JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is an anime that’s intrinsically linked to pop culture music. The names of its heroes, villains, and powers are song references all the way back to Phantom Blood that’ve only gotten more modern, referencing Nu Metal royalty like Limp Bizkit, rappers like Notorious B.I.G., and pop stars like Lady Gaga as the manga marches to its current part, JoJoLands, referencing the likes of Dua Lipa.
A lot of JJBA‘s having music be a core part of its DNA, right next to fashion, is thanks to mangaka Hirohiko Araki listening to music while he’s been drawing the manga for roughly 40 years. And the anime’s quirky localization continues that trend twofold by trying its damndest to adapt in a legally distinct way, as well as by featuring music from Western popular artists in every one of its outros, including the likes of Yes’ “Roundabout”, The Bangles’ “Walk Like An Egyptian”, Pat Metheny Group’s “Last Train Home”. Savage Garden’s “I Want You”, Jodeci’s “Freak’n You”, and Duffy’s “Distant Dreamer”
So, in lieu of there being no more JoJo Fridays, we’re taking it upon ourselves to do the same fan crafting from the internet of old that led JJBA fans to edit Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” as Golden Wind‘s intro, by fan-mixing two songs we think would be perfect outros to Steel Ball Run.
Old Town Road by Lil Nas X
Okay, yeah, obviously we were gonna pick “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X as one of our songs. We can hear you at your keyboards now… “Why this rap song? That doesn’t fit JoJos!” Reader, if we can have “Freak’n You” as the outro to Golden Wind, anything is possible. Plus, Lil Nas X is already a walking JoJo’s reference with that viral picture of him with Tyler The Creator looking like a Stand User with his Stand. The artist himself even tweeted about his fashion sense, asking folks to stop saying he looks like a JoJo character, which only made the comparison harder.
But more importantly, the song has the kind of rebellious spirit that Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli carry, being in the race as an upstart and a guy who’s been around the block a few times in the same way Lil Nas X looked breaking onto the scene with a rap-country mix with the likes of Billy Ray Cyrus. Plus, it’s got a horse-riding motif throughout, and it’s a catchy earworm of a ditty to boot, making it a prime candidate for Steel Ball Run‘s outro. David Production and Warner Bros. Japan, if you’re reading this, this would be the neat choice as the first outro to Steel Ball Run, to coincide with the manga’s fun upstart energy.
A Horse With No Name by America
America’s “A Horse With No Name” might have a modern-day claim to fame among gamers who grew up ignoring their homework, turning on the in-game radio, and aimlessly cruised in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (or is that just me?). But the 1971 folk-rock song feels perfectly suited to Steel Ball Run. The horse motif of it all is just as apparent here as it is in “Old Town Road,” but its vibe feels especially perfect as the kind of moody second outro trend that JJBA has implemented with its second ending themes. The song’s themes of escape, alienation, introspection, and liberation encapsulate the hardship and melancholy Gyro and Johnny experience in the final stages of their bizarre adventure.
Personally, it’s the song that comes to mind when I think of Gyro proposing a toast to Johnny despite them having lost everything. I need this.
Music and JoJo’s Run Deep
As mentioned above, music and JJBA run deep. On a literal level, this is shown by artists Tommy, Coda, and Jin performing for the first three opening parts of JJBA, respectively, and coming together as a trio for its fourth outro in a musical fashion reminiscent of the Joestars’ familial line being connected by a thread. Only here, it’s catchy songs that’d have an entire stadium bumping. This sense of connection is true in the anime’s first intro in Phantom Blood and its latest intro in Stone Ocean. In the Phantom Blood intro, we see the Joestars, starting with Part 6 protagonist Jolyne Cujoh, Part 5’s Giorno Giovanna, Part 4’s Josuke Higashitaka, Part 3’s Jotaro Kujo, and Part 2’s Joseph Joestar, striking their stylish poses in a manga sequence at the start of the opening for their predecessor, Jonathan Joestar, bursting from the confines of Araki’s manga pages into David Production’s vibrantly colorful anime in glorious 3DCG.
The intro also acted like David Production pulling a Babe Ruth, signaling a home run, promising it would eventually adapt all of JJBA from Part 6 onward. After a series of exciting opening themes (with sound effects and cool variant changes to match the cast’s reality-bending abilities), that promise was realized in the final opening theme of Stone Ocean, where Jolyne steps into that role to carry the torch and fulfill a promise made ten years earlier.
Of course, the hype for Steel Ball Run was at such a fever pitch long before Netflix announced it would be exclusively streaming the anime. In fact, the fandom took matters into their own hands, with guitarist YouTuber Nico Bellisario and anime singer Shihori loving Steel Ball Run so much that they created “Holy Steel”, a tribute song that’s been treated as the anime’s unofficial theme for years. We already know that the song’s main theme is going to be “Dance With Steel Ball Run”, written by Yugo Kanno, the insert song during Stage 1’s final stretch, which has already cracked the Top 10 on Billboard’s Japan Songs charts in France, the United Kingdom, and the United States—but we can’t help but dream of JJBA‘s musical legacy, including our curated fan-mixes as its outro songs whenever the show returns in 2026.
It’s the least we deserve after witnessing anime fans acting like fools, malding over the show’s release. Make it happen, Netflix.
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