What is the greatest classic rock song of all time according to radio listeners?

Combining 14 all-time countdowns from 5 stations, "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin ranks first. It appeared on 14 of the countdowns and was voted number one 9 times.

How is the all-time ranking calculated?

Every appearance on an all-time countdown earns points based on its position and the length of the list: number one earns 100 points and the last position earns close to zero. A song's total is the sum of its points across every qualifying countdown.

All-time consensus · Classic Rock · 14 countdowns from 5 stations

The greatest classic 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 classic rock stations’ Top 500 and Top 1,043 countdowns: 14 countdowns in all. The result: “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin comes out on top, appearing on 14 countdowns and voted number one nine times.

14all-time countdowns

5stations

1,908songs ranked

Top 100 of all time

Top 1000 →

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s	Year
1	Stairway to Heaven Led Zeppelin	1,393	14	#1	9	–
2	Freebird Lynyrd Skynyrd	1,385	14	#1	1	–
3	Hotel California The Eagles	1,377	14	#3	–	–
4	Bohemian Rhapsody Queen	1,376	14	#2	–	–
5	Comfortably Numb Pink Floyd	1,356	14	#2	–	1980
6	Dream On Aerosmith	1,337	14	#14	–	–
7	Kashmir Led Zeppelin	1,334	14	#2	–	–
8	Sympathy For The Devil The Rolling Stones	1,332	14	#1	1	–
9	Born to Run Bruce Springsteen	1,321	14	#2	–	–
10	Gimme Shelter The Rolling Stones	1,286	14	#7	–	–
11	Tom Sawyer Rush	1,276	14	#8	–	1981
12	Baba O'Riley The Who	1,242	13	#1	1	–
13	You Shook Me All Night Long AC/DC	1,240	14	#3	–	1980
14	More than a Feeling Boston	1,232	14	#27	–	–
15	Layla Derek and the Dominos	1,228	14	#3	–	–
16	Sweet Emotion Aerosmith	1,225	14	#4	–	–
17	Wish You Were Here Pink Floyd	1,224	13	#18	–	–
18	Back in Black AC/DC	1,196	14	#1	1	–
19	Smoke on the Water Deep Purple	1,192	14	#27	–	–
20	Sweet Home Alabama Lynyrd Skynyrd	1,186	14	#23	–	–
21	Hey Jude The Beatles	1,185	12	#2	–	–
22	Sweet Child o' Mine Guns N Roses	1,176	13	#7	–	1988
23	Won't Get Fooled Again The Who	1,163	14	#11	–	–
24	Carry On My Wayward Son Kansas	1,163	14	#23	–	–
25	Let It Be The Beatles	1,160	12	#5	–	–
26	All Along the Watchtower Jimi Hendrix	1,158	14	#24	–	–
27	Light My Fire The Doors	1,150	13	#5	–	–
28	Thunder Road Bruce Springsteen	1,146	12	#4	–	–
29	Piano Man Billy Joel	1,140	12	#15	–	–
30	Whole Lotta Love Led Zeppelin	1,108	14	#16	–	–
31	While My Guitar Gently Weeps The Beatles	1,107	12	#14	–	–
32	Who Are You The Who	1,107	14	#46	–	–
33	I Can't Get No Satisfaction The Rolling Stones	1,105	12	#11	–	–
34	Nights in White Satin The Moody Blues	1,104	12	#15	–	–
35	Time Pink Floyd	1,101	14	#45	–	–
36	Black Dog Led Zeppelin	1,100	14	#23	–	–
37	Take It Easy The Eagles	1,088	14	#52	–	–
38	Money Pink Floyd	1,085	14	#14	–	–
39	Sultans of Swing Dire Straits	1,085	14	#41	–	–
40	Immigrant Song Led Zeppelin	1,084	14	#25	–	–
41	American Pie Don McLean	1,075	12	#12	–	–
