Tuesday, December 31, 2024

New Musical Express (NME): Songs of the Year, 1953-2024

New Musical Express (NME):

Songs of the Year, 1953-2024

New Musical Express (NME) is a British music magazine first published in 1952. The magazine was responsible for the first UK singles chart that same year and has gone on to publish multiple best-of lists (links at bottom of page) throughout its history. Based on those lists are the top songs of each year from 1952 to 2008. From 2009 on, the top songs are determined by year-end lists.

Check out other “songs of the year” lists here.

2024: Chappell Roan “Good Luck, Babe!”
2023: Lana Del Rey “A&W”
2022: Beyoncé “Cuff It”
2021: Olivia Rodrigo “Good 4 U”
2020: Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion “WAP”
2019: Mura Masa with Slowthai “Deal Wiv It”
2018: Ariana Grande “No Tears Left to Cry”
2017: Lorde “Green Light”
2016: Rihanna with Drake “Work”
2015: Skepta “Shutdown”
2014: Future Islands “Seasons (Waiting on You)”
2013: Daft Punk with Pharrell Williams “Get Lucky”
2012: Palma Violets “Best of Friends”
2011: Lana Del Rey “Video Games”
2010: Foals “Spanish Sahara”
2009: Bat Lashes “Daniel”
2008: M.I.A. “Paper Planes”
2007: The Gossip “Standing in the Way of Control”
2006: Hot Chip “Over and Over”
2005: Arctic Monkeys “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor”
2004: The Killers “Mr. Brightside”
2003: The White Stripes “Seven Nation Army”
2002: The Libertines “Time for Heroes”
2001: The Strokes “Last Nite”
2000: Eminem “The Real Slim Shady”
1999: Aphex Twin “Windowlicker”
1998: Beastie Boys “Intergalactic”
1997: The Verve “Bitter Sweet Symphony”
1996: Manic Street Preachers “A Design for Life”
1995: Pulp “Common People”
1994: Oasis “Live Forever”
1993: Rage Against the Machine “Killing in the Name”
1992: Radiohead “Creep”
1991: Nirvana “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
1990: Sinéad O’Connor “Nothing Compares 2 U”
1989: The Stone Roses “Fools Gold”
1988: The La’s “There She Goes”
1987: Sugarcubes “Birthday”
1986: The Smiths “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out”
1985: Kate Bush “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)”
1984: The Smiths “How Soon Is Now?”
1983: The Smiths “This Charming Man”
1982: This Mortal Coil “Song to the Siren”
1981: The Specials “Ghost Town”
1980: Joy Division “Love Will Tear Us Apart”
1979: The Clash “London Calling”
1978: The Undertones “Teenage Kicks”
1977: David Bowie “Heroes”
1976: Sex Pistols “Anarchy in the U.K.”
1975: Queen “Bohemian Rhapsody”
1974: Bob Marley & the Wailers “No Woman, No Cry”
1973: T-Rex “20th Century Boy”
1972: Lou Reed “Walk on the Wild Side”
1971: Marvin Gaye “What’s Going On”
1970: Derek & the Dominos “Layla”
1969: David Bowie “Space Oddity”
1968: The Rolling Stones “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
1967: The Beatles “Strawberry Fields Forever”
1966: The Beach Boys “Good Vibrations”
1965: Bob Dylan “Like a Rolling Stone”
1964: The Kinks “You Really Got Me”
1963: The Ronettes “Be My Baby”
1962: Booker T. & the MG’s “Green Onions”
1961: Ben E. King “Stand by Me”
1960: The Shirelles “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”
1959: Ray Charles “What’d I Say”
1958: Chuck Berry “Johnny B. Goode”
1957: Buddy Holly & the Crickets “That’ll Be the Day”
1956: Elvis Presley “Heartbreak Hotel”
1955: Little Richard “Tutti Frutti”
1954: Bill Haley & His Comets “We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock”
1953: The Orioles “Crying in the Chapel”

Resources/Related Links:

Dave’s Music Database: “‘Songs of the Year’ lists”
Readers’ All-Time Top 10 Singles (2/76)
Top 100 Singles All Time (1976)
Top 150 Singles All Time (2/28/87)
40 Records That Captured the Moment (songs and albums, 5/9/92)
100 Best Indie Singles Ever (7/25/92)
Top 100 Singles All Time (11/02)
Top Cover Versions of All TIme (5/05)
The Greatest Tracks of the Decade 1996-2006 (9/06)
The Greatest Indie Anthems Ever (5/5/07)
The 25 Greatest Alternative Love Songs (2/14/09)
Tracks of the Decade (2000-2009) (11/09)
Users Top 150 Tracks) (10/11)
30 Beautiful Song Lyrics (5/24/12)
Readers’ Best Tracks of the Last 60 Years (7/28/12)
Greatest No. 1 Singles in History (12/29/12)
100 Greatest Songs of NME’s Lifetime (2012)
500 Greatest Songs of All Time (2/8/14)
Tracks of the Decade (2010’s)…So Far (6/15)

First posted 4/12/2019; last updated 1/3/2025.

