There are over 116,000 songs in Dave’s Music Database. Songs are ranked based on chart peaks, sales, radio airplay, streaming figures, and video plays. Also factored in are multiple music awards and appearances on best-of lists. These are the cream of the crop – the top 100 songs of all time according to Dave’s Music Database.
1. Bing Crosby “White Christmas” (1942)
2. The Police “Every Breath You Take” (1983)
3. The Beatles “Hey Jude” (1968)
4. The Rolling Stones “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (1965)
5. Michael Jackson “Billie Jean” (1982)
6. Bill Haley & His Comets “We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock” (1954)
7. Whitney Houston “I Will Always Love You” (1992)
8. Queen “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1975)
9. Nirvana “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (1991)
10. John Lennon “Imagine” (1971)
11. The Beatles “Yesterday” (1965)
12. Marvin Gaye “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (1968)
13. Aretha Franklin “Respect” (1967)
14. Simon & Garfunkel “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (1970)
15. Eagles “Hotel California” (1977)
16. Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive” (1977)
17. The Beatles “I Want to Hold Your Hand” (1963)
18. Judy Garland “Over the Rainbow” (1939)
19. The Beach Boys “Good Vibrations” (1966)
20. Guns N' Roses “Sweet Child O’ Mine” (1988)
21. Arthur Collins & Bryon G. Harlan “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (1911)
22. Bob Dylan “Like a Rolling Stone” (1965)
23. Ben E. King “Stand by Me” (1961)
24. Bryan Adams “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” (1991)
25. Bobby Darin “Mack the Knife” (1959)
26. Led Zeppelin “Stairway to Heaven” (1971)
27. OutKast “Hey Ya!” (2003)
28. Don McLean “American Pie” (1971)
29. The Righteous Brothers “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” (1964)
30. Otis Redding “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” (1968)
31. Sinéad O’Connor “Nothing Compares 2 U” (1990)
32. Glenn Miller Orchestra “In the Mood” (1939)
33. Eminem “Lose Yourself” (2002)
34. The Beatles “Let It Be” (1970)
35. Fred Astaire “Night and Day” (1932)
36. Elvis Presley “Heartbreak Hotel” (1956)
37. Stevie Wonder “Superstition” (1972)
38. Derek and the Dominos “Layla” (1970)
39. The Righteous Brothers “Unchained Melody” (1965)
40. The Animals “The House of the Rising Sun” (1964)
41. Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling” (2009)
42. Mark Ronson with Bruno Mars “Uptown Funk!” (2014)
43. Gloria Gaynor “I Will Survive” (1978)
44. The Temptations “My Girl” (1964)
45. Ed Sheeran “Shape of You” (2017)
46. Abba “Dancing Queen” (1976)
47. Prince “When Doves Cry” (1984)
48. Celine Dion “My Heart Will Go On” (1997)
49. Elton John “Candle in the Wind 1997 (Goodbye England’s Rose)” (1997)
50. R.E.M. “Losing My Religion” (1991)
51. Elvis Presley “Hound Dog” (1956)
52. Adele “Rolling in the Deep” (2010)
53. Bon Jovi “Livin’ on a Prayer” (1986)
54. Elvis Presley “Jailhouse Rock” (1957)
55. The Doors “Light My Fire” (1967)
56. Pink Floyd “Another Brick in the Wall Part II” (1979)
57. Marvin Gaye “What’s Going On” (1971)
58. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts “I Love Rock and Roll” (1981)
59. Bruce Springsteen “Born to Run” (1975)
60. Al Jolson “Swanee” (1920)
61. Fred Astaire “Cheek to Cheek” (1935)
62. U2 “With or Without You” (1987)
63. Elvis Presley “Don’t Be Cruel” (1956)
64. Billy Murray with the Haydn Quartet “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” (1908)
65. Roy Orbison “(Oh) Pretty Woman” (1964)
66. American Quartet “Over There” (1917)
67. Artie Shaw “Stardust” (1941)
68. Rod Stewart “Maggie May” (1971)
69. Chuck Berry “Johnny B. Goode” (1958)
70. Gene Austin “My Blue Heaven” (1927)
71. Van Morrison “Brown-Eyed Girl” (1967)
72. Bessie Smith & Louis Armstrong “St. Louis Blues” (1925)
73. Artie Shaw & His Orchestra “Begin the Beguine” (1938)
74. Luis Fonsi with Daddy Yankee & Justin Bieber “Despacito” (2017)
75. Billy Murray “You’re a Grand Old Flag (aka “The Grand Old Rag”)” (1906)
76. Pharrell Williams “Happy” (2013)
77. Gotye with Kimbra “Somebody That I Used to Know” (2011)
78. Procol Harum “A Whiter Shade of Pale” (1967)
79. Chubby Checker “The Twist” (1960)
80. Elton John “Your Song” (1970)
81. Louis Armstrong “What a Wonderful World” (1967)
82. Ray Charles “Georgia on My Mind” (1960)
83. The Who “My Generation” (1965)
84. Lionel Richie & Diana Ross “Endless Love” (1981)
85. Nat “King” Cole “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” (1946)
86. Journey “Don’t Stop Believin’” (1981)
87. Ethel Waters “Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All the Time)” (1933)
88. Survivor “Eye of the Tiger” (1982)
89. The Jimi Hendrix Experience “All Along the Watchtower” (1968)
90. Beyoncé with Jay-Z “Crazy in Love” (2003)
91. The Kinks “You Really Got Me” (1964)
92. Lynyrd Skynyrd “Sweet Home Alabama” (1974)
93. Paul Whiteman “Whispering” (1920)
94. Beyoncé “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” (2008)
95. Usher with Lil’ Jon & Ludacris “Yeah!” (2004)
96. Gnarls Barkley “Crazy” (2006)
97. Lil Nas X with Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road” (2018)
98. Gene Autry “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1949)
99. The Kingsmen “Louie Louie” (1963)
100. Los Del Rio “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)” (1995)
Resources/Related Links:
First posted 5/28/2008; last updated 9/5/2023. | 
This list is almost 11 years old, shouldn't it be updated?
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DeleteThanks! I really love your lists because they open me up to so much more music.
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