Bobby Troup wrote the lyrics and music for the 1946 song “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66.”
Troup composed the song after driving across the United States with his first wife, Cynthia, while traveling from Pennsylvania to California. He drew inspiration from U.S. Route 66, the cross-country highway that connected Chicago with Santa Monica. The song turns that journey into a list of memorable towns and cities along the road.
Nat King Cole recorded one of the best-known early versions, helping make the song a popular jazz and rhythm-and-blues standard. Cole’s recording originally appeared under the title “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66,” although the song is often shortened informally to “Route 66.”
The song is sometimes mistakenly credited to performers who made famous recordings, including Nat King Cole or Chuck Berry. Troup, however, was the songwriter. He later became known to television audiences for playing Dr. Joe Early on the medical drama Emergency!.
The song’s popularity helped strengthen Route 66’s image as an adventurous American road-trip route, alongside literature, films, television, and roadside tourism.