Rolling Stone Magazine: Songs of the Year, 1949-2024

Rolling Stone:

Songs of the Year, 1949-2024

These are the songs of each year as selected by Rolling Stone. The magazine was first published in 1967. By at least 1977, the magazine was selecting a “song of the year” annually. Prior to that, the songs of the year listed below were determined by the song with the highest ranking based on an aggregate of multiple best-of lists (see resources at bottom of page) over the years.

You can also see the result of the aggregate as a list of Rolling Stone’s top 200 songs).

Click here to see other genre-specific song lists.

2024: Chappell Roan “ Good Luck, Babe!”
2023: Eslabon Armado with Peso Pluma “Ella Baila Sola”
2022: Bad Bunny “Tití Me Preguntó”
2021: WizKid with Tems “Essence”
2020: Cardi B with Megan Thee Stallion “WAP”
2019: Billie Eilish “Bad Guy”
2018: Drake “In My Feelings”
2017: Harry Styles “Sign of the Times”
2016: Beyoncé “Formation”
2015: The Weeknd “Can’t Feel My Face”
2014: Beyoncé with Jay-Z “Drunk in Love”
2013: Daft Punk with Pharrell Williams “Get Lucky”
2012: Alabama Shakes “Hold On”
2011: Adele “Rolling in the Deep”
2010: Kanye West with Pusha T “Runaway”
2009: U2 “Moment of Surrender”
2008: Beyoncé “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
2007: Jay-Z “Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)”
2006: Gnarls Barkley “Crazy”
2005: Arctic Monkeys “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor”
2004: Jay-Z “99 Problems”
2003: OutKast “Hey Ya!”
2002: Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott “Work It”
2001: Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott “Get Ur Freak On”
2000: Madonna “Music”
1999: TLC “No Scrubs”
1998: Lauryn Hill “Doo Wop (That Thing)”
1997: The Verve “Bitter Sweet Symphony”
1996: Smashing Pumpkins “1979”
1995: Coolio with L.V. “Gangsta’s Paradise”
1994: Beck “Loser”
1993: Soul Asylum “Runaway Train”
1992: Arrested Development “Tennessee”
1991: R.E.M. “Losing My Religion”
1990: Sinéad O’Connor “Nothing Compares 2 U”
1989: Public Enemy “Fight the Power”
1988: Tracy Chapman “Fast Car”
1987: Bruce Springsteen “Tunnel of Love”
1986: Prince “Kiss”
1985: Artists United Against Apartheid “Sun City”
1984: Tina Turner “What’s Love Got to Do with It?”
1983: The Police “Every Breath You Take”
1982: Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five “The Message”
1981: The Rolling Stones “Start Me Up”
1980: Joy Division “Love Will Tear Us Apart”
1979: The Rolling Stones “Miss You”
1978: Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive”
1977: Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band “Night Moves”
1976: Eagles “Hotel California”
1975: Bruce Springsteen “Born to Run”
1974: Joni Mitchell “Help Me”
1973: Marvin Gaye “Let’s Get It On”
1972: Stevie Wonder “Superstition”
1971: Marvin Gaye “What’s Going On”
1970: Elton John “Your Song”
1969: The Jackson 5 “I Want You Back”
1968: The Beatles “Hey Jude”
1967: Aretha Franklin “Respect”
1966: The Beach Boys “Good Vibrations”
1965: The Miracles “The Tracks of My Tears”
1964: Sam Cooke “A Change Is Gonna Come”
1963: The Beatles “I Want to Hold Your Hand”
1962: The Drifters “Up on the Roof”
1961: Ben E. King “Stand by Me”
1960: Ray Charles “Georgia on My Mind”
1959: Ray Charles “What’d I Say”
1958: Chuck Berry “Johnny B. Goode”
1957: Buddy Holly & the Crickets “That’ll Be the Day”
1956: Elvis Presley “Heartbreak Hotel”
1955: Muddy Waters “Mannish Boy”
1954: Elvis Presley “That’s All Right, Mama”
1953: Hank Williams “Your Cheatin’ Heart”
1952: Lloyd Price “Lawdy Miss Clawdy”
1951: Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats “Rocket 88”
1950: Muddy Waters “Rollin’ Stone”
1949: Hank Williams “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”

Resources and Related Links:

Dave’s Music Database: “Lists from other publications and/or organizations”
Dave’s Music Database (9/16/2021). “Rolling Stone Magazine’s Top 200 Songs”
RockListMusic.co.uk: “Rolling Stone Album of the Year and End of Year Critic Lists” (includes song of the year for 1978 to 2020)
Rolling Stone (Sept. 2021). “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”
Rolling Stone (July 2018, print issue). “Greatest Songs of the Century So Far.” Page 92.
Rolling Stone (5/7/2013). “Top 500: Critics and Reader Polls, 1967-2012.” Compiled by Steve Sullivan.
Rolling Stone (April 2010). “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”
Rolling Stone “Songs of the Decade (2000-2009)”
Rolling Stone (Dec. 2004). “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”
Rolling Stone and MTV (12/7/00). “100 Greatest Pop Songs”
Rolling Stone (Aug. 1997). “The Best Records of 5 Decades”
Rolling Stone (9/8/1988, print issue #534). “The 100 Best Singles of the Last 25 Years.”

