With The List, American Songwriter details the best, the brightest, the most enduring, the worst, the most hated, and the most surprising songs ever–among many other qualifiers. If you’re looking for our definitive rankings on music, you’ll find them below.
Singer, songwriter and guitarist Don Barnes of .38 Special is shown performing on stage during a "live" concert appearance on June 26, 1994. (Photo by John Atashian/Getty Images)
CIRCA 1959: (L-R) Billy Guy, Will 'Dub' Jones, Carl Gardner, Cornell Gunter, Adolphi Jacobs of the doo wop group "The Coasters" pose for a portrait in circa 1959. This lineup of the group was together from 1958-61. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
BERKELEY, CA – SEP 24: Elton John performs at the Berkeley Community Theater in Berkeley, California on September 24, 1979. (Photo by Ed Perlstein/Redferns/Getty Images)
English guitarist Pete Townshend appears in Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert at the Rainbow Theatre, London, 13th January 1973. He is playing a Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins. (Photo by P. Floyd/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Close-up of American musician and actor Neil Diamond prior to his one?man show at the Winter Garden, New York, New York, October 1972. (Photo by Jack Mitchell/Getty Images)
English rock group the Beatles hold a press conference at the Capitol Records Tower in Los Angeles before their live performance at the Dodger Stadium, California, 28th August 1966. From left to right, George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)