Song · Frank Sinatra
“Fly Me To The Moon” by Frank Sinatra
Released 1977
“Fly Me To The Moon” by Frank Sinatra appears on 8 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 2001 and 2020. It was first released in 1977. Its best result is #276 on the WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,121 indie & aaa song of all time.
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Bart Howard wrote "Fly Me to the Moon" in 1954, back when it still went by "In Other Words", and Kaye Ballard was the first to put it on record. But the version that stuck is Frank Sinatra's: he takes a supper-club love song and swings it like he owns the room, every line landing with that easy, lived-in cool.
His take got bound up with the Apollo missions, and it's hard to hear it now without picturing a rocket clearing the pad, a lounge standard turned into the soundtrack for leaving the planet. The Songwriters Hall of Fame saluted it as a "Towering Song" in 1999, and in 2026 CBS News put it on its list of 250 essential American songs. It's an odd guest on rock radio's countdowns, and a welcome one.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 1609 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2004 | 555 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) | 885 |
| 2007 | 627 | WTMD | WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time | 897 |
| 2009 | 276 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009) | 885 |
| 2010 | 306 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) | 885 |
| 2014 | 578 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014) | 885 |
| 2018 | 352 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs | 892 |
| 2020 | 488 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
Also listed as: Fly Me to the Moon.
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