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.
American Folk and Pop musician Paul Simon plays guitar as he performs onstage at the Auditorium Theater, Chicago, Illinois, September 25, 1980. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES – AUGUST 1968: Psychedelic rock group Pink Floyd pose for a portrait shrouded in pink in August of 1968 in Los Angeles. (L-R) Nick Mason, Dave Gilmour, Rick Wright (center front), Roger Waters. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
(MANDATORY CREDIT Ebet Roberts/Getty Images) UNSPECIFIED – JANUARY 01: Photo of Lisa LOEB; Lisa Loeb performing on stage (Photo by Ebet Roberts/Redferns)
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – APRIL 28: Vince Gill performs onstage during the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum Concert and Induction Ceremony at The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts on April 28, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images)
Michael Mike Score von "A Flock of Seagulls", britische New Wave Band, in Deutschland, 1983. Michael Mike Score of British New Wave band "A Flock of Seagulls" at Germany, 1983 (Photo by Fryderyk Gabowicz/picture alliance via Getty Images)
