Huey Lewis and the News

The rock band whose timeless anthems powered the DeLorean's journey through history.

Huey Lewis and the News are an American rock band linked to the Back to the Future franchise through their contributions to the first film's soundtrack. While they existed as a successful musical act before meeting director Robert Zemeckis, their legacy is now defined by providing the energetic, nostalgic, and futuristic anthems that drove the emotional core of Marty McFly's time-traveling adventures.

Quick Facts

Era represented: 1980s Rock

Lore & Background

The connection between the band and the films goes beyond mere background music; it is woven into the plot. An instrumental hard rock version of 'The Power of Love' is what Marty's band, the Pinheads, performs at the high-school band audition, where Huey Lewis himself portrays the judge who rejects them. Their song 'Back in Time', whose lyrics refer to the film's plot, is played in full in the first film's end credits.

Reader's Guide

Bob Gale, Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis wanted Huey Lewis and the News to be Marty McFly's favorite band. Lewis was approached to write a theme song for the film and agreed to submit the next song he wrote, which became 'The Power of Love'.'

Zemeckis then asked Lewis to write one more song for the film's end credits, which became 'Back in Time'. 'The Power of Love' became the band's first number-one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100; it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song and for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year, and lost both. This unique synergy between a rock band and a sci-fi franchise created an enduring legacy where the music is now impossible to separate from the story of the DeLorean.