Decade consensus · All Rock Formats · 2 year-end countdowns + 2 decade countdowns

The best rock songs of the 1970s

This ranking of the 1970s combines 2 year-end countdowns from 1970 through 1979 with two “songs of the decade” countdowns aired by KISW and 90.9 The Bridge. The top song of the '70s is “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin, which charted on 2 countdowns and reached number one one times. The decade’s most-charted artists are David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, The Rolling Stones and The Who.

972songs charted

2year-end countdowns

2decade countdowns

Top 100 songs of the '70s

Top 1000 →

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s	Year
1	Stairway to Heaven Led Zeppelin	199	2	#1	1	–
2	Roxanne The Police	198	3	#10	–	1978
3	Bohemian Rhapsody Queen	192	2	#1	1	–
4	Hotel California The Eagles	189	2	#2	–	–
5	Layla Derek and the Dominos	185	2	#4	–	–
6	Born to Run Bruce Springsteen	184	2	#4	–	–
7	Miss You The Rolling Stones	173	3	#6	–	1978
8	Won't Get Fooled Again The Who	171	2	#6	–	–
9	Dreams Fleetwood Mac	160	2	#8	–	–
10	More than a Feeling Boston	153	2	#12	–	–
11	Don't Fear the Reaper Blue Oyster Cult	149	3	#4	–	1978
12	Sultans of Swing Dire Straits	149	2	#13	–	1978
13	Dream On Aerosmith	149	2	#13	–	–
14	Surrender Cheap Trick	146	2	#12	–	1978
15	Heroes David Bowie	142	2	#3	–	1977
16	Who Are You The Who	141	2	#2	–	1978
17	I Wanna Be Sedated The Ramones	140	3	#15	–	1988
18	Renegade Styx	140	2	#7	–	1978
19	Fat Bottomed Girls Queen	134	2	#3	–	1978
20	I Want You To Want Me Cheap Trick	127	2	#10	–	–
21	Kashmir Led Zeppelin	127	2	#16	–	1997
22	Changes David Bowie	125	2	#17	–	–
23	Tiny Dancer Elton John	123	2	#11	–	–
24	Runnin' With The Devil Van Halen	122	2	#1	1	1978
25	We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions Queen	113	2	#18	–	–
26	Beast of Burden The Rolling Stones	110	2	#18	–	1978
27	Freebird Lynyrd Skynyrd	109	2	#7	–	–
28	Dancing the Night Away Motors	100	1	#1	1	1977
29	What's Going On Marvin Gaye	100	1	#2	–	–
30	Heart of Glass Blondie	100	1	#5	–	–
31	Baba O'Riley The Who	99	1	#6	–	–
32	Life on Mars David Bowie	99	1	#7	–	–
33	Let It Be The Beatles	99	1	#8	–	–
34	Shattered The Rolling Stones	99	1	#9	–	–
35	Mr. Blue Sky Electric Light Orchestra	99	1	#10	–	–
36	Ballroom Blitz Sweet	99	1	#11	–	–
37	Year Of The Cat Al Stewart	99	1	#12	–	–
38	Wild Horses The Rolling Stones	99	1	#14	–	–
39	London Calling The Clash	98	1	#15	–	1980
40	Life's Been Good Joe Walsh	98	2	#16	–	1978
41	Uptown Top Ranking Althea & Donna	98	1	#2	–	1977
42	Rocket Man (I Think It's Gonna Be a Long Time) Elton John	98	1	#16	–	–
43	Dancing Barefoot The Patti Smith Group	98	1	#17	–	–
44	Marquee Moon Television	98	1	#18	–	–
45	Let's Get it On Marvin Gaye	98	1	#19	–	–
46	No Woman, No Cry Bob Marley	98	1	#20	–	–
47	Psycho Killer Talking Heads	98	1	#21	–	2005
48	Tangled Up in Blue Bob Dylan	98	1	#22	–	–
49	Teenage Kicks The Undertones	98	1	#23	–	–
50	Young Americans David Bowie	97	1	#24	–	–
