Year-end consensus · All Rock Formats · 25 countdowns combined

The best rock songs of 2020

Q: What was the top rock song of 2020?

Combining 25 year-end radio countdowns, the top rock song of 2020 is "Bad Decisions" by The Strokes, which appeared on 18 of the lists.

25 radio stations and charts published year-end countdowns for 2020: 91X, CD101, 101X, 102.7 WEQX, 107.1 The Peak, 88.3 The Sting, 90.9 The Bridge, 93.3 WMMR, 93X, 94.3 KILO, 98KUPD, ALT 104.5, Exit 97.7, Indie 102.3, Lightning 100, SiriusXM Octane, The Current, WBER, WERS 88.9, WFUV, WRNR 103.1, WTMD, WXPN, X96 and Triple J. Combining every list, the top rock song of 2020 is “Bad Decisions” by The Strokes, which appeared on 18 of the 25 countdowns and was voted number one by one of them. 22 different songs were voted number one somewhere: “Level Of Concern” by TWENTY ONE PILOTS (3 stations), “Kyoto” by Phoebe Bridgers (2 stations), “It Might Be Time” by Tame Impala, “Can I Call You Tonight?” by Dayglow and “Bad Decisions” by The Strokes and others. Tame Impala was the year’s most-charted artist, with six different songs placing 34 times across the countdowns.

25countdowns

949songs charted

22different #1s

Top 100 songs of 2020

All 949 songs →

Ranked by combined points across every 2020 year-end countdown in this format. How it works.

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s
1	Bad Decisions The Strokes	1,484	18	#1	1
2	Lost In Yesterday Tame Impala	1,450	18	#2	–
3	Caution The Killers	1,139	16	#5	–
4	And It's Still Alright Nathaniel Rateliff	849	11	#1	1
5	Black Madonna Cage The Elephant	823	11	#3	–
6	Kyoto Phoebe Bridgers	796	10	#1	2
7	Letter To You Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band	792	11	#2	–
8	Can I Believe You Fleet Foxes	789	12	#6	–
9	Be Afraid Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit	747	11	#6	–
10	Is It True Tame Impala	730	10	#8	–
11	Dance Of The Clairvoyants Pearl Jam	729	14	#5	–
12	My Own Soul's Warning The Killers	696	12	#5	–
13	Shameika Fiona Apple	682	9	#4	–
14	Ferris Wheel Sylvan Esso	670	11	#6	–
15	Everything I Wanted Billie Eilish	667	8	#2	–
16	Honeybee The Head and the Heart	666	9	#11	–
17	Shame Shame Foo Fighters	664	11	#6	–
18	Level Of Concern Twenty One Pilots	636	7	#1	4
19	The Steps Haim	633	8	#1	1
20	Hero Weezer	629	10	#6	–
21	Patience Chris Cornell	607	10	#1	1
22	Hallucinogenics Matt Maeson	600	8	#2	–
23	Feel You My Morning Jacket	590	9	#7	–
24	Lilacs Waxahatchee	587	8	#10	–
25	Texas Sun Khruangbin & Leon Bridges	584	8	#2	–
26	circle the drain Soccer Mommy	567	8	#4	–
27	Strong Enough Ray LaMontagne	559	8	#10	–
28	Dreamsicle Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit	553	7	#13	–
29	Deleter Grouplove	537	8	#13	–
30	The Adults Are Talking The Strokes	528	9	#2	–
31	Time Stands Nathaniel Rateliff	526	8	#3	–
32	Oh Yeah! Green Day	511	9	#16	–
33	Your Love (Déjà Vu) Glass Animals	504	12	#22	–
34	Feel the Way I Want Caroline Rose	480	7	#4	–
35	Private Lives Low Cut Connie	479	7	#11	–
36	Shine A Little Light The Black Keys	478	7	#2	–
37	The Let Go Elle King	477	7	#4	–
38	exile Taylor Swift	456	5	#3	–
39	Can I Call You Tonight? Dayglow	455	9	#13	–
40	Turntables Janelle Monae	454	6	#2	–
41	Living in Ghost Town The Rolling Stones	453	9	#12	–
42	Hell N Back Bakar	444	6	#10	–
43	Under the Table Fiona Apple	440	6	#6	–
44	Expectations Katie Pruitt	435	7	#7	–
45	Shangri-La EOB	429	8	#7	–
46	Cold Chris Stapleton	422	7	#2	–
47	A Little Bit Off Five Finger Death Punch	420	5	#1	1
48	Everything Has Changed Best Coast	418	9	#4	–
49	Novocaine Unlikely Candidates	414	5	#1	1
50	Unforgettable Godsmack	408	5	#3	–
51	Strangers Mt. Joy	408	7	#15	–
52	The Good Life Devon Gilfillian	395	6	#9	–
53	Visitor Of Monsters And Men	392	6	#11	–
54	Bang! Ajr	389	5	#4	–
55	Who Do You Think You're Talking To? Dawes	389	7	#15	–
56	For Sure Future Islands	384	7	#3	–
57	Identical Phoenix	384	8	#13	–
58	Popular Monster Falling in Reverse	369	4	#1	1
59	Fire For You Cannons	368	6	#14	–
60	How Lucky Kurt Vile	361	4	#7	–
61	Oh My My Blue October	358	6	#13	–
62	Fire Black Pumas	358	4	#1	1
63	Can't Do Much Waxahatchee	358	6	#22	–
64	Pneuma Tool	345	5	#2	–
65	Running Up That Hill Meg Myers	344	4	#2	–
66	survivin' Bastille	341	6	#23	–
67	Domino Nicole Atkins	335	6	#5	–
68	Bloody Valentine Machine Gun Kelly	335	4	#6	–
69	This Forgotten Town The Jayhawks	334	7	#18	–
70	How Will I Rest In Peace If I'm Buried By A Highway? Kenny Hoopla	333	5	#19	–
71	Heat Waves Glass Animals	326	7	#1	1
72	I Got You Michael Franti & Spearhead	323	5	#24	–
73	Are You Bored Yet? WALLOWS	323	5	#10	–
74	Care Beabadoobee	322	9	#33	–
75	Leave Virginia Alone Tom Petty	321	4	#16	–
76	Monsters All Time Low	320	4	#3	–
77	Lay Your Head On Me Major Lazer	320	5	#8	–
78	Time (You and I) Khruangbin	319	6	#8	–
79	Loneliness For Love LovelyTheBand	319	6	#18	–
80	Hard On Everyone Kathleen Edwards	318	7	#9	–
81	Options Open Kathleen Edwards	315	5	#3	–
82	Rolling Michael Kiwanuka	310	5	#8	–
83	Letting Me Down Margo Price	310	5	#1	1
84	Officer of Love CAAMP	308	5	#13	–
85	My Future Billie Eilish	307	8	#32	–
86	Can't Fight Lianne La Havas	306	6	#10	–
87	Leave Me Alone I Don't Know How But They Found Me	304	6	#12	–
88	The Buzz The Pretenders	303	6	#21	–
89	JU$T Run the Jewels	303	4	#1	1
90	Five More Minutes The War and Treaty	290	6	#1	1
91	Parasite Eve Bring Me the Horizon	287	5	#2	–
92	Real Long Time White Reaper	287	6	#7	–
93	I'm Ready Black Pumas	281	5	#8	–
94	Social Cues Cage The Elephant	273	5	#3	–
95	Cradles SUB URBAN	266	5	#17	–
96	Held Down Laura Marling	263	4	#7	–
97	Color My Life Chicano Batman	259	4	#3	–
98	One Day She's Here Marcus King	258	3	#15	–
99	Video Game Sufjan Stevens	257	5	#14	–
100	4 American Dollars U.S. Girls	256	5	#24	–