First posted 4/15/2019; last updated 1/3/2025.

Digital Dream Door: Songs of the Year (1920-2024)

Digital Dream Door:

Songs of the year, 1920-2024

Digital Dream Door offers multiple best-of music lists, including song-of-the-year lists from 1940 to present. Here are the best songs from each year:

Check out other “songs of the year” lists here.

2024: Kendrick Lamar “Not Like Us”
2023: Miley Cyrus “Flowers”
2022: Harry Styles “As It Was”
2021: Lil Nas X “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)”
2020: Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion “WAP”
2019: Lil Nas X with Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road”
2018: Lady Gaga with Bradley Cooper “Shallow”
2017: Ed Sheeran “Shape of You”
2016: The Weeknd with Daft Punk “Starboy”
2015: Adele “Hello”
2014: Mark Ronson with Bruno Mars “Uptown Funk!”
2013: Daft Punk with Pharrell Williams “Get Lucky”
2012: Psy “Gangnam Style”
2011: Gotye with Kimbra “Somebody That I Used to Know”
2010: Adele “Rolling in the Deep”
2009: Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling”
2008: Beyoncé “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
2007: M.I.A. “Paper Planes”
2006: Gnarls Barkley “Crazy”
2005: Gorillaz with De La Soul “Feel Good Inc.”
2004: Franz Ferdinand “Take Me Out”
2003: OutKast “Hey Ya!”
2002: Eminem “Lose Yourself”
2001: The Strokes “Last Nite”
2000: Radiohead “Idioteque”
1999: Eminem “My Name Is…”
1998: Lauryn Hill “Doo Wop (That Thing)”
1997: The Verve “Bitter Sweet Symphony”
1996: Fugees “Killing Me Softly”
1995: Coolio with L.V. “Gangsta’s Paradise”
1994: TLC “Waterfalls”
1993: Beck “Loser”
1992: Dr. Dre with Snoop Doggy Dogg “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang”
1991: Nirvana “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
1990: Sinéad O’Connor “Nothing Compares 2 U”
1989: Public Enemy “Fight the Power”
1988: Tracy Chapman “Fast Car”
1987: Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child O’ Mine”
1986: Run-D.M.C. with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler & Joe Perry “Walk This Way”
1985: Dire Straits “Money for Nothing”
1984: Prince “When Doves Cry”
1983: The Police “Every Breath You Take”
1982: Michael Jackson “Billie Jean”
1981: Joan Jett & the Blackhearts “I Love Rock and Roll”
1980: Blondie “Call Me”
1979: Pink Floyd “Another Brick in the Wall Part II”
1978: Gloria Gaynor “I Will Survive”
1977: Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive”
1976: Eagles “Hotel California”
1975: Bruce Springsteen…Born to Run
1974: Bob Marley & the Wailers “No Woman, No Cry”
1973: Lynyrd Skynyrd “Free Bird”
1972: Stevie Wonder “Superstition”
1971: Led Zeppelin “Stairway to Heaven”
1970: Derek & the Dominos “Layla”
1969: Led Zeppelin “Whole Lotta Love”
1968: Marvin Gaye “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”
1967: Aretha Franklin “Respect”
1966: The Beach Boys “Good Vibrations”
1965: The Rolling Stones “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
1964: The Righteous Brothers “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”
1963: The Kingsmen “Louie Louie”
1962: Booker T. & the MG’s “Green Onions”
1961: Ben E. King “Stand by Me”
1960: The Shirelles “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”
1959: Ray Charles “What’d I Say”
1958: Chuck Berry “Johnny B. Goode”
1957: Elvis Presley “Jailhouse Rock”
1956: Elvis Presley “Hound Dog”
1955: Little Richard “Tutti Frutti”
1954: Bill Haley & His Comets “We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock”
1953: The Drifters “Money Honey”
1952: Lloyd Price “Lawdy Miss Clawdy”
1951: The Dominoes “Sixty Minute Man”
1950: Fats Domino “The Fat Man”
1949: Hank Williams “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”
1948: Wynonie Harris “Good Rockin’ Tonight”
1947: T-Bone Walker “Call It Stormy Monday”
1946: Nat “King” Cole “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)”
1945: Louis Jordan “Caldonia”
1944: The Mills Brothers “You Always Hurt the One You Love”
1943: Al Dexter & His Troopers “Pistol Packin’ Mama”
1942: Bing Crosby with the Ken Darby Singers & the John Scott Trotter Orchestra “White Christmas”
1941: Billie Holiday “God Bless the Child”
1940: Artie Shaw “Stardust”
1939: Glenn Miller “In the Mood”
1938: Benny Goodman “Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)”
1937: Count Basie “One O’Clock Jump”
1936: Robert Johnson “Cross Road Blues (aka ‘Crossroads’)”
1935: Bing Crosby “Silent Night”
1934: Duke Ellington “Cocktails for Two”
1933: Ethel Waters “Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All the Time)”
1932: Duke Ellington with Ivie Anderson “It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got That Swing”
1931: Cab Calloway “Minnie the Moocher (The Ho De Ho Song)”
1930: Paul Whiteman with Jack Fulton “Body and Soul”
1929: Fats Waller “Ain’t Misbehavin’”
1928: Louis Armstrong “West End Blues”
1927: Gene Austin “My Blue Heaven”
1926: Gene Austin “Bye Bye Blackbird”
1925: Vernon Dalhart “The Prisoner’s Song”
1924: Paul Whiteman with George Gershwin “Rhapsody in Blue”
1923: Bessie Smith “Down Hearted Blues”
1922: Fanny Brice “My Man (Mon Homme)”
1921: Paul Whiteman “My Mammy”
1920: Al Jolson “Swanee”

Resources/Related Links:

Dave’s Music Database: “‘Songs of the Year’ lists”
Digital Dream Door

First posted 4/6/2019; last updated 12/31/2025.

