![\"CD](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CD-Compact-Disc-Music-CD-Physical-Format-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ Alexander Wark Feeney \/ Patrick Lindenberg)<\/p>\n
Tue 13 January 2026 22:00, UK <\/p>\n
As much as rock<\/a> music and drugs have always seemed to go hand in hand, it\u2019s very rare that a song that so explicitly references substance use reaches the higher positions in the charts, let alone number one.<\/p>\n One reason you might presume that this is the case is that it can be seen as a taboo subject, with large numbers of the public generally frowning upon such open discussion of drug use, and the fact that taking a track to number one while it deals with the topic of drug use could be reasonably misconstrued as glamourising something that could be harmful to impressionable listeners.<\/p>\n Similarly, when songs deal with such heavy subject matter, it can be seen as uncommercial, and when a song delves further into the horrors and negative aspects of drug use rather than the highs that one can get from it, it\u2019s often considered a bad move to release this as a single due to the fact that the record-buying public may see it as too depressing to hail as a chart-worthy song.<\/p>\n That being said, a handful of songs of this nature have managed to find their way to the top of the charts in the UK, and while it has never been a frequent occurrence, many of these tracks are still well-known, in many cases because of the ways in which they have managed to tackle such heavy subject matter.<\/p>\n However, not a great deal of these songs that have managed to reach number one in the UK charts can be argued as having come from a classic rock persuasion, with several of them either stemming from other musical subcultures far from the world of rock. With this in mind, what was the first \u2018classic rock\u2019 song about drugs to reach the top of the charts in the UK?<\/p>\n As previously reported by Far Out Magazine, the first UK number one single about drugs came remarkably late, courtesy of Musical Youth\u2019s 1982 debut single, \u2018Pass The Dutchie<\/a>\u2019; a breezy, reggae-infused track about smoking cannabis. Part of the reason this became the first song about drugs to reach number one was due to there being a considerably more relaxed attitude around the topic by the 1980s, and because the song was so upbeat in its tone.<\/p>\n With other songs such as Shamen\u2019s \u2018Ebenezer Goode\u2019 touching on the use of ecstasy around the time of rave culture emerging in the UK, songs about drugs became more commonplace within the charts, but not to the point where it was considered to be less taboo than a song about, say, sex or violence.<\/p>\n There appeared to be a glut of drug-related hit singles in the UK released in 1997, with both Blur\u2019s \u2018Beetlebum<\/a>\u2019 and The Verve\u2019s \u2018The Drugs Don\u2019t Work\u2019 both reaching the peak of the charts and tackling the subject of using drugs to escape from life\u2019s troubles. However, with both having come from two of Britpop\u2019s main proponents, it\u2019s hard to argue that either of these is the first classic rock song about drugs to top the charts, with arguably the first actual claimant coming later the same year.<\/p>\n![\"What](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/What-was-the-first-song-about-drugs-to-hit-number-one-in-the-charts-Far-Out-Magazine-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>(Credits: Far Out)What was the first classic rock song about drugs to reach number one?<\/p>\n