Back in 2005, the Rolling Stone magazine put out a list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time,” and 17 years later have updated the list to include songs that have come out since then. Rolling Stone also released a description along with the updated list explaining what went into its making, stating:
“To create the new version of the RS 500 we convened a poll of more than 250 artists, musicians, and producers — from Angelique Kidjo to Zedd, Sam Smith to Megan Thee Stallion, M. Ward to Bill Ward — as well as figures from the music industry and leading critics and journalists. They each sent in a ranked list of their top 50 songs, and we tabulated the results.
Nearly 4,000 songs received votes. 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.”
Notable changes include Bob Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone” dropping to #4 from its original #1 spot while Aretha Franklin’s “Respect,” which was originally in the #5 spot has replaced Dylan’s song in the #1 spot. Public Enemy’s “Fight The Power,” has made a huge jump from it’s 2004 #322 spot, now ranking #2 on the list.
The list also includes songs released since its initial 2004 making, including Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep,” as #82, Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black” as #79 and most notably Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own,” which was released in 2010, now taking the #20 spot, the highest spot for a song released after the list was initially made. Lana Del Rey, who recently released a single called “Arcadia” has earned spot on the list for “Summetime Sadness” and Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” has also appeared, taking the #497 spot. Lizzo has been collaborating lately, releasing “Rumors” with Cardi B.
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