Gary, Indiana

Everything Gary is known for

40 songs mention this city 53 artists from here

Gary, Indiana, located along the southern shore of Lake Michigan and about 25 miles southeast of downtown Chicago, is widely recognized as the birthplace of the Jackson family, a prominent name in entertainment. This industrial city, known for its large steel mills, has a rich musical heritage that extends beyond its industrial roots.

With 53 artists calling Gary home and 40 songs mentioning the city in our collection, its musical influence is undeniable. Notable artists from Gary include pop icon Michael Jackson and the legendary soul group The Jackson 5. The city is also referenced in songs such as "2300 Jackson Street" by The Jacksons and "Harold’s" by hip-hop artist Freddie Gibbs.

Music in Gary

Songs About Gary

Harold’s
Freddie Gibbs
96%
"William School niggas was wearing budgets"
2300 Jackson Street
The Jacksons
95%
"2300 Jackson Street"
Gary, Indiana 1959
Dave Alvin
79%
"Back in Gary, Indiana in 1959"
Palmolive
Freddie Gibbs
55%
"Scary Gary nigga, my neighborhood something like Fallujah"
beat it
michael jackson
45%
billie jean
michael jackson
45%
black or white
michael jackson
45%
smooth criminal
michael jackson
45%
thriller
michael jackson
45%
Can I
Kehlani
10%
"song that's sang from Mike Jack"
5% TINT
Travis Scott
8%
"grab the bad sister like Janet"
Excursions
A Tribe Called Quest
8%
"Way that Bobby Brown is just amping like Michael"
God is Perfect
Freddie Gibbs
8%
"That east side insane-ass shit"
Perfect Imperfection
Kevin Gates
8%
"I'm Michael Jackson, I'm reincarnated"
I. The Worst Guys
Childish Gambino
7%
"Rather blast a Jackson 5 in the back of an Acura"
Eyez Closed
Snoop Dogg
7%
"Wonder if God ask Mike how to moonwalk"
Goin’ Back to Indiana
The Jackson 5
6%
"One more time for Roosevelt High"
Halftime
Nas
6%
"When I was young, I was a fan of The Jackson 5"
Mortal Man
Kendrick Lamar
6%
"Is it Jackie? Is it Jesse? Oh, I know it's Michael Jackson—oh"
Throw It Back
Missy Elliott
6%
"call me Katherine Jackson"

Showing top 20 of 40 songs

Artists From Gary

M
Michael Jackson
pop Pop: 86
F
Freddie Gibbs
hip-hop Pop: 68
T
The Jackson 5
soul Pop: 68
J
Janet Jackson
r-n-b Pop: 67
J
Jackson 5
r-n-b Pop: 65
T
T‐Low
hip-hop Pop: 63
T
The Jacksons
pop Pop: 61
T
The Jackson Five
r-n-b Pop: 58
D
Deniece Williams
r-n-b Pop: 52
J
Jermaine Jackson
pop Pop: 49
B
Baby Huey & The Babysitters
r-n-b Pop: 45
J
Jlin
electronic Pop: 43
J
Jesse Powell
folk Pop: 43
L
LaToya Jackson
r-n-b Pop: 41
C
CJ SO COOL
hip-hop Pop: 40
R
Rebbie Jackson
r-n-b Pop: 39
M
Monica Parker
r-n-b Pop: 38
D
Don Vito
other Pop: 36
M
Marlon Jackson
r-n-b Pop: 35
K
Kym Mazelle
electronic Pop: 34

Showing top 20 of 53 artists

Rivers & Roads in Song near Gary

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Gary.

Interstate 65 13 songs U.S. Route 66 11 songs

History of Gary

Gary, IN: Named for a Lawyer, Not a Metal RoadyGoat

1906

Gary, Indiana is one of the great steel cities, a place built on iron, fire, and molten metal pouring out of enormous mills. So you might assume the name comes from some material, some alloy or metal term. It doesn't. Gary is named for a man: Elbert H. Gary. And he wasn't a steelworker or a metallurgist. He was a lawyer, and the founding chairman of U.S. Steel, the corporation that built the city from scratch in nineteen-oh-six to house its workers. So the most steel-soaked city in America carries the name of a man in a suit who ran the company from a boardroom. A person, not a product. A lawyer, not a metal.

Wolf Lake Culvert RoadyGoat

1924

On May 21, 1924, two wealthy University of Chicago students named Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb picked up a fourteen-year-old boy named Bobby Franks as he walked home from school. They drove him across the state line to a culvert in the marshland south of Wolf Lake, on the Indiana side of the border, where they killed him and hid the body. They had committed the murder for no reason other than to see if they could get away with it. They were identified within days after Leopold dropped a pair of distinctive eyeglasses at the scene. Clarence Darrow argued against their execution in one of the most famous courtroom speeches in American history, and both men were given life sentences. The marsh around Wolf Lake is still there, a thin strip of water and reeds between the refineries and the freight lines, looking much the way it did a hundred years ago.

RoadyGoat → · 10.3 mi away

The Murder Castle Site RoadyGoat

1893

At the corner of 63rd and Wallace, on Chicago's South Side, there is now a post office. In 1893, during the World's Columbian Exposition, the three-story building on this lot belonged to a man calling himself H. H. Holmes. He had designed the upper floors himself, with windowless rooms, soundproofed walls, staircases that led nowhere, and gas jets he could control from his office. An unknown number of visitors to the Fair, most of them young women, checked into his hotel and were never seen again. Holmes was eventually arrested for insurance fraud; the building caught fire in 1895 before its full architecture could be documented, and was demolished decades later. The post office that replaced it is unremarkable. The sidewalk is the same one.

RoadyGoat → · 19.9 mi away

Jackson 5 Family Home

1950

The small Gary, Indiana house at 2300 Jackson Street where Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 grew up and rehearsed.

Chicago Pile-1 - Site of First Nuclear Reaction

1942

On December 2, 1942, Enrico Fermi achieved the first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction in a squash court under the football stands at the University of Chicago.

19.0 mi away

Pullman Historic District

1880

America's most famous company town, built by George Pullman for his sleeping car workers, and site of the 1894 Pullman Strike.

15.2 mi away

Indiana Dunes National Park

1899

Fifteen miles of Lake Michigan shoreline with towering sand dunes, the birthplace of modern ecology in America.

15.7 mi away

Barack Obama Kenwood Residence

2005

The Georgian Revival home in the Kenwood neighborhood where Barack and Michelle Obama lived from 2005 until moving to the White House in 2009.

19.2 mi away

Things to Do in Gary

historical 24.5 mi away
Route 66 Starting Point

The beginning (or end) of the Mother Road. A sign on Adams Street in Chicago.
quirky 24.6 mi away
Cloud Gate (The Bean)

A liquid mercury-shaped sculpture that reflects the Chicago skyline. Everyone takes a photo.
historical 24.7 mi away
Willis (Sears) Tower Skydeck

Stand on a glass box 1353 feet above Chicago. Your stomach will drop.

Everything Near Gary

50 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

Explore Gary on the Map
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