RockLists.com

All-time consensus · All Rock Formats · 280 countdowns from 68 stations

The greatest rock songs of all time

Radio stations have been asking their listeners to vote for the greatest songs of all time since the 1970s. This ranking combines every all-time countdown in the archive, from alternative and indie to classic rock and metal: 280 countdowns in all. The result: “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana comes out on top, appearing on 196 countdowns and voted number one 37 times.

280all-time countdowns
68stations
17,464songs ranked

Top 100 of all time

Top 1000 →
# Song Strength Lists Best #1s Year
1 Smells Like Teen Spirit Nirvana
18,213		 196 #1 37 1991
2 Stairway to Heaven Led Zeppelin
15,575		 162 #1 51 –
3 Bohemian Rhapsody Queen
15,154		 161 #1 7 –
4 Alive Pearl Jam
13,890		 172 #2 – 1992
5 Hotel California The Eagles
13,067		 153 #1 1 –
6 With or Without You U2
12,901		 199 #8 – 1987
7 Under the Bridge Red Hot Chili Peppers
12,645		 176 #2 – 1992
8 Sunday Bloody Sunday U2
12,606		 187 #2 – 1983
9 Wish You Were Here Pink Floyd
12,082		 143 #2 – –
10 Comfortably Numb Pink Floyd
11,681		 137 #1 1 1980
11 Sympathy For The Devil The Rolling Stones
11,501		 152 #1 1 –
12 Black Pearl Jam
11,378		 157 #1 10 1992
13 Jeremy Pearl Jam
11,254		 160 #1 1 1992
14 Roxanne The Police
11,124		 160 #10 – 1978
15 Come As You Are Nirvana
10,807		 148 #6 – 1992
16 Losing My Religion R.E.M.
10,727		 151 #6 – 1991
17 Enter Sandman Metallica
10,621		 144 #2 – 1991
18 New Year's Day U2
10,616		 168 #4 – 1983
19 Pride (In the Name of Love) U2
10,434		 154 #2 – 1984
20 Creep Radiohead
10,427		 129 #2 – 1993
21 Sweet Child o' Mine Guns N Roses
10,366		 128 #1 2 1988
22 Sultans of Swing Dire Straits
10,358		 137 #6 – 1978
23 Layla Derek and the Dominos
10,299		 125 #2 – –
24 All Along the Watchtower Jimi Hendrix
10,276		 145 #2 – –
25 Freebird Lynyrd Skynyrd
10,266		 116 #1 4 –
26 One U2
10,199		 149 #2 – 1992
27 Paranoid Black Sabbath
10,047		 145 #4 – –
28 Whole Lotta Love Led Zeppelin
10,006		 146 #4 – –
29 Kashmir Led Zeppelin
10,001		 119 #1 4 1997
30 Dream On Aerosmith
9,913		 109 #1 1 –
31 Should I Stay or Should I Go? The Clash
9,808		 149 #8 – 1982
32 I Wanna Be Sedated The Ramones
9,745		 146 #1 2 1988
33 Sweet Emotion Aerosmith
9,672		 105 #1 5 –
34 Sweet Home Alabama Lynyrd Skynyrd
9,590		 111 #1 1 –
35 More than a Feeling Boston
9,545		 111 #2 – –
36 I Can't Get No Satisfaction The Rolling Stones
9,504		 112 #4 – –
37 Space Oddity David Bowie
9,424		 152 #8 – –
38 Rock the Casbah The Clash
9,393		 149 #18 – 1982
39 Won't Get Fooled Again The Who
9,378		 114 #4 – –
40 Back in Black AC/DC
9,367		 118 #1 5 1980
41 Black Dog Led Zeppelin
9,366		 107 #1 1 –
42 Love Will Tear Us Apart Joy Division
9,306		 127 #1 3 2005
43 Even Flow Pearl Jam
9,242		 121 #2 – 1992
44 Everlong Foo Fighters
9,241		 132 #1 1 1997
45 Highway to Hell AC/DC
9,103		 120 #2 – –
46 Born to Run Bruce Springsteen
8,986		 133 #2 – –
47 Tom Sawyer Rush
8,942		 104 #2 – 1981
48 Gimme Shelter The Rolling Stones
8,880		 119 #4 – –
49 You Shook Me All Night Long AC/DC
8,864		 100 #1 1 1980
50 Paint It Black The Rolling Stones
8,859		 140 #9 – 1990
51 Nothing Else Matters Metallica
8,827		 129 #5 – 1997
52 Under Pressure Queen
8,635		 121 #2 – 1981
53 Imagine John Lennon
8,604		 115 #1 5 –
54 Black Hole Sun Soundgarden
8,530		 124 #4 – 1994
55 Don't Stop Believing Journey
8,512		 107 #1 2 1981
56 Immigrant Song Led Zeppelin
8,502		 109 #6 – 2003
57 Thunderstruck AC/DC
8,486		 124 #1 1 1990
58 Money Pink Floyd
8,418		 110 #2 – –
59 Where the Streets Have No Name U2
8,375		 136 #16 – 1987
60 Walk This Way Aerosmith
8,343		 102 #12 – –
61 Don't Fear the Reaper Blue Oyster Cult
8,333		 109 #15 – 1978
62 White Wedding Billy Idol
8,328		 141 #24 – 1982
63 I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For U2
8,317		 126 #27 – 1987
64 Baba O'Riley The Who
8,224		 97 #1 1 –
65 Crazy Train Ozzy Osbourne
8,217		 100 #1 2 1980
66 Heroes David Bowie
8,201		 117 #1 2 1977
67 Hey Jude The Beatles
8,164		 101 #1 1 –
68 All Apologies Nirvana
8,142		 121 #14 – 1994
69 Who Are You The Who
8,129		 102 #5 – 1978
70 Light My Fire The Doors
8,093		 123 #5 – –
71 Burning Down the House Talking Heads
8,086		 138 #24 – 1983
72 How Soon is Now? The Smiths
8,071		 91 #1 8 1984
73 Free Fallin' Tom Petty
8,035		 108 #10 – 1989
74 Welcome to the Jungle Guns N Roses
8,028		 98 #1 3 1997
75 Plush Stone Temple Pilots
8,011		 108 #3 – 1993
76 Rock and Roll Led Zeppelin
7,988		 96 #1 1 –
77 Lithium Nirvana
7,933		 125 #3 – 1992
78 Panama Van Halen
7,882		 98 #1 2 –
79 Killing in the Name Rage Against the Machine
7,721		 113 #2 – 1993
80 Carry On My Wayward Son Kansas
7,717		 94 #5 – –
81 Paradise City Guns N Roses
7,715		 103 #2 – 1989
82 Over the Hills and Far Away Led Zeppelin
7,678		 100 #7 – –
83 Rebel Yell Billy Idol
7,638		 129 #23 – 1983
84 It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) R.E.M.
7,638		 121 #2 – 1987
85 Smoke on the Water Deep Purple
7,637		 119 #4 – –
86 Time Pink Floyd
7,612		 103 #2 – –
87 One Metallica
7,573		 100 #2 – 1997
88 Just Like Heaven The Cure
7,564		 86 #1 1 1987
89 Ramble On Led Zeppelin
7,514		 101 #17 – –
90 London Calling The Clash
7,462		 108 #4 – 1980
91 The One I Love R.E.M.
7,459		 139 #10 – 1987
92 Interstate Love Song Stone Temple Pilots
7,424		 108 #20 – 1994
93 In Your Eyes Peter Gabriel
7,392		 112 #10 – 1986
94 Every Breath You Take The Police
7,356		 113 #8 – 1983
95 You Can't Always Get What You Want The Rolling Stones
7,349		 103 #11 – –
96 Man in the Box Alice In Chains
7,339		 109 #6 – 1997
97 Pour Some Sugar On Me Def Leppard
7,333		 94 #6 – –
98 Better Man Pearl Jam
7,249		 112 #3 – 1995
99 Go Your Own Way Fleetwood Mac
7,210		 107 #11 – –
100 Riders on the Storm The Doors
7,206		 129 #20 – –

