These are the top 100 songs from the 1970s according to Dave’s Music Database. Rankings are figured by combining sales figures, chart data, radio airplay, video airplay, streaming figures, awards, and appearances on best-of lists.
Check out other “songs of the decade” lists here.
1. Queen “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1975)
2. John Lennon “Imagine” (1971)
3. Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive” (1977)
4. Simon & Garfunkel “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (1970)
5. Eagles “Hotel California” (1976)
6. Don McLean “American Pie” (1971)
7. Led Zeppelin “Stairway to Heaven” (1971)
8. The Beatles “Let It Be” (1970)
9. Derek & the Dominos “Layla” (1970)
10. Stevie Wonder “Superstition” (1972)
11. Gloria Gaynor “I Will Survive” (1978)
12. Abba “Dancing Queen” (1976)
13. Pink Floyd “Another Brick in the Wall Part II” (1979)
14. Bruce Springsteen “Born to Run” (1975)
15. Marvin Gaye “What’s Going On” (1971)
16. Rod Stewart “Maggie May” (1971)
17. Elton John “Your Song” (1970)
18. Al Green “Let’s Stay Together” (1971)
19. Blondie “Heart of Glass” (1979)
20. Chic “Le Freak” (1978)
21. George Harrison “My Sweet Lord” (1970)
22. The Clash “London Calling” (1979)
23. Lynyrd Skynyrd “Sweet Home Alabama” (1974)
24. Village People “Y.M.C.A.” (1978)
25. Marvin Gaye “Let’s Get It On” (1973)
26. Bee Gees “How Deep Is Your Love” (1977)
27. Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta “You’re the One That I Want” (1978)
28. Bee Gees “Night Fever” (1978)
29. The Who “Won’t Get Fooled Again” (1971)
30. Roberta Flack “Killing Me Softly with His Song” (1973)
31. Debby Boone “You Light Up My Life” (1977)
32. David Bowie “Heroes” (1977)
33. Lynyrd Skynrd “Free Bird” (1973)
34. Sister Sledge “We Are Family” (1979)
35. Sex Pistols “Anarchy in the U.K.” (1976)
36. Roberta Flack “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” (1969/1972)
37. The Knack “My Sharona” (1979)
38. Wild Cherry “Play That Funky Music” (1976)
39. Bob Marley & the Wailers “No Woman, No Cry” (1974)
40. Michael Jackson “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” (1979)
41. Tony Orlando & Dawn “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” (1973)
42. Queen “We Will Rock You” / “We Are the Champions” (1977)
43. Lou Reed “Walk on the Wild Side” (1972)
44. Pink Floyd “Comfortably Numb” (1979)
45. Fleetwood Mac “Go Your Own Way” (1976)
46. The Rolling Stones “Brown Sugar” (1971)
47. Chic “Good Times” (1979)
48. Barbra Streisand “The Way We Were” (1973)
49. Sex Pistols “God Save the Queen” (1977)
50. Dire Straits “Sultans of Swing” (1978)
51. Boston “More Than a Feeling” (1976)
52. The Sugarhill Gang “Rapper’s Delight” (1979)
53. Neil Young “Heart of Gold” (1972)
54. Harry Nilsson “Without You” (1971)
55. Black Sabbath “Paranoid” (1970)
56. Carly Simon “You’re So Vain” (1972)
57. Terry Jacks “Seasons in the Sun” (1974)
58. The Jackson 5 “I’ll Be There” (1970)
59. Queen “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” (1979)
60. The Who “Baba O’Riley” (1971)
61. Led Zeppelin “Kashmir” (1975)
62. Aerosmith “Dream On” (1973)
63. Fleetwood Mac “Dreams” (1977)
64. Commodores “Three Times a Lady” (1978)
65. James Taylor “Fire and Rain” (1970)
66. Billy Joel “Piano Man” (1974)
67. Isaac Hayes “Theme from Shaft” (1971)
68. Deep Purple “Smoke on the Water” (1973)
69. Rod Stewart “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)” (1976)
70. The Kinks “Lola” (1970)
71. Carole King “It’s Too Late” (1971)
72. Gladys Knight & the Pips “Midnight Train to Georgia” (1973)
73. Pink Floyd “Wish You Were Here” (1975)
74. The Jackson 5 “ABC” (1970)
75. Captain & Tennille “Love Will Keep Us Together” (1975)
76. The Temptations “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” (1972)
77. David Bowie “Changes” (1971)
78. Commodores “Brick House” (1977)
79. Olivia Newton-John “I Honestly Love You” (1974)
80. The Police “Roxanne” (1978)
81. Gerry Rafferty “Baker Street” (1978)
82. The Rolling Stones “Angie” (1973)
83. Pretenders “Brass in Pocket (I’m Special)” (1979)
84. Andy Gibb “Shadow Dancing” (1978)
85. T-Rex “Get It On (Bang a Gong)” (1971)
86. Stevie Wonder “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” (1972)
87. Donna Summer “I Feel Love” (1977)
88. The Temptations “Just My Imagination Running Away with Me” (1971)
89. Glen Campbell “Rhinestone Cowboy” (1975)
90. Three Dog Night “Joy to the World” (1971)
91. Bill Withers “Lean on Me” (1972)
92. Gilbert O’Sullivan “Alone Again (Naturally)” (1972)
93. Free “All Right Now” (1970)
94. The Emotions “Best of My Love” (1977)
95. Billy Joel “Just the Way You Are” (1977)
96. Edwin Starr “War” (1970)
97. Donna Summer “Hot Stuff” (1979)
98. Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band “Old Time Rock and Roll” (1978)
99. Rod Stewart “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” (1978)
100. Elton John “Bennie and the Jets” (1974)
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First posted 3/4/2011; last updated 11/27/2022.
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you obviously have something against Led Zeppelin. They should be all over this list.
ReplyDeleteActually, Led Zeppelin is one of my personal favorite bands. This list, however, is not based on my personal favorites but how songs rank in the overall database. The database factors in sales figures, chart peaks, radio airplay, awards, and appearances on best-of lists.
DeleteFortunate Son should be on this list. Best song by CCR
ReplyDelete