John Denver Is The Only Modern-Day Artist With Official State Songs In Two Different States

Of all the unusual and specific achievements a rock musician can have, John Denver's got one like no other: Two of his biggest hits, "Take Me Home, Country Roads" and "Rocky Mountain High," serve as official songs for two of America's 50 states, West Virginia and Colorado, respectively. He's the sole artist of the rock era to achieve that feat, with only 19th-century songsmith Stephen Foster able to match the landmark. It's a testament to the lasting impact of his music, decades after Denver's tragic death in a plane crash in 1997. 

To many, Denver (born Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. in 1943) was a key figure of country, folk, and pop music in the '70s, armed with romantic numbers like "Leaving on a Jet Plane," "Sunshine on My Shoulders," and "Annie's Song," which made listeners swoon and filled amphitheaters around the country. A gifted personality, Denver was a fixture on screen, starring in TV specials, hosting the Grammys, and fronting the hit comedy "Oh, God!" with George Burns. He also used his celebrity for good, becoming a tireless spokesperson for causes like fighting world hunger, protecting the environment, and even exploring the reaches of outer space.

Denver's two most timeless hits belong to everyone, but they mean a lot to the residents of the states that inspired them. One paid a touching tribute to the place he called home for most of his life, and the other honored a state neither he nor his co-writers had any ties to — but still turned into an anthem for its people.

Though John Denver had changed his name long before he ever lived there, it may have been fate that he would forever be associated with the state of Colorado. In 1971, he and his wife Annie moved to Aspen, where they drew inspiration from the rustic scenery and the life they made together. While skiing there one season, Denver was inspired to write a tune for his wife, the chart-topping "Annie's Song," but it was "Rocky Mountain High" that tied Denver forever to the Centennial State. 

The idea came to Denver while camping with friends outside of Aspen, on a moonless night illuminated by a meteor shower. "We were up at about 11,000 feet and there're so many stars ... pretty soon there were balls of fire going across," he told Rolling Stone in 1975. "It goes all the way across the sky ... It's great, it's so far out." This vivid memory informed many of the song's most-remembered lines, from "I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky" in the choruses and the final image of "friends around the campfire and everybody's high" (off the majesty of the land, he'd later insist, not drugs).

Decades after "Rocky Mountain High" became a Top 10 hit in America — and even before the singer's passing — the people of Colorado campaigned for it to become the state's official song. (Local folk song "Where the Columbines Grow" first earned the honor in 1915.) In 2007, the state senate finally recognized it as a second state song by joint resolution. "'Rocky Mountain High' reflects the strength and beauty of the Colorado Rocky Mountains and the importance of preserving the natural beauty of our state," the resolution declared (via the Colorado General Assembly).

John Denver got his second state song on the record with "Take Me Home, Country Roads," a tribute to West Virginia that served as his first hit single. Its journey was almost as scenic as the roads he sang about — and almost landed in a completely different state. The tune was primarily written by Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert, a married duo who performed under the name Fat City. They got the idea while driving to a family gathering in Maryland, but almost used Danoff's home state of Massachusetts in the song. They changed their minds — "I didn't think the word was musical," Danoff told WVU Sports — and soon found inspiration in West Virginia, the home of a favorite radio program of Danoff's, "Saturday Night Jamboree."

The duo met Denver while opening for him during a run of shows at the Cellar Door in Washington, D.C. They played him the tune and confided their plans to pitch the song to country icon (and colorful collaborator) Johnny Cash. Instead, Denver helped them finish the song and asked if he could sing it himself, and when the trio premiered the song as an encore the next night, the crowd went wild. "It was a five-minute standing ovation," Len Jaffe, another musician on the bill that night, told WTOP News. "The walls were vibrating — I thought the club was going to implode."

The song's gentle imagery and appealing melody certainly electrified West Virginians. It plays at every home game for West Virginia University's football and basketball teams, and is used in commercials for the state's tourism board. The motion to adopt the tune as one of the state's four official songs came in 2014 — ensuring that the song's opening line, "Almost heaven, West Virginia," will continue to describe the state for generations to come.