"Low Rider" is a song written by American

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

band

War War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

and producer Jerry Goldstein, which appeared on their album '' Why Can't We Be Friends?'', released in June 1975. It reached number one on the ''Billboard'' R&B singles chart, peaked at number seven on the Hot 100 singles chart on November 29, 1975, and number six in Canada (number 69 in the Canadian year-end chart). The song was also used in the 1978 Cheech and Chong movie “Up In Smoke”, and appeared as track 3 of the associated original sound track album. It was later used in the 1993

Richard Linklater Richard Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American filmmaker. He is known for making films that deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. In 2015, Linklater was included on the annual ''Time'' 100 li ...

film ''

Dazed and Confused (film) ''Dazed and Confused'' is a 1993 American Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by Richard Linklater. The film follows a variety of teenagers on the last day of school in Austin, Texas, in 1976. The film has no sin ...

''.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

says of the song: "the lyric takes the cool, laidback image of the

lowrider A lowrider or low rider is a customized car with a lowered body that emerged among Mexican American youth in the 1940s. ''Lowrider'' also refers to the driver of the car and their participation in lowrider car clubs, which remain a part of Chi ...

—the

Chicano Chicano (masculine form) or Chicana (feminine form) is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. In the 1960s, ''Chicano'' was widely reclaimed among Hispanics in the building of a movement toward politic ...

culture practice of hydraulically hot-rodding classic cars—and using innuendo, extends the image to a lifestyle". A driving

bass line Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, dub and electronic, traditional, and classical music, for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played (in jazz and ...

by B. B. Dickerson is present almost throughout, along with an

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

and harmonica riff by Charles Miller, who also provides lead vocals and a saxophone solo towards the end that includes a siren-like sound.

Lee Oskar Lee Oskar (born 24 March 1948) is a Danish harmonica player, notable for his contributions to the sound of the rock-funk fusion group War, which was formed by Howard E. Scott and Harold Brown, his solo work, and as a harmonica manufacturer. H ...

doubles the alto sax line on harmonica. The

Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...

sampled "Low Rider" on their song "Slow Ride", from 1986's ''

Licensed to Ill ''Licensed to Ill'' is the debut studio album by the American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released on November 15, 1986, by Def Jam and Columbia Records. The album became the first rap LP to top the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, and was the second ra ...

''. Three years later, thrash metal band,

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

covered the song, on their third studio album, ''

Fabulous Disaster ''Fabulous Disaster'' is the third studio album by American thrash metal band Exodus. It was released on January 30, 1989 on the UK label Music for Nations, while the US version was released on Combat/Relativity Records. In 1999, Century Media ...

''. and nearly a decade later, the song was covered by

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, with a metal umlaut) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop music, hip hop, funk, industrial music, industrial, and grunge. Nu ...

band

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, originally formed in 1993 by James Shaffer, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and David Silveria, who were members of the band ...

on their 1996 studio album ''

Life Is Peachy ''Life Is Peachy'' is the second studio album by American nu metal band Korn. It was released on October 15, 1996, through both Immortal Records and Epic Records. After the release of Korn's Korn (album), 1994 self-titled debut album, the band ...

''. Beginning in 1996, "Low Rider" featured for several years on British television in adverts for

Marmite Marmite ( ) is a British savoury food spread based on yeast extract, invented by the German scientist Justus von Liebig. It is made from by-products of beer brewing ( lees) and is produced by the British company Unilever. Marmite is a vegan ...

, as part of their ' Love it or hate it' campaign. In 1999,

Barry White Barry Eugene White (né Carter; September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003) was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and ...

recorded a version on his album '' Staying Power''. "Low Rider" was later used as the theme song for the

George Lopez George Edward Lopez (born April 23, 1961) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is most known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom '' George Lopez''. His stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations, including Mexican ...

self-titled ABC sitcom, which ran from 2002 to 2007. The song was inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

in 2014. In 2018, Dutch-Turkish EDM producer

Ummet Ozcan Ummet Ozcan (born 16 August 1982) is a Dutch DJ and producer of Turkish origin, specializing in the techno genre. Life and career Ummet Ozcan is the son of Turkish parents; he was born and grew up in the Netherlands. He says that his Turkish ...

made a remix of it. Canadian rapper

bbno$ Alexander Leon Gumuchian ( ; born June 30, 1995), known professionally as bbno$ (pronounced "baby no money"), is a Canadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. He became widely known for his 2019 single " Lalala" (with record producer and songwrit ...

sampled "Low Rider" on his single, "Check" in 2025.

Charts

Certifications

References

War (band) songs 1975 singles 1975 songs Latin rock songs Mariachi Songs about cars United Artists Records singles Comedy television theme songs {{1970s-single-stub