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.
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – APRIL 25: Kacey Musgraves performs during 2025 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival at Fair Grounds Race Course on April 25, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images)
Pink Floyd (L-R David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Rick Wright perform live at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in April 1975 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 04: Jon Pardi performs at the 103rd National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at the White House Ellipse on December 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. The tree is a 32-foot-tall red spruce from the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests in Virginia's Highland County. This is the second year in a row that the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests have provided the tree. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – American country singer Jessica Andrews performs on stage on the Petrillo Band Shell in Grant Park during the Chicago Country Music Festival, Chicago, Illinois, July 1, 2001. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)
