(fan-voted) top 100 most recognizable songs of all-time

The voting process worked in a tournament style fashion where songs would be randomly selected to go one on one against each other and you would pick which one you believe is the more recognizable song until you eliminate all but one. I had a hard time deciding whether to use the tournament win rate (as it's listed on the website) or the overall win rate. Both options had their pros and cons so I let a poll on my community tab decide (which ultimately ended up deciding on the overall win rate).

(Fan-Voted) Top 100 Most Recognizable Songs of All-Time

#songs #top100 #music

[boogieheadmusic]

Every song on my last version of this list that didn’t make it onto this one:

100. Shake It Off - Taylor Swift

99. Old Town Road - Lil Nas X & Billy Ray Cyrus

97. Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) - Beyoncé

95. Yeah! - Usher, Ludacris & Lil Jon

93. Let’s Get It On - Marvin Gaye

92. I Kissed A Girl - Katy Perry

86. Hello - Adele

81. Vogue - Madonna

80. Three Little Birds - Bob Marley & The Wailers

79. I Got You (I Feel Good) - James Brown

78. My Name Is - Eminem

76. Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice

72. Call Me - Blondie

71. Like A Virgin - Madonna

69. Purple Rain - Prince & The Revolution

68. Zombie - The Cranberries

67. Hound Dog - Elvis Presley

65. Shape Of You - Ed Sheeran

58. Despacito - Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee

54. The Sound of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel

51. Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys

50. September - Earth, Wind & Fire

48. California Love - 2Pac, Dr. Dre & Roger Troutman

44. I Want To Hold Your Hand - The Beatles

40. Imagine - John Lennon

37. I’m A Believer - The Monkees

36. Livin’ la Vida Loca - Ricky Martin

26. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones

20. Respect - Aretha Franklin

Every song on this list that wasn’t in my last version:

99. Barbie Girl - Aqua

97. I Want To Break Free - Queen

96. The Next Episode - Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kurupt & Nate Dogg

94. What Is Love - Haddaway

93. Blue (Da Ba Dee) - Eiffel 65

92. Rasputin - Boney M.

91. Happy - Pharrell Williams

86. Mamma Mia - Abba

84. Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day

83. Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr.

77. Everybody Wants To Rule The World - Tears For Fears

70. Toxic - Britney Spears

69. Without Me - Eminem

68. Numb - Linkin Park

67. I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor

66. Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver

60. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) - Abba

58. Get Lucky - Daft Punk, Pharrell Williams & Nile Rodgers

50. Under Pressure - Queen & David Bowie

48. Highway to Hell - AC/DC

47. Bad - Michael Jackson

42. I’m Still Standing - Elton John

39. Thunderstruck - AC/DC

37. Blinding Lights - The Weeknd

33. Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) - Eurythmics

25. Gangsta’s Paradise - Coolio & L.V.

23. Africa - Toto

17. Don’t Stop Me Now - Queen

[late]

Many people seem to forget that this is a list of the most _recognizable_ songs. Even younger generations can recognize the old classics, but older generations will have a harder time recognizing some of the newer hits, so to me this list is probably pretty accurate.

[Skillseboy]

The fact that 3 out of the top 10 most recognizable songs come from the same album goes to show how huge Thriller was. Damn.

[softlife-lit]

0:00 boogiehead
0:09 barbie girl
0:21 girls just wanna have fun
0:28 i want to break free
0:34 the next episode
0:43 i want u back
0:53 what is love
1:00 im blue
1:09 rasputin
1:15 happy
1:25 jailhouse rock
1:34 umbrella
1:45 see u again
1:53 house of the rising sun
2:02 mamma mia
2:12 in da club
2:22 boulevard of broken dreams
2:30 ghost busters
2:35 call me maybe
2:44 another brick in the wall
2:57 crazy in love
3:06 wannabe
3:16 let it be
3:23 everbody wants to rule the world
3:32 wake me up
3:39 bad romance
3:47 hips dont lie
3:56 poker face
4:06 my hearth will go on
4:17 welcome to the jungle
4:25 toxic
4:34 without me
4:41 numb
4:51 i will survive
5:01 take me home country roads
5:10 wake me up before u go
5:17 stairway to heaven
5:23 i gotta feeling
5:30 sweet caroline
5:38 i wanna dance with somebody
5:46 gimme gimme gimme
5:57 waka waka
6:06 get lucky
6:14 here comes the sun
6:21 cant touch this
6:30 wonderwall
6:40 hotel california
6:50 every beath you take
6:59 rolling in the deep
7:08 mister bright side
7:14 under pressure
7:24 stil d.r.e
7:34 highway to hell
7:41 bad
7:50 hey jude
8:00 dream on
8:07 the real slim shady
8:16 somebody that u used to know
8:25 im still standing
8:34 in the end
8:43 i want it that way
8:49 thunderstruck
8:55 baby one more time
9:04 blinding lights
9:12 macerena
9:19 sweet home albama
9:29 hey ya
9:36 sweet dreams
9:46 all star
9:55 uptown funk
10:04 i will always love you
10:13 seven nation army
10:25 what a wonderful world
10:33 back in black
10:39 gangam style
10:47 gangstas paradise
10:56 sweet child o mine
11:06 africa
11:10 viva la vida
11:17 the final countdown
11:25 careless wisper
11:33 Y.M.C.A
11:44 dancing queen
11:54 dont stop me know
12:04 lose yourself
12:15 smooth criminal
12:22 another one bites the dust
12:30 livin on a prayer
12:41 eye on the tiger
12:52 dont stop belivin
13:02 we are the champions
13:12 beat it
13:19 take on me
13:24 stayin alive
13:37 smells like teen spirit
13:47 thriller
13:55 we wil rock
14:06 never gonna give you up
14:16 billie jean
14:24 bohemian rapshody

[Okipullup]

1:00
Song lyrics: basic nonsense
What I hear: I’m blue I will bleed I will die I will beat up a guy I will bleed I will die

That’s a hard vibe

[christianstordahl]

Honestly it’s wild the sheer amount of songs we have stored in our heads

[daidybearthepolarbear]

you can tell queen, the beetles and Michal Jackson defined their music for generations its amazing to think about

[einarekeberg]

This video reminded me of how amazing music really is and how it brings people together. Such a joy to go through it in this way with some of the best

[FinalMasterM]

I feel this one is a lot closer to my choices than the last, but both are phenomenal videos.

[ickgtib]

Queen and Michael Jackson just dominating the top 20

[oliverpuppetproductions]

dancing queen getting 18 and not 17 is the biggest "we were on the verge of greatness" moment

[Fanboy_of_everything]

I noticed almost the entire Thriller album made it in. You appeased my Dad’s 80’s side in me lol 😂


Also is it bad that when “In the End” came up, I asked myself “Wait where’s Dr. Kleiner?”

[Ireallylovemusic_]

Good to see I know many of those. Love content like that! ❤

[crowcrowboar]

You can tell rock and 70/80/90’s fans made a large impact on this list

(Edit): 420

[yannhollister]

i love how the 80s and 90s are dominating this list

[olli]

Awesome list, every song deserves its place on the list, even tho i might swap a few songs around.

[CommunistKangaroo]

I quite enjoyed this video. It was very entertaining.

[shelbyvillerules]

If you appear on this list more than once, you're great.
If you appear on this list more than twice, you're iconic.
If you appear on this list more than three or four times, you're legendary.


If you appear on this list seven times you're Queen.

[tazzamanaka]

27: Back in black
26: Gangnam style
Perfectly balanced as all things should be

[JessEDway]

This just helped me create a new playlist on my Spotify. Time to enjoy some nostalgia