The 10 Best Dennis DeYoung Songs, Ranked

Dennis DeYoung belongs on a 70s music site for a simple reason: before the solo records, the voice was already part of the soundtrack. As Styx’s keyboardist and one of its principal singers and songwriters, Dennis DeYoung helped give the band its theatrical, melodic identity throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. That connection matters because the solo career did not arrive from nowhere. Listeners brought years of familiarity with them, and the best post-band recordings often work because they carry recognizable instincts into a different decade.

DeYoung’s solo records make sense as an extension of the side of Styx he shaped most strongly: dramatic melodies, piano-based writing, romantic ballads, and songs that feel as though they could open into a stage production at any moment. His solo career never matched Styx commercially, but the best records show that the voice and songwriting personality were not dependent on the band around him. The interesting part is how consistent his musical personality remains even when the surrounding style changes. Whether he is writing for pop radio, a soundtrack, or a theatrical project, DeYoung tends to build toward a clear emotional payoff rather than hide behind ambiguity.

This ranking focuses on Dennis DeYoung as a solo artist. Band recordings are left out so the list can show what changed once the name on the record was his alone. The production, collaborators, and radio landscape may have shifted, but the personality that made the earlier work memorable is still there. These are the 10 best Dennis DeYoung songs, ranked.

#10 Person to Person

Album: Back to the World
Release year: 1986
Songwriters: Dennis DeYoung

“Person to Person” closes Back to the World and shows DeYoung working in the polished mid-1980s solo setting he adopted after Styx. The song keeps his melodic instincts front and center while giving the album a strong closing statement.

It is a worthwhile deep cut because it shows the solo catalog had more to offer than the singles. DeYoung’s familiar voice and keyboard-centered writing remain recognizable even away from the band context.

It earns the opening spot because a Top 10 should do more than stack the obvious hits. This is the kind of recording that helps explain the shape of the catalog: where the artist was going, what he was willing to leave behind, and why the solo years deserve to be heard as more than an appendix to the band.

#9 Beneath the Moon

Album: Boomchild
Release year: 1989
Songwriters: Dennis DeYoung

“Beneath the Moon” is one of the more atmospheric tracks from Boomchild. DeYoung uses keyboards and a slower pace to create a reflective mood rather than chasing the arena-rock scale of Styx.

The song rewards listeners who appreciate the softer, more introspective side of his writing. It also shows that the solo albums had worthwhile material beyond the singles that reached radio.

Placed here, the song also shows how quickly a solo identity can become recognizable. The production belongs to its era, but the phrasing and melodic instincts connect it to the singer listeners already knew. That tension between familiarity and change is one of the pleasures of revisiting these records now.

#8 Black Wall

Album: Back to the World
Release year: 1986
Songwriters: Dennis DeYoung

“Black Wall” is one of DeYoung’s more serious solo tracks, built around the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the emotional weight carried by the names on the wall. The subject gives his theatrical instincts a different purpose.

Rather than treating drama as spectacle, the song uses it for remembrance. The arrangement is unmistakably mid-1980s, but the emotional core remains strong.

This is also the sort of track that benefits from distance. Without the pressure of being the biggest single, it can be heard as part of a larger body of work, and the details in the arrangement become easier to appreciate. It is a strong reminder that the solo catalog has more depth than a greatest-hits playlist suggests.

#7 Harry’s Hands

Album: Desert Moon
Release year: 1984
Songwriters: Dennis DeYoung

“Harry’s Hands” is a character song, the kind of writing DeYoung had always handled well. Instead of building around romance or autobiography, he sketches a working person through detail and melody.

The track is especially useful in understanding Desert Moon as an album rather than simply the home of a hit single. DeYoung was trying to establish a full solo identity, and songs like this gave the record depth.

At this point in the ranking, the separation between band history and solo identity becomes especially clear. The song does not need to reference the past directly. The connection comes through the voice, the melodic choices, and the confidence of a performer who already knew how to command a record.

#6 This Is the Time

Album: The Karate Kid Part II soundtrack / Back to the World
Release year: 1986
Songwriters: Dennis DeYoung

“This Is the Time” brought DeYoung into the same soundtrack world that produced several major 1980s power ballads. His voice is perfectly suited to the format: clear, emotional, and able to make a large chorus feel sincere.

The song became a notable solo single and remains one of his most accessible post-Styx recordings. It shows how naturally his theatrical style fit the cinematic pop of the decade.

