What makes the greatest rock bands ever? For Parade, it came down to sound, influence on the genre and cultural impact. Not everything wonderful sells, and not everything that sells is great. Also note that there are a lot of solo artists and musical groups who did phenomenal work and helped create rock’s sound as we know it, but didn’t fit into the “band” category if they specialized in just one aspect or instrument of their production: Think Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Janis Joplin, Tina Turner, the Jackson Five,Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Bee Gees, The Drifters, Sam Cooke, Leadbelly, Ray Charles and Eric Clapton, to name just a few! With that in mind, behold our choices for the top100 best rock bands of all time. Rock on!
1. The Beatles
As if The Beatles need any introduction: The Liverpool quartet is one of the bestselling, most influential bands in the history of music. Wondering just how far their influence extends? One of the Guardians of the Galaxy is named in homage to one of their songs.
2. Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stonesooze rock n’ roll and have been long lauded as the greatest rock n’ roll band in history. Their countercultural symbolism, raunchy lyrics and killer musicianship have made them one of the most enduring acts ever—and neither substance abuse (Keith Richards), cancer (Ron Wood) nor heart surgery (Mick Jagger) could keep them from a stage for long.
3. Prince & The Revolution
Obviously Princewas the leader of The Revolution, but the band’s other members were also crazy-talented and gloriously diverse: Brown Mark on bass and vocals; Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman (lovingly known as “Wendy and Lisa”) on guitar and on keyboards, piano and vocals respectively; Matt “Doctor” Fink on keyboards and vocals and Bobby Z. on drums. The Revolution not only performed on, but also produced the masterpiece Purple Rainon their own, helping to cement Prince’s legacy as rock royalty forever.
4. Queen
Before the film Bohemian Rhapsodywon Rami Malekan Oscar, the operatic tune “Bohemian Rhapsody” enjoyed a revival thanks to Wayne’s World. The song was just one of countless Queen classics, ranging from ballads (“Who Wants to Live Forever,” “Play the Game,” “Save Me”) to stadium anthems (“We Will Rock You,” “We Are the Champions,” “Don’t Stop Me Now”) to rollicking barn-burners (“Tie Your Mother Down,” “Fat Bottomed Girls,” “Bicycle Race,” “Keep Yourself Alive”) to cheeky pop-tinged confections (“Under Pressure,” “I Want to Break Free,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” “Good Old Fashioned Loverboy,” “Killer Queen”). Freddie Mercury brought the theatrics, whimsy and groundbreaking production, Brian Maythe slick solos, Roger Taylor the beats and John Deacon the inimitable bass riffs to make some of the most simultaneously timeless, heavy and frothy pop-rock music ever made.
5. Guns N’ Roses
From Slash’s solos to Duff McKagan’s bass lines to Axl Rose’s screeches and warbles (he may have the biggest vocal range out of any of his musical peers) to their debauchery, Guns N’ Roses is, rightfully, one of the most influential bands in music. And in true rock n’ roll fashion, Rosedeclined to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
6. AC/DC
From their early days with Bon Scott to their resurrection with Brian Johnson, the Young brothers and AC/DChave made the “Highway to Hell” seem like a pretty sweet ride. Johnson told The New York Postthat he actually met Scott before Scott’s untimely passing, after which Johnson replaced him as the Australian band’s frontman. “I had a terrible case of appendicitis and I went down on my side, kicking and going, ‘Ooh!’” he recalled. “But I kept on singing. Apparently, he told the boys when he joined AC/DC, ‘I saw this guy Brian Johnson sing, and he was great. He was on the floor, kicking and screaming—what an act!’ Of course, it wasn’t an act. I was really ill.”
7. The Jimi Hendrix Experience
No rock list of any kind would be complete without Jimi Hendrix. The man changed guitar forever, and The Jimi Hendrix Experience delivered some of the best live performances in rock history—psychedelic, mesmerizing and energetic, while appearing effortless.
8. Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelinis best known for “Stairway to Heaven,” but their hit “Immigrant Song” enjoyed a resurgence thanks to its prominence in Thor: Ragnarok—it fit so seamlessly that you’d have thought the 1970 track was written just for the movie, a testament to the rock icons’ timelessness. Guitarist Jimmy Page said of the band in an archived interview, “The fact was, whether we liked it or not, we were brought together by fate and it was sort of fated that we should change music, I think. And we certainly did.”
9. Bob Dylan
Though he’s mostly renowned for his superb storytelling in song, Bob Dylanbrought many obscure instruments to his folk-blues-rock music: Besides guitar, bass, drums, piano, flute, saxophone, trumpet, bugle, whistle and harmonica, he also plays harp, mandolin, harmonium and didgeridoo, making him the rare master of all trades. This also makes him a seriously impressive one-man band.
10. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
Joan Jett and the Blackheartspoked fun at their beginnings in this video for “Bad Reputation,” mocking all the major labels who turned them down—leading them to start their own label, Blackheart Records, and go multi-platinum and put a major crack in rock’s glass ceiling.
11. Pink Floyd
Pink Floydmade hits in spite of themselves. Producer Bob Ezrin told Guitar World in 2009 of the makings of the band’s magnum opus, “The Wall,” “The most important thing I did for the song was to insist that it be more than just one verse and one chorus long, which it was when Roger wrote it. I said, ‘Man, this is a hit! But it’s one minute 20. We need two verses and two choruses,’” he recalled. “And they said, ‘Well, you’re not bloody getting them. We don’t do singles, so f**k you.’ So I said, ‘Okay fine,’ and they left. … While they weren’t around we were able to copy the first verse and chorus, take one of the drum fills, put them in between and extend the chorus.”
12. Grateful Dead
The second band on this list to inspire a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavor, the Grateful Deadcombined elements of rock, folk, jazz and blues to make a sound all their own.
13. The Traveling Wilburys
Arguably everyone’s favorite Beatle is George Harrison. What do you get when you combine his pop sensibilities with a cheeky sense of humor and the rock, pop and folk stylings of Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylanand Tom Petty? You get the always-underrated supergroup that is The Traveling Wilburys.
14. Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Bandhave gone through ups and downs and lineup changes throughout their nearly three-decade history, but whenever you see them live, it’s like the glory days never actually ended.
15. Little Richard and The Upsetters
Little Richardand his band, The Upsetters, were as integral as Chuck Berryin creating rock and roll as we know it thanks to their intense, energetic performances and distinctive sound.
16. The Kinks
One of the most influential bands of the 1960s, The Kinks’ smash hit “You Really Got Me” is one of the most covered (including by Van Halenand David Bowie) and one of the most recognizable, songs in rock history. The British band likely would have seen much more success stateside, but were banned from touring the United States in their peak because brothers Dave and Ray Davies kept getting into fights. How very rock n’ roll of them.
17. Creedence Clearwater Revival
Tina Turnermade “Proud Mary” her own, but it was Creedence Clearwater Revivalwho first wrote and performed the rock staple. That tune, along with other hits including “Fortunate Son,” “Down On the Corner” and “Bad Moon Rising” firmly keep the band among working-class heroes and rock legends.
18. The Band
The Band were beloved for their easygoing, “porch-style” playing. Though they were only together for eight years, their influence has endured, not just in their live performances—The Band famously backed Bob Dylan—but because they were comprised of some of the best singers in rock history in Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Rick Danko and Richard Manuel.
19. The Cure
Though The Cure is best known for “Love Song,” “The Love Cats,” “Just Like Heaven” and “Friday I’m in Love,” “Cut Here” from their 2001 Greatest Hits compilation is a truly heartbreaking, beautiful ode to how little time we really have—and is pure pop-rock perfection from Robert Smith.
20. Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band, hailing from Macon, Ga., had some of the best blues-tinged rock of their era thanks to Duane Allman’s guitar work and Gregg Allman on the organ and trademark raspy vocals. Sadly, the band was also marked by a lot of tragedy: In addition to the entire group being plagued by drug use, Duane died in a motorcycle crash in October 1971. Tragically, the band’s original bassist Berry Oakley also died in a motorcycle accident, almost exactly one year after Duane died the same way.
21. David Bowie
David Bowie, whether as Ziggy Stardustand the Spiders from Mars or himself, is known as a solo artist. But even when he was on his own, in the studio he was at times a one-man band. He played nearly every instrument on his album Diamond Dogs, including the iconic “Rebel Rebel” riff.
22. The Who
The Who embraced the inherently rebellious nature of rock n’ roll, from “My Generation” to “The Kids Are Alright” to “Baba O’Riley” (often incorrectly called “Teenage Wasteland” for the hook, sometimes by the band’s own members). The messages still resonate today. “‘Teenage Wasteland’ speaks to generation after generation,” singer Roger Daltrey told the Big Issue in 2018. “The bridge—‘Don’t cry / Don’t raise your eye / It’s only teenage wasteland’—if that doesn’t say more about the new generation, I don’t know what does.” He added, “[The] main advice I give youngsters is to be very aware of what you are getting into on social media. Because life is not looking down at screens, it is looking up. We are heading for catastrophe with the addiction that is going on in the younger generation. Your life will disappear if you are not careful. You are being controlled, and that is terrible.”
23. Aerosmith
The scarves, the guitars, the wailing—Aerosmithand Steven Tylerembodied rock n’ roll, whether they were singing about singing (“Dream On”), sex (“Walk on Water”) or just getting schmaltzy (“Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”).
24. The Ramones
The Ramoneschanged music forever with their songs and almost uniformed performing style—leather jackets, shades, T-shirts, shaggy dark hair—but many people don’t realize that most of the original members didn’t have a great relationship offstage, and the original lineup didn’t survive long enough to enjoy any of their commercial or critical success. Ironically, the anger associated with that may have propelled them to the very stardom they have only posthumously. “People who join a band like the Ramones don’t come from stable backgrounds, because it’s not that civilized an art form,” Dee Dee Ramone once wrote (via Rolling Stone). “Punk rock comes from angry kids who feel like being creative.”
25. Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Machas a long and sordid history of hirings, firings and in-fighting, but one thing remains constant: Their hits. “The Chain,” “Go Your Own Way,” “Landslide,” “Dreams,” “Little Lies” and more.
26. The Eagles
You can try to resist The Eagles. But once you check them out, you can never leave. Don Felderpreviously told Paradeof his creative process, “The most rewarding part of it is…[to] walk into a room that’s absolutely blank, quiet, silent and walk out at the end of the day and feel really excited about what you’ve created. The creative process to me is what’s so rewarding. And then to be able to take that excitement, enthusiasm and share it with people or have them respond, really is the ultimate stuff.”
27. Journey
Journey’s iconic anthems, from “Don’t Stop Believin’” to “Open Arms” and “Wheel in the Sky,” live on long after the original band members and Steve Perrywent their…wait for it…“Separate Ways.” (We’ll see ourselves out.)
28. Van Halen
Van Halenchanged guitar solos forever, and their overall brilliance is often widely overlooked. For example, their smash “Jump” is a song about suicide that many confused with being uplifting and motivational. Another genius move? The band was famous for demanding there be no brown M&Ms in their tour rider. It wasn’t because they had a bias against the color: It was a safety measure to ensure that venues were paying attention because they incorporated so many lights and pyrotechnics in their live shows.
29. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Another folk supergroup, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, comprised of David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young, were mesmerizing even to those who knew them closely. “They always had that Judy Garland, tragic American hero aura about them,” a former business associate told Rolling Stoneof the band. “It’s still going on. Were they strong enough to survive? Would they kill each other? Did they really like their audience? Were they leaders? Was it all for the bucks? Would they fall apart before reaching the top?”