42	Paint It Black The Rolling Stones	1,075	14	#39	–	1990
43	Highway to Hell AC/DC	1,074	13	#42	–	–
44	The Chain Fleetwood Mac	1,059	14	#53	–	–
45	Crazy On You Heart	1,058	12	#5	–	–
46	Don't Stop Believing Journey	1,053	13	#11	–	–
47	Simple Man Lynyrd Skynyrd	1,050	12	#17	–	–
48	Limelight Rush	1,044	14	#36	–	–
49	Imagine John Lennon	1,042	12	#13	–	–
50	You Can't Always Get What You Want The Rolling Stones	1,027	14	#69	–	–
51	Livin' on a Prayer Bon Jovi	1,025	11	#6	–	–
52	Don't Fear the Reaper Blue Oyster Cult	1,025	14	#40	–	–
53	Thunderstruck AC/DC	1,014	11	#15	–	1990
54	Brain Damage / Eclipse Pink Floyd	1,010	13	#42	–	–
55	Scenes from an Italian Restaurant Billy Joel	1,004	11	#18	–	–
56	Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding Elton John	1,000	11	#14	–	–
57	Space Oddity David Bowie	999	12	#52	–	–
58	The Weight The Band	999	12	#50	–	–
59	Panama Van Halen	997	14	#6	–	–
60	Roundabout Yes	992	13	#19	–	–
61	Like a Rolling Stone Bob Dylan	991	12	#32	–	–
62	L.A. Woman The Doors	988	13	#49	–	–
63	Smells Like Teen Spirit Nirvana	977	11	#2	–	1991
64	Paranoid Black Sabbath	974	13	#15	–	–
65	Jukebox Hero Foreigner	974	13	#47	–	1981
66	Bad Company Bad Company	971	13	#81	–	–
67	Walk This Way Aerosmith	971	14	#60	–	–
68	House of the Rising Sun The Animals	969	12	#51	–	–
69	Crazy Train Ozzy Osbourne	965	14	#25	–	–
70	Money for Nothing Dire Straits	964	14	#74	–	1985
71	Pour Some Sugar On Me Def Leppard	964	13	#9	–	–
72	Come Together The Beatles	962	13	#46	–	–
73	Jungleland Bruce Springsteen	960	11	#11	–	–
74	Jump Van Halen	960	13	#33	–	–
75	Heroes David Bowie	954	12	#48	–	1977
76	Aqualung Jethro Tull	948	12	#21	–	–
77	Foreplay/Longtime Boston	946	12	#44	–	–
78	Revolution The Beatles	943	13	#29	–	–
79	Go Your Own Way Fleetwood Mac	943	13	#48	–	–
80	Fortunate Son Creedence Clearwater Revival	939	13	#99	–	–
81	Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap AC/DC	938	12	#19	–	–
82	Iron Man Black Sabbath	937	13	#20	–	–
83	Strawberry Fields Forever The Beatles	929	12	#51	–	–
84	Here Comes the Sun The Beatles	926	10	#28	–	–
85	Wonderful Tonight Eric Clapton	925	12	#6	–	–
86	We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions Queen	923	12	#4	–	–
87	Rock and Roll Led Zeppelin	920	12	#29	–	–
88	Summer of '69 Bryan Adams	918	14	#30	–	1990
89	Night Moves Bob Seger	916	13	#15	–	–
90	Welcome to the Jungle Guns N Roses	913	12	#27	–	–
91	Lola The Kinks	912	13	#25	–	–
92	Born in the U.S.A. Bruce Springsteen	907	14	#43	–	–
93	In My Life The Beatles	898	11	#18	–	–
94	Love Reign O'er Me The Who	898	12	#66	–	–
95	Paradise by the Dashboard Light Meat Loaf	897	10	#8	–	–
96	Ramble On Led Zeppelin	895	13	#36	–	–
97	Riders on the Storm The Doors	891	13	#59	–	–
98	Dazed and Confused Led Zeppelin	887	13	#53	–	–
99	Free Fallin' Tom Petty	885	13	#50	–	1989
100	Roadhouse Blues The Doors	884	13	#29	–	–

The countdowns behind the ranking

Every all-time list →

KQRS

KQ 500 (2024)

Q104.3

WCSX

Rock & Roll 500 (2021)

WMGK

WNEW-FM

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.