    "Magic" by B.o.B ("I break all the rules like Evel Knievel")

    "Living Better Now" by Jamie Foxx ("Pull up in Pakistan like I'm Evel Knievel")

    "Runaway" by J. Cole ("Seen evil that not even Knievel know"

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

How The Beatles Crafted Killer Choruses

How The Beatles Crafted Killer ChorusesSong Writing

The author of Help! 100 Songwriting, Recording And Career Tips Used By The Beatles, explains how the group crafted their choruses so effectively.

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular Music

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular MusicSong Writing

Starting in Virginia City, Nevada and rippling out to the Haight-Ashbury, LSD reshaped popular music.

Steely Dan

Steely DanFact or Fiction

Did they really trade their guitarist to The Doobie Brothers? Are they named after something naughty? And what's up with the band name?

Millie Jackson

Millie JacksonSongwriter Interviews

Outrageously gifted and just plain outrageous, Millie is an R&B and Rap innovator.

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine Band

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine BandSongwriter Interviews

Harry Wayne Casey tells the stories behind KC and The Sunshine Band hits like "Get Down Tonight," "That's The Way (I Like It)," and "Give It Up."

Francis Rossi of Status Quo

Francis Rossi of Status QuoSongwriter Interviews

Doubt led to drive for Francis, who still isn't sure why one of Status Quo's biggest hits is so beloved.