30. Def Leppard
Def Leppardovercame incredible hardship and delivered some of the sexiest rock songs ever, with “Pour Some Sugar On Me” in particular being a staple in pop culture.
31. Nirvana
While “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is Nirvana’s most famous song, it’s “Swap Meet,” off Bleach, that shows off Kurt Cobain’s lyricism: Reportedly written about a couple arguing at, yes, a swap meet, he sings, “She loves him more than he will ever know / He loves her more than he will ever show.”
32. Pearl Jam
Like Nirvana, Pearl Jamwas a staple of the grunge era and has continued to stay relevant for nearly three decades, even covering “Let It Go” from Frozen in 2014. Frontman Eddie Vedder toldParade in 2011 of Pearl Jam’s songwriting and recording process, “It’s like catching a butterfly. You can’t grab it too hard. It’s really a delicate thing. We’re five men who used to be teenagers, and if you’ve ever tried to order a pizza with five people, it’s difficult. So to have gone down this road of great records and songs that are different than the last ones we’d written or put on shows that are different, it’s a very lucky thing.”
33. R.E.M.
R.E.M.is anchored by frontman Michael Stipe’s distinctive vocals and at times obscure, heady lyrics, as well as guitarist Peter Buck’s frequent use of arpeggio. Their biggest stateside hit was the Grammy-winning “Losing My Religion,” marked by its use of the mandolin.
34. Steve Miller Band
The only remaining original member of The Steve Miller Band is its namesake, but the music lives on. The group’s sound evolved quite a bit over time, with their discography encompassing blues, psychedelic and straight rock.
35. Cheap Trick
Is there a better song about a crush than “I Want You to Want Me”? Cheap Trick is best known for that tune (and its killer 1999 cover from Letters to Cleo) and their ballad “The Flame,” but they have plenty of other classics, namely “Surrender” and “Dream Police” that combine dark elements with light sounds.
36. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakershad a slew of hits to their name, including anthems like “American Girl,” “Free Fallin’” (produced by Jeff Lynne!), “Don’t Come Around Here No More” and “I Won’t Back Down.” Though Petty released three albums as a solo artist, the Heartbreakers were often session musicians on those projects.
37. Sly & The Family Stone
Sly & The Family Stone mixed sunny pop with funk, psychedelic rock and indelible melodies. Sly Stone told Rolling Stonein the band’s 1970s heyday, “If there was anything to be happy about, then everybody’d be happy about it. If there were a lot of songs to sing, then everybody got to sing. If we have something to suffer or a cross to bear – we bear it together.”
38. Steely Dan
Before forming Steely Dan, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen served in Jay and the Americans’ backing band and as songwriters for Barbra Streisand. After some lineup changes, Fagen and Becker teamed up as a supergroup with Toto’s Jeff Porcaro, guitarist Hugh McCracken and Michael McDonald, with contributions from The Eagles’ Timothy B. Schmit, Steely Dan released their first platinum album, Aja, in 1977.
39. Metallica
Metallica crossed over into the mainstream with 1991 smash “Enter Sandman,” but metal enthusiasts particularly love them for “Master of Puppets.”
40. Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrddefined Southern rock for their era. While not all aspects of the band’s earlier legacy work well in 2020 (hello, Confederate flag imagery!), “Freebird” holds up.
41. Rush
Progressive rock heroes Rush don’t have any unreleased songs in their arsenal. Why not? Alex Lifeson told Rolling Stone, “That’s not how we’ve ever worked. The album is what it is. ‘We’re going to do eight songs. So let’s do those eight songs and concentrate on them and devote all of our time to them.‘Why would you write 20 songs and pick the 12 best? Does that mean that the other eight are just bulls**t? You were wasting your time!”
