VH1's '100 Greatest Songs of the Past 25 Years'
June 12 2003





The "100 Greatest Songs of the Past 25 Years," as chosen by the video music channel VH1.

1. Nirvana, "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

2. Michael Jackson, "Billie Jean" (COOL!)

3. Guns N' Roses, "Sweet Child O' Mine"

4. Eminem, "Lose Yourself" WTF!?


5. U2, "One"

6. Run-D.M.C., "Walk This Way"

7. Prince, "When Doves Cry" hell yeah!

8. Whitney Houston, "I Will Always Love You"

9. The Police, "Every Breath You Take"

10. Madonna, "Like a Virgin"

11. Van Halen, "Jump"

12. Alanis Morissette, "You Oughta Know"

13. TLC, "Waterfalls"

14. Sinead O'Connor, "Nothing Compares 2 U"

15. Pink Floyd, "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)"

16. No Doubt, "Don't Speak"

17. Def Leppard, "Photograph"

18. R.E.M., "Losing My Religion"

19. Public Enemy, "Fight the Power"

20. AC/DC, "You Shook Me All Night Long"

21. U2, "With or Without You"

22. Cyndi Lauper, "Time After Time"

23. Prince, "Little Red Corvette" YES!

24. Celine Dion, "My Heart Will Go On"

25. Rick James, "Super Freak"

26. Bon Jovi, "Livin' on a Prayer"

27. Grandmaster Flash, "The Message"

28. Britney Spears, "... Baby One More Time"

29. Bruce Springsteen, "Born in the U.S.A."

30. Janet Jackson, "Nasty"

31. Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Doggy Dogg, "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang"

32. Pearl Jam, "Jeremy"

33. Tina Turner, "What's Love Got to do With It"

34. Peter Gabriel, "In Your Eyes"

35. The Sugarhill Gang, "Rapper's Delight"

36. Joan Jett, "I Love Rock 'n Roll"

37. Alicia Keys, "Fallin"'

38. The Clash, "London Calling"

39. Tom Petty, "Free Fallin"'

40. Michael Jackson, "Beat It"

41. Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Under the Bridge"

42. Blondie, "Heart of Glass"

43. The Go-Go's, "Our Lips Are Sealed"

44. Gloria Gaynor, "I Will Survive"

45. Aerosmith, "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing"

46. Queen and David Bowie, "Under Pressure"

47. Shania Twain, "You're Still the One"

48. Naughty By Nature, "O.P.P."

49. Journey, "Don't Stop Believin"'

50. Lenny Kravitz, "Are You Gonna Go My Way?"

51. George Michael, "Faith"

52. The Rolling Stones, "Start Me Up"

53. Marvin Gaye, "Sexual Healing"

54. Goo Goo Dolls, "Iris"

55. Talking Heads, "Once in a Lifetime"

56. Sheryl Crow, "All I Wanna Do"

57. Eric Clapton, "Tears in Heaven"

58. The Notorious B.I.G. feat. Puff Daddy & Mase, "Mo Money Mo Problems"

59. Meat Loaf "Paradise By the Dashboard Light"

60. Santana feat. Rob Thomas, "Smooth"

61. Backstreet Boys, "I Want It That Way"

62. Pretenders, "Brass in Pocket"

63. Beck, "Loser"

64. The Knack, "My Sharona"

65. Nelly, "Hot in Herre"

66. Squeeze, "Tempted"

67. John Cougar Mellencamp, "Jack and Diane"

68. Chic, "Good Times"

69. Mary J. Blige, "Real Love"

70. Culture Club, "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me"

71. Dave Matthews Band, "Crash Into Me"

72. John Lennon, "(Just Like) Starting Over"

73. LL Cool J, "Mama Said Knock You Out"

74. Hall & Oates, "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)"

75. The Ramones, "I Wanna Be Sedated"

76. Eurythmics, "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"

77. Missy Elliott, "Work It"

78. Green Day, "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)"

79. Destiny's Child, "Say My Name"

80. Duran Duran, "Hungry Like the Wolf"

81. OutKast, "Ms. Jackson"

82. Soft Cell, "Tainted Love"

83. Band Aid, "Do They Know It's Christmas"

84. Radiohead, "Creep"

85. Eminem, "My Name Is"

86. Tracy Chapman, "Fast Car"

87. The Who, "Who Are You"

88. Metallica, "Enter Sandman"

89. Pat Benatar, "Hit Me With Your Best Shot"

90. The Police, "Roxanne"

91. Melissa Etheridge, "Come to My Window"

92. Salt-N-Pepa, "Push It"

93. Nine Inch Nails, "Closer"

94. Cheap Trick, "Surrender"

95. Oasis, "Wonderwall"

96. Beastie Boys, "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!)"

97. Devo, "Whip It"

98. Hanson, "MMMBop"

99. Norah Jones, "Don't Know Why"

100. Madonna, "Ray of Light"

this list is crap i could put at least half on my list

Aerosmith, "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" aerosmith are one of my favorite bands but they have done waaaay better songs than this

GoldenGlove said:

this is when I stopped reading

Dancelot said:

i like an awful lot of those songs, i must say

TheFrog said:

Wheres bros

TheFrog said:

Raine said:

thesexofit said:

in bits in my freezer.

That list sucks, at least Prince made the list 2wice.

TheFrog said:

When will ur freezer be famous?

thesexofit said:

Hopefully soon.

It's got a place next week in Rockstar:INXS so keep your fingers crossed.

TheFrog said:

Thats cold (awful)

thesexofit said:

I hadn't seen the show till yesterday.

And i saw a bit and i thought - wtf? These INXS guys are about 120 years old each, with bellies the size of australia and probably hip replacements, and they've got a bunch of ebeautiful, firm 20-year olds to audition for their lead singer?


what a crap show.

TheFrog said:

Iam still waiting to see that fucking mc hammer movie vh1 never showed in UK.

GoldenGlove said:

since when was 'walk this way' a run dmc song?
[Edited 9/5/05 6:27am]

hellomoto said:

they recorded that version together so it makes no sense to me either

"Ray Of Light" at 100?!?! please. that song alone trumps the entire list.

and NO KYLIE????? wtf!?!?!

"Love Will Tear Us Apart" usually tops these lists, and I have to agree. This list is clearly wack.

10. Madonna, "Like a Virgin"

Good to see def leppard "photograph" in the top 20. I had no idea it was a big hit? Love that song.

Rinluv said:

3 if you count Sinead's Nothing..


and they could at least acknowledge Dolly Parton....just something wrong with seeing whitney's name and her hacked version up there..

that being said this list does mention a lot of different songs from the usual suspects...

Aerosmith "i dont wanna make u cringe".

Man, i hate that song. And I actually like some diane warren.

Aerosmith suck.


As did that movie

thesexofit said:

GoldenGlove said:

michael bolton is alot better.

GoldenGlove said:

Aerosmith rules & Dream On is one of the greatest songs ever.

I dont know why they let Eminem fuck that song.

98. Hanson, "MMMBop"

Why is it mmmbop is allowed in the top 100 yet no new kids or new edition? Or even (yes, u know) Joey or jeremy?


And robbie nevill

"wats it to ya"

thesexofit said:

as much as them kids annoyed me i must give them credit for writing a memorable pop tune...