What pushes it into the upper half is durability. Plenty of records from the same period were built around fashionable sounds that aged badly; this one still has a musical center strong enough to survive the production choices around it. The song remains satisfying even after the era-specific gloss becomes part of the nostalgia.

#5 Call Me

Album: Desert Moon
Release year: 1984
Songwriters: Dennis DeYoung

“Call Me” is one of the strongest ballads on Desert Moon. The melody is direct, the arrangement gives DeYoung room to build, and the lyric plays to his strength with romantic material.

It never became the defining hit of the album, but it remains a fan favorite because it sounds so naturally connected to the singer’s established musical personality.

The No. 5 position is where the catalog’s strongest themes start to concentrate. This track combines a memorable hook with a performance that reveals something about the singer beyond simple technique. It is the point where the solo career stops feeling merely successful and starts feeling essential to the artist’s larger story.

#4 Don’t Wait for Heroes

Album: Desert Moon
Release year: 1984
Songwriters: Dennis DeYoung

“Don’t Wait for Heroes” is one of DeYoung’s most uplifting solo songs. The message is direct: waiting for someone else to solve the problem is less useful than recognizing what ordinary people can do.

The song’s optimism could have become sentimental, but DeYoung’s conviction keeps it grounded. It is also one of the tracks that best captures the theatrical-pop side of his writing outside Styx.

A song this high has to do more than trigger recognition. It needs to represent a distinct piece of the solo identity, and this one does. The writing, arrangement, and vocal all point in the same direction, giving the record a sense of purpose that has held up long after its original radio moment.

#3 Desert Moon

Album: Desert Moon
Release year: 1984
Songwriters: Dennis DeYoung

“Desert Moon” is DeYoung’s signature solo hit and the record that proved he could reach pop radio under his own name. The song is built around memory: a place, a relationship, and the way time changes both without erasing them.

It reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains one of the most recognizable solo records by any former Styx member. The melody is unmistakably DeYoung, but the production gives it a softer, more adult-pop frame.

By No. 3, the argument is less about whether the song belongs and more about how high it should go. This is one of the recordings that can stand beside the best-known band material without needing the comparison to justify it. It has its own atmosphere, its own emotional logic, and its own reason to last.

#2 Please

Album: 10 on Broadway
Release year: 1994
Songwriters: Dennis DeYoung

“Please” is one of the key original songs associated with DeYoung’s 10 on Broadway period and reflects the theatrical direction his music increasingly embraced. Rather than trying to recreate Styx or chase contemporary rock radio, he leaned into melody, character, and stage-minded songwriting.

The song is important because it points toward the next phase of his career. DeYoung’s interest in musical theater was not a side hobby; it became a major part of his artistic identity.

The runner-up spot goes to a song that could easily be No. 1 on a different day. It captures nearly everything that made the solo career worthwhile: a distinctive voice, a strong melodic idea, and enough personality to separate the record from the artist’s earlier band identity. Only one song edges it out.

#1 Don’t Wait for Heroes

Album: Desert Moon
Release year: 1984
Songwriters: Dennis DeYoung

“Don’t Wait for Heroes” takes the top spot because it captures DeYoung’s solo personality in its clearest form: melodic, theatrical, optimistic, and built around an idea larger than simple romance. The song sounds like the work of a writer who believes popular music can still deliver a message without giving up a strong chorus.

That balance is central to DeYoung’s best work. He has never been afraid of sincerity, and the solo catalog is strongest when he commits fully to that instinct.

That is why it finishes at No. 1. The best solo song is not necessarily the loudest, the most technically impressive, or even the biggest chart hit. It is the recording that most completely explains why the artist needed a solo career in the first place. This one does exactly that.

What Did We Leave Out?

Other worthwhile solo cuts include “Gravity,” “Warning Shot,” “Southbound Ryan,” “Boomchild,” and later theatrical and studio material. DeYoung’s catalog also contains songs written for stage projects that blur the line between pop album and musical theater.

Styx recordings are deliberately excluded. “Come Sail Away,” “The Best of Times,” “Lady,” and “Mr. Roboto” explain why DeYoung’s voice and writing style are so familiar, but they belong to the band story rather than the solo ranking.

Why Dennis DeYoung’s Best Solo Songs Still Work

DeYoung’s best solo music lasts because he has never been embarrassed by melody or theatricality. He writes songs that want to communicate clearly, and his voice is built for emotional peaks.

For a 70s audience, the solo records feel like a continuation of the melodic and dramatic side of Styx. The setting changed, but the musical personality remained unmistakable.