Welcome to the ultimate jukebox: the second edition of the ROLLING STONE 500, a celebration of the greatest rock & roll songs of all time, chosen by a five-star jury of singers, musicians, producers, industry figures, critics and, of course, songwriters. As with last year's inaugural RS 500 honoring the greatest albums ever made, the editors of ROLLING STONE called on rock stars and leading authorities to list their fifty favorite songs, in order of preference. The 172 voters, who included Brian Wilson, Joni Mitchell and Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, were asked to select songs from the rock & roll era. They nominated 2,103 songs in virtually every pop-music genre of the past half-century and beyond, from Hank Williams to OutKast. The results were tabulated according to a weighted point system.

For this RS 500, the word song refers to both a composition and its definitive recorded performance, as a single or an album track. Bob Dylan, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones accounted for a combined total of 117 nominated songs, a measure of their unbroken reign as rock's most influential, beloved artists. Nirvana and the Clash crashed the top twenty, rubbing guitars with Chuck Berry and Jimi Hendrix.

This RS 500 is also a tribute to the eternal power of popular music, and great songwriting in particular, to reflect and transform the times in which we hear it. The highest-ranked Beatles-related song is from 1971: John Lennon's utopian dream "Imagine," America's alternative national anthem since 9/11. The entire top twenty is practically a contemporary newscast, a breaking story of worry, temper, hope and pride: "Let It Be," "My Generation," "Respect," "A Change Is Gonna Come." The RS 500 salutes the songs that move us -- and the artists who create them. It is also proof that whenever you want to know what's going on, listen to the music.

CONTRIBUTORS: Bill Crandall, Gavin Edwards, Jenny Eliscu, Jason Fine, David Fricke, Christian Hoard, Rob Kemp, Greg Kot, Robert Levine, Joe Levy, Tom Moon, Tom Nawrocki, Jon Pareles, Parke Puterbaugh, Robert Santelli, Austin Scaggs, Bud Scoppa, Rob Sheffield, LC Smith, Barry Walters, Douglas Wolk. Additional research by Andy Greene



(Posted Nov 19, 2004)


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