The rock radio countdown archive
Every year-end countdown. Every all-time list. One ranking.
RockLists preserves the listener-voted countdowns of rock radio, from KROQ’s Top 106.7 and Triple J’s Hottest 100 to Studio Brussel’s De Tijdloze, John Peel’s Festive Fifty and classic rock’s Top 1,043, and combines them into rankings for every song, artist, year and decade.
Alternative rock songs by year
All years and formats →Greatest alternative songs of all time
Top 100 →Combining every listener-voted alternative all-time countdown.
Voted #1 most often
Every number one →Songs that topped the most countdowns, every format.
- 1 Smells Like Teen Spirit Nirvana
- 2 Stairway to Heaven Led Zeppelin
- 3 Pumped up Kicks Foster The People
- 4 How Soon is Now? The Smiths
- 5 Seven Nation Army The White Stripes
- 6 Master of Puppets Metallica
- 7 Use Somebody Kings of Leon
- 8 Black Pearl Jam
- 9 Little Lion Man Mumford & Sons
- 10 Take Me To Church Hozier
Every rock format, ranked on its own
All formats →Indie & Adult Alternative
- Heroes David Bowie
- Tangled Up in Blue Bob Dylan
- Born to Run Bruce Springsteen
Classic Rock
- Stairway to Heaven Led Zeppelin
- Bohemian Rhapsody Queen
- Dream On Aerosmith
Hard Rock & Metal
- Master of Puppets Metallica
- One Metallica
- The Number Of The Beast Iron Maiden
Recently added countdowns
What’s new →- X96 · 2022 X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time
- X96 · 2020 X96's Top 100 Songs of the Last Decade
- X96 · 2019 X96's Top 100 Songs of the 90's
- X96 X96 Music Quorum 2023 Top 50 Songs
- X96 X96 Top 50 Songs of 2022
- X96 X96 Top 50 Songs of 2021
- X96 X96 Top 50 Songs of 2020
- X96 X96 Top 50 Songs of 2019
- X96 X96 Top 50 Songs of 2018
- X96 X96 Top 50 Songs of 2017
- X96 X96 Top 50 Songs of 2016
- X96 X96 Top 50 Songs of 2014
Radio stations
All 145 stations →- Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium
- KROQ KROQ-FM · 106.7 FM Los Angeles, CA
- 91X XETRA-FM · 91.1 FM San Diego, CA / Tijuana
- Triple J National network Australia (national)
- Live 105 KITS · 105.3 FM San Francisco, CA
- CD101 WWCD · 101.1 FM (later 102.5 and 92.9 FM) Columbus, OH
- John Peel (BBC Radio 1)
- WBER 90.5 FM Rochester, NY
- 102.7 WEQX WEQX · 102.7 FM Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany)
- CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY-FM · 102.1 FM Toronto, ON
- WXPN 88.5 FM Philadelphia, PA
- The Buzz WBTZ · 99.9 FM Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC
Make your own countdown
Rank your favorite songs, make your own version of a famous countdown and see how your taste compares with decades of radio listeners.
Most-charted artists
Artist index →- 1 U2
- 2 Led Zeppelin
- 3 The Rolling Stones
- 4 The Beatles
- 5 Pearl Jam
- 6 R.E.M.
- 7 Red Hot Chili Peppers
- 8 Pink Floyd
- 9 Nirvana
- 10 AC/DC
- 11 Van Halen
- 12 Foo Fighters
Top alternative songs of 2025
Full 2025 ranking →- 1 catch these fists Wet Leg
- 2 As Alive As You Need to Be Nine Inch Nails
- 3 back to friends sombr
- 4 Messy Lola Young
- 5 Ensenada Sublime
Latest updates
- Oct 3, 2026 — Added 589 countdowns
- Sep 22, 2026 — Added: 89X Top 89 Songs of 2015
- Sep 22, 2026 — Added 276 countdowns
- Jan 3, 2008 — Added 3 lists
What RockLists is
Since 2004, RockLists has collected the year-end and all-time countdowns broadcast by rock radio stations in North America, Europe and Australia. Each list is transcribed in full with its source, every song and artist is linked to its complete chart history, and the lists are combined into consensus rankings for each radio format. Members can make their own lists and help fill the gaps.