The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time

Rolling Stone’s 2021 revamp of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time was rebuilt from the ground up via a large industry ballot, inviting more than 250 artists, writers, producers, and other music insiders to each submit ranked top-50 lists. The new canon deliberately widens the lens beyond classic rock to foreground hip-hop, R&B, Latin pop, indie, and global scenes, resulting in a fresher, more inclusive snapshot of pop history. The final ranking reflects those ballots—thousands of individual song votes—tabulated by Rolling Stone’s editors.