Welcome back to Takeover Tuesday, where each week, Billboard taps chart-topping artists and tastemakers to compile their very own playlist exclusive to Billboard‘s Spotify account. We give the artists free rein to base the list on whatever subject they choose. The only rule? Make it as creative and unique to them as possible.
Since forming at the University of North Texas nearly two decades ago, Eli Young Band have topped both the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, scored a No. 1 album on the Top Country Albums tally, and toured around the world. The Texas foursome are celebrating their impressive career with This Is Eli Young Band: Greatest Hits, a 14-track compilation of their biggest hits so far such as “Crazy Girl” and “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” as well as two brand new tracks.
As the Eli Young Band members have been gearing up for their greatest hits release on Friday (March 29), they’ve also been reminiscing by digging through old photos and footage from the group’s early days. Like any new artist, EYB got their start by driving around the country in a van, and they’re giving fans a glimpse of their on-the-road playlist for Takeover Tuesday — aptly titled “Songs From the Van.”
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“These songs all come from CDs that we listened to front-to-back, over and over,” the group tells Billboard in a statement. “There are so many great memories of countless hungover hours spent together in our van getting to the next gig. Our rule from day one was always that the driver got to pick the music — and the last one up in the morning has to drive the first shift.”
The playlist features songs by both superstar rockers (Queen) and introspective singer-songwriters (Marc Broussard), all of whom put an emphasis on harmonies and instrumentals the way Eli Young Band does. The group also included well-known tunes such as The Killers‘ 2004 classic “Mr. Brightside” and deep cuts from the Dave Matthews Band (“Kit Kat Jam”) and John Mayer (“Vultures”), as well as timeless hits such as Earth, Wind & Fire‘s “September” and The Who‘s “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”
While each of the 17 songs and artists have influenced Eli Young Band’s music over the years, their playlist is sentemintal for more than just musical reasons: “These more specifically capture a moment in time for us when it was just the four of us, in a van, taking on the world one small stage at a time,” they say.
Listen to their playlist below.