Rolling Stone magazine ‘s updated ‘top 500 songs in history’

After 17 years the Rolling Stone magazine has updated its “Top 500 songs in history” with noticeable changes in the top 10.

Iconic music magazine Rolling Stone has released an updated version of its top 500 songs in history with a major reshuffle at the top of the list.

The top 500 list was first released in 2004 and was one of the magazine’s most widely read articles with views in the hundreds of millions but changing times and music lead to a reiteration of the famous list. 

Rolling Stone’s new top 500 list used more than 250 artists, musicians and producers as well as well known musical figures, journalists and critics to create a “more expansive, inclusive vision of pop, music that keeps rewriting its history with every beat”.

Contributors listed their top 50 songs and from there the new list was created with more than 250 songs that did not feature on the original list.

Aretha Franklin’s Respect was named the best song in history by Rolling Stone after it climbed from fifth on the original list.

Despite there being 17 years between lists there were no songs post 2004 in the top 10 with only one – Robyn’s Dancing on my own (20) – landing in the top 20.

There were only four songs that held positions in the top 10 in both editions: Aretha Franklin’s Respect, Bob Dylan’s Like a Rolling Stone, Nirvana’s Smells like Teen Spirit and Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On.

Entering the top 10 for the first time was Public Enemy’s Fight the Power (2), Sam Cooke’s A Change is Gonna Come (3), The Beatles’ Strawberry Fields Forever (7), Missy Elliot’s Get Ur Freak On (8), Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams (9) and Outkast’s Hey Ya! (10).

Newer artists to feature inside the list’s top 100 included Taylor Swift’s All to Well (69), Kanye West’s Runaway (25), Lorde’s Royals (30), Beyonce’s Formation (73) as well as Adele’s Rolling in the Deep (82), Kelly Clarkson’s Since U Been Gone (93) and Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black (79). 

Old Top 10:

1. Bob Dylan — Like A Rolling Stone (1965)
2. The Rolling Stone — (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (1965)
3. John Lennon — Imagine (1971)
4. Marvin Gaye — What’s Going On (1971)
5. Aretha Franklin — Respect (1967)
6. The Beach Boys — Good Vibrations (1966)
7. Chuck Berry — Johnny B. Goode (1958)
8. The Beatles — Hey Jude (1968)
9. Nirvana — Smells Like Teen Spirit (1991)
10. Ray Charles — What’d I Say (1959)

New Top 10: 

1. Aretha Franklin — Respect (1967)
2. Public Enemy — Fight The Power (1989)
3. Sam Cooke — A Change Is Gonna Come (1964)
4. Bob Dylan — Like A Rolling Stone (1965)
5. Nirvana — Smells Like Teen Spirit (1991)
6. Marvin Gaye — What’s Going On (1971)
7. The Beatles — Strawberry Fields Forever (1967)
8. Missy Elliott — Get Ur Freak On (2001)
9. Fleetwood Mac — Dreams (1977)
10. OutKast — Hey Ya! (2003)

You can see the full top 500 here.

Jack Mahony