There’s a lot to like about Jack Reacher: he’s huge, he’s tough, he hates the big guy, but perhaps on top of all that, is his great taste in music. It’s not just that he likes good songs, the songs he listens to add to his image, that’s part of the reason the Tv show is so great.

Reacher’s music taste isn’t exactly mainstream, and knowing where to start can be difficult, begging the question:

What is in Jack Reacher’s playlist?

Jack Reacher’s playlist would mostly be old Rhythm and Blues, featuring artists such as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and BB King. Scattered amongst these will be a few rock and roll bands such as the Talking Heads.

So There are A few names that Reacher would undoubtedly listen to, but just blues and rock and roll is a big genre, so let’s get a little bit more in depth.

Rhythm and Blues

Lee Child is a huge Blues fan, no question about that, hell he even, collaborated with band Naked Blue to make the Album “Just the clothes on my back“. A big reason Reacher likes the blues is simply because his creator likes them too.

If you wanted to go a little deeper, there is some more reasoning as to why Reacher loves the Blues so much, Mainly due to it’s reflection of Jack Reacher himself. The Blues often have a theme of Struggle, Resilience and a sense of wondering, Things Jack Reacher knows all to well. It’s no surprise he likes the music he relates to most.

Reacher’s playlist will be old blues, He doesn’t stream, and he doesn’t sit around listening to music. His Blues will likely come from his childhood, stuff his parents listened too, people like: BB King, Albert King, Otis Rush, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Lightin’ Hopkins just to name a few.

Rock and Roll

Naturally, the next step on from rhythm and blues is Rock and Roll, and to no-ones surprise Jack Reacher is also a fan. Whilst Rhythm and blues is in line with Reacher’s Character, Rock and Roll fits in more with his world and the situations he finds himself in.

Somehow Trouble finds Reacher, no matter what he does. This sense of adventure and storytelling pretty much nails Reacher’s day to day life. A soundtrack of Rock and Roll is perfect for a man constantly doing badass things.

That’s not to say it doesn’t line up with his characteristics too, Rebellion and Freedom are key aspects of Reacher as well as Rock and Roll, after all parents tried to ban it in the 50s. Reacher has a track record of doing what he deems right no matter the cost, for example in season 2 he is ordered not to finish the drug dealing case the 110th worked so hard on, yet he does it Anyway, that’s pretty Rock and Roll to me.

Songs like “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones, “Born to run” by Springsteen and “Whole lotta love” by Led Zeppelin would be perfect Rock and Roll Additions to his Playlist.

alternate music/Talking Heads?

Now this is cheeky, Jack Reacher doesn’t really listen to other music, but something he said in season 2 of the show caught my attention. When Talking heads came up in conversation, Reacher seemed to be a fan, this is a little out of character for jack Reacher, so why is this?

So The truth is Reacher doesn’t really care about the genre of music, instead he likes songs that “fit” with him. For example I just spoke about the blues and how he relates to them, Talking heads are a similar thing, sure they are completely different but you can see how they fit with his Nomadic lifestyle.

I guess what I’m trying to say is if it fits, and you can imagine wandering miles through America listening to it, Jack Reacher will probably be a fan of the song.

(Just don’t make it too obvious, I don’t think Reacher would be a fan of “Here I go again” by Whitesnake.)

How would Reacher listen to it?

You have the Musicians, You have the Songs, now how do you go about listening to them? more importantly, how would Reacher go about listening to them?

Well, Reacher doesn’t have a phone, so no Headphones, I mean could you really imagine jack Reacher wearing a pair of air pods? Me neither.

As Mentioned Before Reacher likes Old Music, and since Reacher doesn’t really use technology, Records are the perfect middle ground.

In the Book “Killing Floor” it is mentioned how Jack Reacher, plays songs in his head to pass the time, that isn’t something everyone can do. The closest thing you get to that is listening to old records. You can imagine Reacher putting on a record as he did some press ups, or staring up at the ceiling listening to them play.

Not only is it Calming it’s also just really cool.

So Now You Know

Now that you know the kind of thing Reacher would play, you should go listen, explore and find new artists. Make Jack Reacher’s soundtrack you’re Soundtrack.

I Spoke about how Reacher would listen to them, but don’t blindly follow what he did, if you want to listen to them through headphones, do it! if you want to stream them, do it! Remember Jack Reacher is a Work of fiction, someone to learn from not Blindly Follow.

As Always, Thankyou for reading and have a great day!