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| Songwriters of the Rock Era:Top 100 |
This list was originally posted on the Dave’s Music Database Facebook page on July 1, 2010. It has been updated several times since then, most recently in April 2026 when The New York Times Magazine presented its list of the “30 Greatest Living American Songwriters.” See other sources which were aggregated to create this list at the bottom of the page. Despite attempts to gather a wide variety of lists, the emphasis of the lists still heavily largely on singer/songwriters from the rock era, giving short shrift to Broadway, early 20th century writers, and classical composers. As such, I have created two other lists – Composers from Broadway and the Early 20th Century and The Top 50 Classical Composers. However, here’s the list of rock-era songwriters. See other lists of Acts/Music Makers by Categories.
![]() Bob Dylan, image from cnn.com 2. John Lennon/ Paul McCartney (The Beatles) 3. Bruce Springsteen 4. Paul Simon 5. Pete Townshend 6. Neil Young 7. Mick Jagger / Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones) 8. Elton John/ Bernie Taupin 9. David Bowie 10. Led Zeppelin (Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, John “Bonzo” Bonham) John Lennon and Paul McCartney, image from fanpop.com
11. Joni Mitchell Paul Simon, image from morethings.com
21. Stevie Wonder Bruce Springsteen, image from reelworldtheology.com
31. Bob Marley ![]() Pete Townshend, image from guitarplayer.com
41. George Harrison ![]() Neil Young, image from Samuel sounds blog
51. Eric Clapton Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, image from art.com
61. David Byrne
71. Patti Smith ![]()
81. Eminem
91. David Crosby Resources/Related Links:
First posted 7/1/2010; last updated 4/30/2026. |










