Song · Bob Marley
“I Shot the Sheriff” by Bob Marley
“I Shot the Sheriff” by Bob Marley appears on 13 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 1989 and 2022. Its best result is #205 on the Y100 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (July 2004). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,490 alternative song of all time.
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Bob Marley wrote "I Shot the Sheriff", and it first came out in 1973 on Burnin', the Wailers' album, released through Island and Tuff Gong. On its face it's an outlaw's tale, but Marley was frank about what sat underneath it.
By his own account, the target he really had in mind was the police, and he swapped in a sheriff because he figured the government would kick up a fuss otherwise. Either way, he said, the idea was the same: justice. That makes it a protest song wearing a cowboy hat, a righteous grievance slipped past the authorities in the shape of a story, and it has kept its sting long after the Wailers first cut it.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 255 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) | 500 |
| 1991 | 252 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) | 500 |
| 1994 | 283 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994) | 500 |
| 1996 | 434 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996) | 498 |
| 2002 | 1957 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 1289 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
| 2004 | 205 | Y100 | Y100 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (July 2004) | 300 |
| 2005 | 216 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005) | 500 |
| 2006 | 289 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006) | 499 |
| 2007 | 698 | WTMD | WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time | 897 |
| 2012 | 666 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Greatest Rock Songs (2012) | 885 |
| 2014 | 678 | Big 100 | BIG 1000 New Year's Countdown (2014) | 1000 |
| 2022 | 307 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '70s | 908 |
Also listed as: I Shot The Sheriff; I Shot The Sherrif.
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