51	Wish You Were Here Pink Floyd	97	1	#26	–	–
52	Into the Mystic Van Morrison	97	1	#28	–	–
53	Badlands Bruce Springsteen	97	1	#29	–	–
54	You Beat The Hell Out of Me Motors	97	1	#3	–	1977
55	The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys Traffic	97	1	#31	–	–
56	God Save the Queen The Sex Pistols	97	2	#46	–	1977
57	Night Moves Bob Seger	96	1	#33	–	–
58	Go All The Way Raspberries	96	1	#34	–	–
59	The Logical Song Supertramp	96	1	#35	–	–
60	Brandy(you're a Fine Girl) Looking Glass	96	1	#36	–	–
61	Ziggy Stardust David Bowie	96	1	#37	–	–
62	Hello It's Me Todd Rundgren	96	1	#38	–	–
63	Three Little Birds Bob Marley	96	1	#39	–	–
64	Shelter From the Storm Bob Dylan	96	1	#40	–	–
65	Thunder Road Bruce Springsteen	96	1	#41	–	–
66	Stuck in the Middle With You Stealers Wheel	95	1	#42	–	–
67	Superstition Stevie Wonder	95	1	#43	–	–
68	The Chain Fleetwood Mac	95	1	#44	–	–
69	It's Too Late Carole King	95	1	#45	–	–
70	I Can't Stand My Baby Rezillos	95	1	#4	–	1977
71	Thirteen Big Star	95	1	#47	–	–
72	Midnight Train to Georgia Gladys Knight & The Pips	95	1	#48	–	–
73	Take It Easy Jackson Browne	95	1	#49	–	–
74	Let's Stay Together Al Green	95	1	#50	–	–
75	Sweet Home Alabama Lynyrd Skynyrd	95	2	#19	–	–
76	American Pie Don McLean	95	1	#51	–	–
77	Blitzkrieg Bop The Ramones	94	1	#52	–	–
78	Coney Island Baby Lou Reed	94	1	#53	–	–
79	My Sharona The Knack	94	1	#54	–	–
80	Butter Boy Fanny	94	1	#55	–	–
81	Comfortably Numb Pink Floyd	94	1	#56	–	1980
82	Going to California Led Zeppelin	94	1	#57	–	–
83	I Will Survive Gloria Gaynor	94	1	#58	–	–
84	All the Young Dudes Mott the Hoople	94	1	#59	–	–
85	I'll Be Around The Spinners	94	1	#60	–	–
86	Suspended Sentence John Cooper Clarke	93	1	#5	–	1977
87	The Man With The Child In His Eyes Kate Bush	93	1	#61	–	–
88	Ever Fallen in Love The Buzzcocks	93	1	#62	–	–
89	Ooh La La The Faces	93	1	#63	–	–
90	Love Reign O'er Me The Who	93	1	#64	–	–
91	September Gurls Big Star	93	1	#65	–	–
92	Life During Wartime Talking Heads	93	1	#66	–	–
93	Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding Elton John	93	1	#67	–	–
94	She's Lost Control Joy Division	93	1	#68	–	–
95	Boys Don't Cry The Cure	92	1	#70	–	1986
96	Pump It Up Elvis Costello & the Attractions	92	1	#71	–	–
97	My Sweet Lord George Harrison	92	1	#72	–	–
98	I Want to See the Bright Lights Richard & Linda Thompson	92	1	#73	–	–
99	Who by Fire Leonard Cohen	92	1	#74	–	–
100	Misty Mountain Hop Led Zeppelin	92	1	#75	–	–

Station countdowns of the '70s

Listener-voted “best of the decade” countdowns as broadcast.

About this ranking

The 1970s ranking adds together two kinds of evidence: the year-end countdowns from each year of the decade, and the retrospective “songs of the decade” countdowns that stations aired afterwards. Year-end lists capture what listeners loved at the time; decade countdowns capture what lasted. Every appearance earns percentile-based points, and the totals are ranked. See the methodology for details.