Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time

"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest songs in history, compiled by the American magazine Rolling Stone. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in a special issue of the magazine, issue number 963, a year after the magazine published its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".^[1] In 2010, Rolling Stone published a revised edition, drawing on the original and a later survey of songs released up until the early 2000s.

Another updated edition of the list was published in 2021, with more than half the entries not having appeared on either of the two previous editions; it was based on a new survey and does not factor in the surveys that were conducted for the previous lists. The 2021 list was based on a poll of more than 250 artists, musicians, producers, critics, journalists and industry figures. They each sent in a ranked list of their top 50 songs, and Rolling Stone tabulated the results.^[2]

Top 10 songs

2004 and 2010 lists

2021 list

Statistics

2004 list

• Of the 500 songs, 351 are from the United States and 120 from the United Kingdom; they are followed by Canada, with 13 (a majority of them by Neil Young); Ireland, with 12 entries (of which 8 were composed by U2); Jamaica, with 7 (most of them by Bob Marley and the Wailers, Jimmy Cliff, and Toots and the Maytals); Australia, with two (AC/DC); Sweden (ABBA) and France (Daft Punk), each with one.
• The list includes only songs written in English, with the sole exception of "La Bamba" (number 345), sung in Spanish by the American singer-songwriter Ritchie Valens.
• Few songs written prior to the 1950s are included; some that are listed are Robert Johnson's "Crossroads" (1936), in the version recorded by Cream, and Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" (1949). "The House of the Rising Sun", listed in the version by English rock band the Animals, was recorded at least as early as 1934.^[3] Muddy Waters' "Rollin' Stone" (1950) is based on an earlier song, dating to the 1920s.^[4]
• There is one instrumental on the list: "Green Onions" by the American band Booker T. and the M.G.'s (number 181).
• The number of songs from each of the decades represented in the 2004 version is as follows:

• The Beatles are the most represented musical act, with 23 songs on the list. John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison are also represented as solo artists. Lennon is the only artist to appear twice in the top 10, as a member of the Beatles and as a solo artist. The Beatles are followed by the Rolling Stones (14); Bob Dylan (13);^[5] Elvis Presley (11); Holland–Dozier–Holland (as songwriters), U2 (8); the Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix (7); Led Zeppelin, Prince, Sly and the Family Stone, James Brown, Chuck Berry (6); Elton John, Ray Charles, the Clash, the Drifters, Buddy Holly, and the Who (5).
• The artists not included on the list of the top 100 artists but having the most songs featured in the list are the Animals, Blondie, Frank Sinatra, and the Isley Brothers, each with three songs.
• Three songs appear on the list twice, performed by different artists: "Mr. Tambourine Man", performed by Bob Dylan (number 107) and by the Byrds (number 79); "Blue Suede Shoes" by Elvis Presley (number 430) and by Carl Perkins (number 95), and "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith (number 346) and by Run-DMC (number 293).
• The shortest tracks are "Rave On!" by Buddy Holly running 1:47, "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis (1:52), and Eddie Cochran's "C'mon Everybody" (1:53).
• The longest tracks are "The End" (11:41) by the Doors; "Desolation Row" (11:21) by Bob Dylan, and "Marquee Moon" (9:58) by Television.
• Love is the most frequent word used in the songs' lyrics, with 1,057 occurrences, followed by I'm (1,000), oh (847), know (779), baby (746), got (702), and yeah (656).^[6]

2010 list

In May 2010, Rolling Stone compiled an update, published in a special issue and in digital form for the iPod and iPad. The list differs from the 2004 version, with 26 songs added, all of which are songs from the 2000s except "Juicy" by The Notorious B.I.G., released in 1994. The top 25 remained unchanged, but many songs down the list were given different rankings as a result of the inclusion of new songs, causing consecutive shifts among the songs listed in 2004. The highest-ranked new entry was Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" (number 100).

The number of songs from each decade in the updated version is as follows:

• Two songs by U2 and two by Jay-Z were added to the list. Jay-Z is featured in two other new songs on the list: "Crazy in Love" by Beyoncé, and "Umbrella" by Rihanna.
• The only artist to have two songs dropped from the list is the Crystals; their "Da Doo Ron Ron" (previously number 114) was the highest-ranked song to have been dropped.

2021 list

• Daddy Yankee's "Gasolina" is mistakenly listed as released in 2010, when it was released in 2004.
• "Da Doo Ron Ron" by The Crystals was added back to the list after being removed. The song's new position is at 366.
• The highest entry for a newly added song was "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac at number 9.
• 30 songs from the 2010s were added, with the highest entry being "Dancing On My Own" by Robyn at number 20.
• The highest entry for a song from 2020 was "Safaera" by Bad Bunny at number 329.

See also

• The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's selection of 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll
• Rockism and poptimism

References

External links

• "TOP-50 Greatest Songs on Guitar" by Rolling Stone magazine (YouTube video by Kaminari)
• "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" by Rolling Stone magazine (updated version of the list)
• "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" 2004 version of the list by archive.org
• "Dylan track voted 'greatest song'". BBC News. 2004-11-17. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
• "Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (2010 Edition) with lists of additions and dropouts". Last.fm. Archived from the original on July 6, 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-30.