UK Streaming Song of the Year (1952-2024)

UK Streaming:

Song of the Year, 1952-2024

These are the most streamed songs in the UK from 1952 to the present.

Check out other “songs of the year” lists here.

2024: Noah Kahan “Stick Season”
2023: Miley Cyrus “Flowers”
2022: Harry Styles “As It Was”
2021: Ed Sheeran “Bad Habits”
2020: Joel Corry with MNEK “Head and Heart”
2019: Tones & I “Dance Monkey”
2018: Lewis Capaldi “Someone You Loved”
2017: Ed Sheeran “Shape of You”
2016: James Arthur “Say You Won’t Let Go”
2015: Sia with Sean Paul “Cheap Thrills”
2014: Ed Sheeran “Thinking Out Loud”
2013: Vance Joy “Riptide”
2012: Passenger “Let Her Go”
2011: Adele “Someone Like You”
2010: Eminem & Rihanna “Love the Way You Lie”
2009: Miley Cyrus “Party in the U.S.A.”
2008: Jason Mraz “I’m Yours”
2007: Arctic Monkeys “Fluorescent Adolescent”
2006: The Kooks “Naïve”
2005: Arctic Monkeys “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor”
2004: Mario “Let Me Love You”
2003: The Killers “Mr. Brightside”
2002: Eminem “Lose Yourself”
2001: Nickelback “How You Remind Me”
2000: Toploader “Dancing in the Moonlight”
1999: TLC “No Scrubs”
1998: Goo Goo Dolls “Iris”
1997: The Verve “Bitter Sweet Symphony”
1996: Blackstreet with Dr. Dre & Queen Pen “No Diggity”
1995: Oasis “Wonderwall”
1994: The Notorious B.I.G. “Juicy”
1993: Haddaway “What Is Love”
1992: Radiohead “Creep”
1991: Nirvana “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
1990: AC/DC “Thunderstruck”
1989: Billy Joel “We Didn’t Start the Fire”
1988: Fleetwood Mac “Everywhere”
1987: Whitney Houston “I Wanna Dance with Somebody Who Loves Me”
1986: Bon Jovi “Livin’ on a Prayer”
1985: Bryan Adams “Summer of ‘69”
1984: Wham! “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”
1983: Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams Are Made of This”
1982: Toto (“Africa”
1981: Journey “Don’t Stop Believin’”
1980: Queen “Another One Bites the Dust”
1979: Queen “Don’t Stop Me Now”
1978: Earth, Wind & Fire “September”
1977: Fleetwood Mac “Dreams”
1976: Fleetwood Mac “Go Your Own Way”
1975: Queen “Bohemian Rhapsody”
1974: Lynyrd Skynyrd “Sweet Home Alabama”
1973: Dolly Parton “Jolene”
1972: Elton John “Tiny Dancer”
1971: John Denver “Take Me Home, Country Roads”
1970: Elton John “Your Song”
1969: The Beatles “Here Comes the Sun”
1968: Otis Redding “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay”
1967: Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”
1966: The Rolling Stones “Paint It Black”
1965: The Four Tops “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)”
1964: The Temptations “My Girl”
1963: The Ronettes “Be My Baby”
1962: Solomon Burke “Cry to Me”
1961: Ben E. King “Stand by Me”
1960: Etta James “At Last”
1959: Paul Anka “Put Your Head on My Shoulder”
1958: Chuck Berry “Johnny B. Goode”
1957: Elvis Presley “Jailhouse Rock”
1956: Johnny Cash “I Walk the Line”
1955: Little Richard “Tutti Frutti”
1954: Ray Charles “I Gotta Woman”
1953: Dean Martin “That’s Amore”
1952: Gene Kelly “Singin’ in the Rain”

Resources/Related Links:

Dave’s Music Database: “‘Songs of the Year’ lists”
Official Charts (11/3/2022). “Official Charts and BBC Radio 1 and 2 team up to reveal the UK’s Official most-streamed songs of the past 70 years” by George Griffiths
Dave’s Music Database: “Spotify: Songs of the Year”
Dave’s Music Database: “Streaming: Billion Airs Club”

First posted 11/3/2022; last updated 12/31/2024.

