Decade consensus · Hard Rock & Metal · 1 year-end countdowns + 1 decade countdowns

The best hard rock songs of the 1970s

This ranking of the 1970s combines 1 year-end countdowns from 1970 through 1979 with one “songs of the decade” countdowns aired by KISW. The top song of the '70s is “Roxanne” by The Police, which charted on 2 countdowns. The decade’s most-charted artists are Queen, The Who, Van Halen, Led Zeppelin and Cheap Trick.

46songs charted

1year-end countdowns

1decade countdowns

Top 100 songs of the '70s

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s	Year
1	Roxanne The Police	112	2	#10	–	1978
2	Don't Fear the Reaper Blue Oyster Cult	104	2	#4	–	1978
3	Stairway to Heaven Led Zeppelin	100	1	#1	1	–
4	Runnin' With The Devil Van Halen	100	1	#1	1	1978
5	Hotel California The Eagles	96	1	#2	–	–
6	Who Are You The Who	96	1	#2	–	1978
7	Bohemian Rhapsody Queen	92	1	#3	–	–
8	Fat Bottomed Girls Queen	92	1	#3	–	1978
9	Miss You The Rolling Stones	88	2	#6	–	1978
10	Layla Derek and the Dominos	88	1	#4	–	–
11	Born to Run Bruce Springsteen	84	1	#5	–	–
12	Lights Journey	84	1	#5	–	1978
13	Won't Get Fooled Again The Who	80	1	#6	–	–
14	Freebird Lynyrd Skynyrd	76	1	#7	–	–
15	Renegade Styx	76	1	#7	–	1978
16	I Wanna Be Sedated The Ramones	72	2	#15	–	1988
17	Hollywood Nights Bob Seger	72	1	#8	–	1978
18	Dreams Fleetwood Mac	72	1	#8	–	–
19	Another Brick in the Wall Pink Floyd	68	1	#9	–	1980
20	I Need to Know Tom Petty	68	1	#9	–	1978
21	I Want You To Want Me Cheap Trick	64	1	#10	–	–
22	Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love Van Halen	60	1	#11	–	1978
23	Tiny Dancer Elton John	60	1	#11	–	–
24	Surrender Cheap Trick	56	1	#12	–	1978
25	More than a Feeling Boston	56	1	#12	–	–
26	Sultans of Swing Dire Straits	52	1	#13	–	1978
27	Dream On Aerosmith	52	1	#13	–	–
28	Straight On Heart	48	1	#14	–	1978
29	Hot Blooded Foreigner	44	1	#15	–	1978
30	Kashmir Led Zeppelin	40	1	#16	–	1997
31	Life's Been Good Joe Walsh	40	1	#16	–	1978
32	Changes David Bowie	36	1	#17	–	–
33	Good Times Roll The Cars	36	1	#17	–	1978
34	Beast of Burden The Rolling Stones	32	1	#18	–	1978
35	We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions Queen	32	1	#18	–	–
36	Sweet Home Alabama Lynyrd Skynyrd	28	1	#19	–	–
37	L.A. Woman The Doors	24	1	#20	–	–
38	Feeling That Way Journey	24	1	#20	–	1978
39	Don't Look Back Boston	20	1	#21	–	1978
40	Smoke on the Water Deep Purple	20	1	#21	–	–
41	Godzilla Blue Oyster Cult	16	1	#22	–	1978
42	Paranoid Black Sabbath	12	1	#23	–	–
43	Double Vision Foreigner	12	1	#23	–	1978
44	Old Time Rock and Roll Bob Seger	8	1	#24	–	1978
45	Lola The Kinks	4	1	#25	–	–
46	Hold The Line Toto	4	1	#25	–	1978

Station countdowns of the '70s

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

KISW · 2021 KISW 25 Greatest Rock Songs from the 1970s 25 songs

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.