Aretha Franklin and Public Enemy reign supreme on Rolling Stone‘s “500 Best Songs of All Time” list, and if you don’t respect it, fight the power.
Rolling Stone last released their Top 500 in 2004 and it has remained one of the publication’s most-read stories in history, generating hundreds of millions of views. On Wednesday morning, the list was updated for the first time in 17 years.
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“Nearly 4,000 songs received votes,” Rolling Stone wrote of its voting process. “Where the 2004 version of the list was dominated by early rock and soul, the new edition contains more hip hop, modern country, indie rock, Latin pop, reggae, and R&B.
“More than half the songs here — 254 in all — weren’t present on the old list, including a third of the Top 100. The result is a more expansive, inclusive vision of pop, music that keeps rewriting its history with every beat.”
Franklin’s “Respect” (1967) topped the publication’s list; Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” (1989) clocked in at No. 2. Artists from various genres cracked the top 10, including Bob Dylan, Nirvana, Marvin Gaye, Fleetwood Mac, and Missy Elliott.
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Review the top 10 below.
- Aretha Franklin, “Respect”
- Public Enemy, “Fight the Power”
- Sam Cooke, “A Change is Gonna Come”
- Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone”
- Nirvana, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
- Marvin Gaye, “What’s Going On”
- The Beatles, “Strawberry Fields Forever”
- Missy Elliott, “Get Ur Freak On”
- Fleetwood Mac, “Dreams”
- Outkast, “Hey Ya!”