USA’s Biggest #1 Pop Songs by Year (1890-2024)

USA’s Biggest #1 Pop Songs:

1890-2024

These are the songs from each year from 1890 to 2023 which spent the most weeks at #1 on the pop charts in the United States. Songs could have hit #1 on any of the following charts:

Billboard Charts:

Non-Billboard Charts:

Cashbox (1950-1996) (CB)
Edward Foote Gardner Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century (1900-1949) (GA)
The Gavin Report (1958-2000) (GR)
Hit Records (Music Vendor/Record World) (1954-1982) (HR)
Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) (SM)
Radio & Records/Mediabase (1973-present) (RR)
Joel Whitburn Pop Memories (1890-1954) (PM)
Your Hit Parade (1935-1959) (HP)

After the song title, the chart on which it reached #1 for the most weeks, and the total weeks at #1, is noted. The year indicates when the song was first released, not necessarily the same as the year when it hit #1. You can also check out the biggest #1 pop songs all-time here.

Check out other “songs of the year” lists here.

2024: Shaboozey “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” (BA: 20)
2023: Miley Cyrus “Flowers” (BA: 18)
2022: Harry Styles “As It Was” (BB: 15 wks)
2021: BTS “Butter” (DG: 13)
2020: BTS “Dynamite” (DG: 18)
2019: The Weeknd “Blinding Lights” (BA: 26)
2018: Lil Nas X with Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road” (ST: 20 wks)
2017: Luis Fonsi with Daddy Yankee & Justin Bieber “Despacito” (DG: 17 wks)
2016: The Chainsmokers with Halsey “Closer” (DG: 13 wks)
2015: Desiigner “Panda” (ST: 14 wks)
2014: Mark Ronson with Bruno Mars “Uptown Funk!” (BB: 14 wks)
2013: Miley Cyrus” Wrecking Ball” (ST: 13 wks)
2012: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis with Wanz “Thrift Shop” (DG: 10 wks)
2011: Rihanna with Calvin Harris “We Found Love” (BA: 12 wks)
2010: Eminem & Rihanna “Love the Way You Lie” (BA: 8 wks)
2009: Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling” (BB: 14 wks)
2008: Black Eyed Peas “Boom Boom Pow” (BB: 12 wks)
2007: Alicia Keys “No One” (BA: 14 wks)
2006: Beyoncé “Irreplaceable” (BA: 11 wks)
2005: Mariah Carey “We Belong Together” (BA: 16 wks)
2004: Usher with Lil’ Jon & Ludacris “Yeah!” (BB: 12 wks)
2003: OutKast “Hey Ya!” (BB: 9 wks)
2002: Eminem “Lose Yourself” (BB: 12 wks)
2001: Usher “U Got It Bad” (BA: 10 wks)
2000: Destiny’s Child “Independent Women” (BB: 11 wks)
1999: TLC “No Scrubs” (BA: 13 wks)
1998: Goo Goo Dolls “Iris” (BA: 18 wks)
1997: Elton John “Candle in the Wind 1997 (Goodbye England’s Rose)” (BB: 14 wks)
1996: Celine Dion “Because You Loved Me” (BA: 14 wks)
1995: Mariah Carey with Boyz II Men “One Sweet Day” (BB: 16 wks)
1994: Boyz II Men “I’ll Make Love to You” (BB: 14 wks)
1993: Ace of Base “The Sign” (BA: 13 wks)
1992: Whitney Houston “I Will Always Love You” (BB: 14 wks)
1991: Paula Abdul “Rush Rush” (BA: 9 wks)
1990: Mariah Carey “Someday” (BA: 10 wks)
1989: Janet Jackson “Love Will Never Do Without You” (BA: 7 wks)
1988: Poison “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” (BA: 4 wks)
1987: George Michael “Faith” (BB: 4 wks)
1986: Bon Jovi “Livin’ on a Prayer” (BB: 4 wks)
1985: U.S.A. for Africa “We Are the World” (BA: 5 wks)
1984: Madonna “Like a Virgin” (BB: 6 wks)
1983: The Police “Every Breath You Take” (BB: 8 wks)
1982: Michael Jackson “Billie Jean” (BB: 7 wks)
1981: Olivia Newton-John “Physical” (BB: 10 wks)
1980: Blondie “Call Me” (CB: 7 wks)
1979: The Knack “My Sharona” (BB: 6 wks)
1978: Chic “Le Freak” (CB/HR: 7 wks)
1977: Debby Boone “You Light Up My Life” (HR: 13 wks)
1976: Rod Stewart “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)” (BB: 8 wks)
1975: Captain & Tennille “Love Will Keep Us Together” (RR: 6 wks)
1974: Terry Jacks “Seasons in the Sun” (RR: 6 wks)
1973: Roberta Flack “Killing Me Softly with His Song” (BB: 5 wks)
1972: Gilbert O’Sullivan “Alone Again (Naturally)” (BB: 6 wks)
1971: Don McLean “American Pie” (HR: 5 wks)
1970: Simon & Garfunkel “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (BB: 6 wks)
1969: The Fifth Dimension “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” (BB: 6 wks)
1968: The Beatles “Hey Jude” (BB: 9 wks)
1967: Paul Mauriat “Love Is Blue” (CB: 7 wks)
1966: The Monkees “I’m a Believer” (CB: 8 wks)
1965: The Rolling Stones “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (BB: 4 wks)
1964: The Beatles “Can’t Buy Me Love” (BB: 5 wks)
1963: The Beatles “I Want to Hold Your Hand” (HR: 9 wks)
1962: The Four Seasons “Sherry” (CB: 7 wks)
1961: Bobby Lewis “Tossin’ and Turnin’” (BB: 7 wks)
1960: Percy Faith “Theme from ‘A Summer Place’” (BB: 9 wks)
1959: Bobby Darin “Mack the Knife” (BB: 9 wks)
1958: Domenico Modugno “Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blue)” (CB/HR: 6 wks)
1957: Elvis Presley “All Shook Up” (JB: 9 wks)
