Rock Legend, 80, Reveals the Moment He Knew He’d Written a Classic in New Interview originally appeared on Parade.
“Proud Mary” by Creedence Clearwater Revival is one of the most iconic songs of all time, and CCR frontman John Fogerty knew the moment the band had a huge hit on their hands.
“When I wrote ‘Proud Mary,’ I looked at the page and I had been in this experience, this wonderful, whatever. You just go to another place. And I had written this song and it suddenly became self-aware,” Fogerty, 80, said during a new interview on the “Rolling Stone Music Now” podcast Monday, August 11. “I looked at it and went, ‘Oh my God, I’ve written a classic.’”
Fogerty explained that his mom would talk about other great American songwriters like Hoagy Carmichael, who composed the classic “Georgia On My Mind,” and Irving Berlin, the writer behind “God Bless America,” and he was aware that they had written “great, far-reaching songs.” When he finished “Proud Mary,” he knew he was about to join their ranks and admitted he had doubts the other members of CCR could match that level.
“As time went on, and especially near the end of Creedence, when the other guys were making such a commotion and a stink about all of that, I had my doubts that they could do that,” the legendary rocker continued. “And that caused some of the problems. And I didn’t want my band to now not be having that anymore as part of its style, as part of its accomplishment.”
With Fogerty’s new album, Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years, just days away from releasing, the roots rock pioneer has been reflecting on some of his biggest hits. Last month, he admitted that even though millions love CCR’s “Fortunate Son,” and it remains one of the group’s most popular songs, it still makes him “cringe” when he hears it now.
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“The basic tracks for ‘Down on the Corner’ and ‘Fortunate Son’ were both recorded, and one afternoon I went over to Wally Heider’s studio to finish the songs. For ‘Down on the Corner,’ I did the maracas and the middle solo part, then sang all the background vocals, then sang the lead,” he told The Los Angeles Times on July 3. “So I’d been singing at the top of my lungs for probably an hour and a half, then I had to go back and finish ‘Fortunate Son.’ I was screaming my heart out, doing the best I could, but later I felt that some of the notes were a little flat — that I hadn’t quite hit the mark. I always sort of cringed about that.”
Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years drops on August 22.
Rock Legend, 80, Reveals the Moment He Knew He’d Written a Classic in New Interview first appeared on Parade on Aug 12, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Aug 12, 2025, where it first appeared.
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