The countdowns behind the ranking

Every all-time list →

KROQ

91X

Live 105

Q101

WLIR / WDRE

K-Rock

WFNX

107.7 The End

WOXY 97X

CD101

Y100

CFNY 102.1 The Edge

The Buzz

100.7 KSLX

100.7 WZLX

101 The Fox

101.5 WPDH

101X

102.3 WBAB

102.5 KZOK

102.5 WDVE

102.9 The Whale

103.3 The Edge

103.5 The Fox

104.5 KZEP

105.9 The X

106.7 WLLZ

90.9 The Bridge

92.3 KGON

94.1 KRNA

94.3 WCYY

95.5 KLOS

97 Rock

97.1 The Drive

97.1 The River

97.9 The Loop

99.1 PLR

99X

ALT 104.5

Big 100

DC101

I-95

John Peel (BBC Radio 1)

KBPI

KEXP

KISW

KQRS

KSHE 95

KXT

Q104.3

Q105.7

Qfm96

Studio Brussel

The Colorado Sound

The Current

The Edge

Virgin Radio

WCSX

WFPK

WMGK

WTMD

WXPN

WYEP

X96

Triple J

Fred (XM 44)

WBRU

WNEW-FM

Z-Rock

How the all-time ranking works

Each countdown contributes percentile-based points: a number one earns 100, a song halfway down earns about 50, and the last position earns close to zero. A song’s all-time score is the sum of its points across every qualifying countdown, which rewards songs that appear on many lists and rank highly on them. Themed countdowns (party songs, single-artist lists) are archived but not counted, and each radio format is ranked on its own. Read the full methodology.