1956: Elvis Presley “Don’t Be Cruel” / “Hound Dog” (BB/BS: 11 wks)
1955: Perez “Prez” Prado “Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White” (BB/BS: 10 wks)
1954: The McGuire Sisters “Sincerely” (PM/DJ: 10 wks)
1953: Les Paul with Mary Ford “Vaya Con Dios (May God Be with You)” (PM/BS: 11 wks)
1952: Jo Stafford “You Belong to Me” (PM/DJ: 12 wks)
1951: Nat “King” Cole “Too Young” (HP: 12 wks)
1950: Patti Page “Tennessee Waltz” (PM/JB: 13 wks)
1949: Vaughn Monroe “Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)” (PM/DJ: 12 wks)
1948: Dinah Shore & Her Harper Valley Boys “Buttons and Bows” (PM/HP: 10 wks)
1947: Francis Craig with Bob Lamm “Near You” (PM/DJ: 17 wks)
1946: The Ink Spots “The Gypsy” (PM/JB: 13 wks)
1945: Perry Como “Till the End of Time” (PM/BS: 10 wks)
1944 Bing Crosby “I’ll Be Seeing You” (HP: 10 wks)
1943: Harry James with Helen Forrest “I’ve Heard That Song Before” (PM: 13 wks)
1942: Bing Crosby with the Ken Darby Singers “White Christmas” (PM: 14 wks)
1941: Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra with Bob Eberly & Helen O’Connell “Amapola (Pretty Little Poppy)” (PM: 10 wks)
1940: Artie Shaw “Frenesi” (PM: 13 wks)
1939: Glenn Miller “In the Mood” (PM: 13 wks)
1938: Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb & His Orchestra “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” (PM: 10 wks)
1937: Tommy Dorsey “Once in a While” (PM/HP: 7 wks)
1936: Bing Crosby with George Stoll’s Orchestra “Pennies from Heaven” (PM: 10 wks)
1935: Leo Reisman & His Orchestra with Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers “Cheek to Cheek” (PM: 11 wks)
1934: Ray Noble with Al Bowlly “Isle of Capri” (PM: 7 wks)
1933: George Olsen with Joe Morrison “The Last Round-Up” (PM: 9 wks)
1932: Leo Reisman’s Orchestra with Fred Astaire “Night and Day” (PM: 10 wks)
1931: Wayne King “Goodnight Sweetheart” (PM: 7 wks)
1930: Rudy Vallee & His Connecticut Yankees “Stein Song (University of Maine)” (PM: 10 wks)
1929: Nick Lucas “Tip Toe Through the Tulips” (PM: 10 wks)
1928: Al Jolson “Sonny Boy” (PM: 12 wks)
1927: Gene Austin “My Blue Heaven” (PM: 13 wks)
1926: Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra with Franklyn Baur “Valencia (A Song of Spain)” (PM: 11 wks)
1925: Vernon Dalhart “The Prisoner’s Song” (PM: 12 wks)
1924: Al Jolson with Isham Jones’ Orchestra “California Here I Come” (PM: 6 wks)
1923: Paul Whiteman “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” (PM: 7 wks)
1922: Al Jolson “April Showers” (PM: 11 wks)
1921: Isham Jones “Wabash Blues” (PM: 6 wks)
1920: Ben Selvin “Dardanella” (PM: 13 wks)
1919: Henry Burr with Albert Campbell “Till We Meet Again” (PM: 9 wks)
1918: Henry Burr “Just a Baby’s Prayer at Twilight (For Her Daddy Over There)” (PM: 11 wks)
1917: American Quartet “Over There” (PM: 9 wks)
1916: Henry Burr “M-O-T-H-E-R (A Word That Means the World to Me)” (PM: 6 wks)
1915: John McCormack “It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary” (PM: 8 wks)
1914: American Quartet “It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary” (PM: 7 wks)
1913: Al Jolson “You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)” (PM: 7 wks)
1912: American Quartet “Moonlight Bay” (PM: 8 wks)
1911: Arthur Collins & Bryon G. Harlan “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (PM: 10 wks)
1910: American Quartet with Billy Murray “Casey Jones” (PM: 11 wks)
1909: Haydn Quartet “Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet” (PM: 11 wks)
1908: Billy Murray & Haydn Quartet “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” (PM: 7 wks)
1907: Bryon G. Harlan “School Days (When We Were a Couple of Kids)” (PM: 11 wks)
1906: Billy Murray “You’re a Grand Old Flag (aka “The Grand Old Rag”)” (PM: 10 wks)
1905: Arthur Collins “The Preacher and the Bear” (PM: 11 wks)
1904: Haydn Quartett “Sweet Adeline (You’re the Flower of My Heart)” (PM: 10 wks)
1903: Haydn Quartet “In the Good Old Summertime” (PM; 6 wks)
1902: Len Spencer “The Arkansaw Traveler” (PM: 11 wks)
1901: Harry MacDonough & Grace Spencer “Tell Me, Pretty Maiden” (PM: 7 wks)
1900: George J. Gaskin “When You Were Sweet Sixteen” (PM: 8 wks)
1899: Arthur Collins “I’d Leave My Happy Home for You” (PM: 7 wks)
1898: George J. Gaskin “My Old New Hampshire Home” (PM: 10 wks)
1897: George J. Gaskin “On the Banks of the Wabash” (PM: 10 wks)
1896: Dan Quinn “A Hot Time in the Old Town” (PM: 7 wks)
1895: Dan Quinn “The Band Played On” (PM: 10 wks)
1894: Edward M. Favor “Say Au Revoir, But Not Goodbye” (PM: 7 wks)
1893: George J. Gaskin “After the Ball” (PM: 10 wks)
1892: Len Spencer “Ta-Ra-Ra Boom-De-Ay” (PM: 8 wks)
1891: George W. Johnson “The Laughing Song” (PM: 10 wks)
1890: U.S. Marine Band “The Washington Post March” (PM: 6 wks)