Every station’s number one of 2020

Station	Number one song	Countdown
91X	It Might Be Time Tame Impala	91X Top 91 Songs of 2020
CD101	Level Of Concern TWENTY ONE PILOTS	CD101 Top 93 Songs of 2020
101X	Can I Call You Tonight? Dayglow	101X Top 25 Songs of 2020
102.7 WEQX	Bad Decisions The Strokes	WEQX Top 102.7 of 2020
107.1 The Peak	Fire Black Pumas	WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2020
88.3 The Sting	Being Them Fake Names	88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 88 Songs of 2020
90.9 The Bridge	Habit Jake Wells	90.9 The Bridge Top 90 Songs of 2020
93.3 WMMR	Dangerous Seether	WMMR Top 25 Songs of 2020
93X	Parasite Eve Bring Me the Horizon	93X Top 20 Songs of 2020
94.3 KILO	Fly On The Wall The Violent	KILO's Top 30 Kountdown of 2020
98KUPD	Antisocialist Asking Alexandria	98KUPD Top 98 of 2020
ALT 104.5	Level of Concern Twenty One Pilots	ALT 104.5 Top 50.5 Songs of 2020
Exit 97.7	And It's Still Alright Nathaniel Rateliff	WEXT Top 97 of 2020
Indie 102.3	Kyoto Phoebe Bridgers	Indie 102.3 Top 102.3 Songs of 2020
Lightning 100	You're Not Alone Semisonic	Lightning 100 Top 200 Songs of 2020
SiriusXM Octane	Popular Monster Falling in Reverse	SiriusXM Octane Big 'Uns Countdown Songs of 2020
The Current	Guess Again Jeff Tweedy	The Current Top 89 Songs of 2020
WBER	This Life Vampire Weekend	WBER Listener Countdown 2020
WERS 88.9	The Steps Haim	WERS Top 88 Songs of 2020
WFUV	Kyoto Phoebe Bridgers	WFUV Top 90 Songs of 2020
WRNR 103.1	This Year Can Kiss My Ass Meiko	WRNR Top 103.1 Songs of 2020
WTMD	Five More Minutes The War And Treaty	WTMD Top 89 Songs of 2020
WXPN	All In It Together Mavis Staples	WXPN Top 100 Most Played Songs of 2020
X96	Level Of Concern Twenty One Pilots	X96 Top 50 Songs of 2020
Triple J	Heat Waves Glass Animals	Triple J Hottest 100 of 2020

All 2020 countdowns in this ranking

About the 2020 ranking

Radio stations count down their listeners’ favorite songs at the end of every year. Each station’s list reflects its own audience, so a song that ruled Los Angeles could miss the top ten in Chicago. To find the songs that defined 2020 everywhere, RockLists gives every appearance percentile-based points (a number one earns 100, the last position earns close to zero) and adds them up across all 25 qualifying countdowns. This ranking combines every rock format on the site. Read the full methodology.