The NYC Subways in Music Videos: Chappell Roan, Michael Jackson & More Artists Who’ve Paid Tribute

When you think of New York City landmarks, the Statue of Liberty, Times Square and the Brooklyn Bridge all come to mind. But there’s one quintessential part of the city that often gets overlooked, despite the fact that countless locals use it pretty much every day: the subway.

Love it or hate it, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s citywide public transit system is a crucial part of what makes New York, well, New York. With tracks stretching across the five boroughs, the subway is more than just something that takes you to work (whether or not it’s always on time is another story). It also serves as the backdrop to some of life’s biggest moments living in the Big Apple — or at least, it gets you to and from them.

For those reasons and more, several musicians have at some point paid tribute to the trains that fuel NYC in their music videos. One of them, Chappell Roan, named an entire song after the the mode of transport — 2025’s “The Subway” — naturally pairing it with a visual centered around the singer passing in and out of train cars while trekking around the city. Other musicians who’ve similarly featured the underground passages in their videos include modern stars such as Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter, as well as iconic figures of generations past like Michael Jackson and Rod Stewart.

Though New Yorkers like to give the subways grief sometimes, most can probably agree that the city wouldn’t be what it is without them. See which artists have honored that legacy in their music videos below — and as always, stand clear of the closing doors, please.