Resources/Related Links:

Dave’s Music Database: “‘Songs of the Year’ lists”
Dave’s Music Database: “USA’s #1 Pop Songs: 1890-present”
Dave’s Music Database: “Lists Based on Charts, Sales, and Airplay”

First posted 3/27/2020; last updated 12/31/2024.

Steve Sullivan: Songs of the Year, 1889-2024

Steve Sullivan:

Songs of the Year, 1889-2024

To my delight, Steve Sullivan was one of my early fans on my Dave’s Music Database Facebook page. He did vital research for the Pop Memories 1890-1954 Record Research book, which has become one of my chart bibles. He has since published some of his own lists and several volumes of his Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings. By tapping into those sources (see bottom of page) and his own posts on his personal Facebook page, I’ve assembled his picks for song of the year from 1889 to present.

Check out other “songs of the year” lists here.

2024: Chappell Roan “ Good Luck, Babe!”
2023: Billie Eilish “What Was I Made For?”
2022: Harry Styles “As It Was”
2021: Taylor Swift “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)”
2020: John Prine “I Remember Everything”
2019: Keb’ Mo’ “This Is My Home”
2018: Brandi Carlile “The Joke”
2017: Drive-By Truckers “The Perilous Night”
2016: Leonard Cohen “You Want It Darker”
2015: Adele “Hello”
2014: Rosanne Cash “The Long Way Home”
2013: Marc Anthony “Vivir mi Vida”
2012: Adele “Skyfall”
2011: Adele “Someone Like You”
2010: Adele “Rolling in the Deep”
2009: Jay-Z with Alicia Keys “Empire State of Mind”
2008: Duffy “Mercy”
2007: Rihanna with Jay-Z “Umbrella”
2006: Gnarls Barkley “Crazy”
2005: James McMurtry “We Can’t Make It”
2004: Green Day “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”
2003: Black Eyed Peas with Justin Timberlake “Where Is the Love?”
2002: Eminem “Lose Yourself”
2001: Atomic Kitten “Whole Again”
2000: Bruce Springsteen “American Skin (41 Shots)”
1999: Gary Allan “Smoke Rings in the Dark”
1998: Cher “Believe”
1997: Elton John “Candle in the Wind 1997 (Goodbye England’s Rose)”
1996: Spice Girls “Wannabe”
1995: PJ Harvey “Down by the Water”
1994: Wet Wet Wet “Love Is All Around”
1993: Meat Loaf “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)”
1992: Whitney Houston “I Will Always Love You”
1991: Bryan Adams “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You”
1990: Sinéad O’Connor “Nothing Compares 2 U”
1989: Black Box “Ride on Time”
1988: Tracy Chapman “Fast Car”
1987: Rick Atley “Never Gonna Give You Up”
1986: Robert Cray “Smoking Gun”
1985: Jennifer Rush “The Power of Love”
1984: Whitney Houston “The Greatest Love of All”
1983: Frankie Goes to Hollywood “Relax”
1982: Michael Jackson “Billie Jean”
1981: Soft Cell “Tainted Love”
1980: Frank Sinatra “New York, New York (Theme from)”
1979: Art Garfunkel “Bright Eyes”
1978: Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta “You’re the One That I Want”
1977: John Williams “Star Wars”
1976: Eagles “Hotel California”
1975: Queen “Bohemian Rhapsody”
1974: Charles Aznavour “She”
1973: Barbra Streisand “The Way We Were”
1972: Ray Charles “America the Beautiful”
1971: John Lennon “Imagine”
1970: Judy Collins “Amazing Grace”
1969: Frank Sinatra “My Way”
1968: The Beatles “Hey Jude”
1967: Louis Armstrong “What a Wonderful World”
1966: Tom Jones “The Green, Green Grass of Home”
1965: Frank Sinatra “It Was a Very Good Year”
1964: Stan Getz with Astrud Gilberto “The Girl from Ipanema”
1963: The Beatles “I Want to Hold Your Hand”
1962: Tony Bennett “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”
1961: Henry Mancini with Audrey Hepburn “Moon River”
1960: Ray Charles “Georgia on My Mind”
1959: Johnny Mathis “Misty”
1958: Frank Sinatra “Blues in the Night (My Mama Done Tol’ Me)”
1957: Nat “King” Cole “Stardust”
1956: Frank Sinatra “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”
1955: Count Basie with Joe Williams “Everyday I Have the Blues”
1954: Frank Sinatra “I Get a Kick Out of You”
1953: Hank Williams “Your Cheatin’ Heart”
