Max Bowden

Shutterstock

June 19, 2026

The 11 best songs and albums about fatherhood – according to music experts

Conor Caldwell, University of Limerick; Adam Behr, Newcastle University; Ellis Jones, University of Leeds; Glenn Fosbraey, University of Winchester; Hussein Boon, University of Westminster; Joel Gray, Sheffield Hallam University; Max Bowden, University of Essex; Michael Bradshaw, University of Winchester; Niall Keegan, University of Limerick; Ronan Guilfoyle, Dublin City University, and Samuel Murray, University of Leeds

Songs about fathers and fatherhood range in tone from joy and and celebration to absence, tension and grief.

Bob Weir performing at a Jerry Garcia tribute night in 2010. Jason O. Watson/Alamy

January 12, 2026

Max Bowden, University of Essex

Sixty years of improvisational experience, gave Weir’s guitar playing an inimitable feel.

Grateful Dead in the 1970s. Everett Collection Historical/Alamy Stock Photo

March 20, 2025

Max Bowden, University of Essex

Playing an early gig at a coffee house, the Dead were described by the host as ‘just a panic to watch’.