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.
UNSPECIFIED – CIRCA 1970: Photo of Temptations Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
NEWPORT, RI – JULY 25: Bob Dylan plays a Fender Stratocaster electric guitar for the first time on stage as he performs at the Newport Folk Festival with guitarist Mike Bloomfield on July 25, 1965 in Newport, Rhode Island. (Photo by Alice Ochs/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – JULY 11: Dwight Yoakam performs at Northrup Auditorium at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota on July 11, 1993. (Photo by Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Singer, actress choreographer and dancer Toni Basil performs on an episode of American Bandstand that aired on November 13, 1982 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ron Wolfson/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
(MANDATORY CREDIT Ebet Roberts/Getty Images) Musician and singer-songwriter Billy Idol performing live at RPI Fieldhouse in Troy, New York, US, 12th April 1987. (Photo by Ebet Roberts/Getty Images)
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – MAY 01: Country singer George Strait performs on stage at the Dominion Theatre in London, England in May 1990. (Photo by David Redfern/Redferns)
American vocal duo The Carpenters, brother and sister Richard and Karen Carpenter, at their hotel in London before a live concert at the Royal Festival Hall, 8th February 1974. (Photo by Roger Jackson/Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
AUBURN HILLS, MI – JUNE 16: 2005 American Idol winner Carrie Underwood sings the National Anthem before Game four of the 2005 NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the Detroit Pistons on June 16, 2005 at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2005 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