1952: Rosemary Clooney “Tenderly”
1951: Les Paul & Mary Ford “How High the Moon”
1950: Goodnight Irene
1949: Vaughn Monroe “Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)”
1948: T-Bone Walker “Call It Stormy Monday”
1947: Harry Choates “Jole Blon”
1946: Nat “King” Cole “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)”
1945: Les Brown with Doris Day “Sentimental Journey”
1944: Woody Guthrie “This Land Is Your Land”
1943: Nat “King” Cole “Embraceable You”
1942: Bing Crosby with the Ken Darby Singers & the John Scott Trotter Orchestra “White Christmas”
1941: Duke Ellington “Take the ‘A’ Train”
1940: Coleman Hawkins “Body and Soul”
1939: Glenn Miller “In the Mood”
1938: Artie Shaw “Begin the Beguine”
1937: Robert Johnson “Hell Hound on My Trail”
1936: Billie Holiday “Summertime”
1935: Fred Astaire with Ginger Rogers & Leo Reisman’s Orchestra “Cheek to Cheek”
1934: Duke Ellington “Solitude”
1933: Ethel Waters “Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All the Time)”
1932: Bing Crosby “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?”
1931: Duke Ellington “Mood Indigo”
1930: Louis Armstrong “St. Louis Blues”
1929: Louis Armstrong “Ain’t Misbehavin’”
1928: Marion Harris “The Man I Love”
1927: Paul Robeson “Ol’ Man River”
1926: Bessie Smith “Lost Your Head Blues”
1925: Bessie Smith with Louis Armstrong “St. Louis Blues”
1924: Paul Whiteman with George Gershwin “Rhapsody in Blue”
1923: Bessie Smith “Down Hearted Blues”
1922: Al Jolson “April Showers”
1921: Eubie Blake “Sounds of Africa”
1920: Paul Whiteman “Whispering”
1919: Marion Harris “After You’ve Gone”
1918: Original Dixieland Jazz Band “Tiger Rag”
1917: American Quartet “Over There”
1916: Billy Murray “I Love a Piano”
1915: Harry MacDonough & Olive Kline (as Alice Green) “They Didn't Believe Me”
1914: American Quartet “It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary”
1913: Al Jolson “You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)”
1912: Heidelberg Quintet “Waiting for the Robert E. Lee”
1911: Arthur Collins and Bryon G. Harlan “Alexander’s Ragtime Band”
1910: American Quartet with Billy Murray “Casey Jones”
1909: Ada Jones with Billy Murray “Shine on Harvest Moon”
1908: Billy Murray with the Haydn Quartet “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”
1907: Vess Ossman “Maple Leaf Rag”
1906: Billy Murray “You’re a Grand Old Flag (aka “The Grand Old Rag”)”
1905: Billy Murray “Yankee Doodle Boy”
1904: Haydn Quartet “Sweet Adeline (You’re the Flower of My Heart)”
1903: Haydn Quartet “In the Good Old Summertime”
1902: Arthur Collins “Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home”
1901: Columbia Orchestra “Creole Belles”
1900: Vess Ossman “A Coon Band Contest”
1899: Vess Ossman “A Bunch of Rags”
1898: Edison Male Quartet “My Old Kentucky Home”
1897: John Philip Sousa “The Stars and Stripes Forever”
1896: --
1895: John Philip Sousa “The Washington Post March”
1894: Edward M. Favor “Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Built for Two)”
1893: George J. Gaskin “After the Ball”
1892: --
1891: Voss’ 1st Regiment Band “One Minute Too Late”
1890: U.S. Marine Band “The Washington Post March”
1889: Issler’s Orchestra “Electric Light Quadrille”

Resources/Related Links:

Dave’s Music Database: “‘Songs of the Year’ lists”

Steve Sullivan Song Lists:

“His Personal Top 100 Songs” (8/14/2022)
“Songs of the Year, 1889-2021” (1/1/2022)
“Top 100 Songs, 1897-1956” (2/7/2018)
“Greatest Popular Song Recordings: 2010-2017” (2/7/2018)
Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland (2013).
“Traditional Pop: The All-Time 200+ Classic Performances” (9/17/2012).
“Top 200+ British Hits, 1945-2011” (7/20/2012).
“The 200 Greatest Song Recordings: 1889-1953” (6/26/2012).
“Country Music’s All-Time Classics According to the Classic Pop Yahoo Group” (6/1/2012).

First posted 4/14/2019; last updated 1/3/2025.

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Tuesday, December 31, 2024