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.
UNITED STATES – circa 1977: NASSAU COLISEUM Photo of QUEEN and Roger TAYLOR and Freddie MERCURY and Brian MAY and John DEACON, Posed studio group portrait L-R Roger Taylor, Freddie Mercury, Brian May and John Deacon (Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns)
British rock group the Beatles pose outside Abbey Road Studios in London, after John Lennon passed his driving test, UK, 16th February 1965. From left to right, George Harrison, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. (Photo by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
UNITED STATES – JANUARY 01: Photo of Don HENLEY and EAGLES; Don Henley performing live onstage on Hotel California tour, playing drums and singing (Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns)
Lionel Richie performs at the Grammy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium at 1983 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Sherry Rayn Barnett/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL – 1981: Singer Tom Petty, playing the guitar, performs on stage during a 1981 Chicago, Illinois, concert. Petty and his band, "The Heartbreakers," were in the middle of a 28-city tour of the United States. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)