42. The Doors
While Jim Morrisonwas The Doors’ primary lyricist for hits like “L.A. Woman,” “Break On Through (To the Other Side)” and “Riders on the Storm,” their first smash was penned by guitarist Robby Krieger—and it was the first song Krieger ever wrote in his life. “That was the first one I wrote, because up until then Jim had been writing the songs,” Krieger told Reverb in 2016. “But we realized we didn’t have enough originals, so Jim said, ‘Why don’t you write some? Why do I have to do all the work!?’ So I said, ‘OK, what should I write about?’ And he goes, ‘Write about something universal. Write about something that will last, not just about today.’ So I decided I’d write about [either] earth, air, fire or water.” He picked fire, and the rest is music history.
43. The Clash
Though perhaps best known for “Rock the Casbah” and “Should I Stay or Should I Go,” The Clash brought melodies to punk rock with tunes like “Train in Vain,” making the genre more palatable to radio audiences than, say, their peers the Sex Pistols.
44. Coldplay
Coldplay broke out with “Yellow,” but it was A Rush Of Blood to the Head, bolstered by “Clocks,” “The Scientist” and “In My Place” that made the band radio staples. However, it wasn’t until the title track to Viva La Vida, the group’s first single with Brian Eno, that they hit No. 1 on the charts stateside. They haven’t matched nor topped the song’s success since.
45. Beach Boys
With countless songs about surfing and cute girls, the Beach Boysmixed masterful songwriting with harmonies that remain unmatched to this day. Mike Lovepreviously said of their legacy, “I think the music, if it’s not immortal, it’s pretty damn close. Some of these songs have lasted over 50 years, and they’re received in concert as jubilantly today as they were back then. That’s an indication there’s a lasting power in the music.” There’s one particular reason the harmonies are so great: Brian Wilsonhad to record their songs in mono because he has only one good ear (he was also greatly enamored by the work of producer Phil Spector and his so-called Wall of Sound–a staple of AM pop of the era—which was recorded in mono).
46. The Police
To the casual listener, The Policemay just seem like a catchy, reggae-tinged ’80s outfit. Fair enough. But keep in mind two things that really drive their genius home: Stingused Nabokov in the lyrics to “Don’t Stand So Close to Me,” and “Every Breath You Take” is a song about stalking that people often dance to at their own weddings.
47. Bon Jovi
Bon Joviboasts some of the most anthemic singles ever, from the New Jersey wedding staple “Livin’ On a Prayer,” “Runaway,” “Bad Medicine,” “You Give Love a Bad Name” and “It’s My Life” to ballads like “Always,” “Love Hurts,” “Dead or Alive,” and “Thank You for Loving Me.” For the working class boy from the Garden State, sometimes he still can’t believe how far he’s come. “Look, being a kid, getting a record deal was as big as you ever dreamt,” Jon Bon Jovi told NPR. “You know, like I say, I always reference John and the Jukes. Playing regionally at the time when that was about as big as you imagine ever being. Being on a tour bus was as big as you ever imagined being. You didn’t think about No. 1 records and flying in jet airplanes and seeing the world the way, you know, we ultimately did. So the idea of No. 1 records? Forget about it. You know, the idea that I could talk to you now about the hundred-plus million albums? I’d never in my wildest dreams.”
48. Talking Heads
The Talking Heads is one of the groups who defined the 1980s, and their influence is strong still today on artists ranging from The 1975 to Selena Gomez, who sampled the bassline from their classic “Psycho Killer” for “Bad Liar.”
49. The Stooges
Iggy Pop and The Stooges are largely credited with inventing punk rock as the world knows it, with their live performances (Pop’s famous writhing and screaming) and their aesthetics.
50. Genesis
There’s often a debate over Genesis, with some purists arguing that Peter Gabriel was good and Phil Collinswas bad. These people are wrong. Both iterations of Genesis are good, if different, and the band deserves more respect as a whole.
51. Foo Fighters
Dave Grohl transitioned from drummer to lead singer with the Foo Fighters, and the Grammy winner said it wasn’t lost on him that some of his success in his current project was due to his work with Nirvana. “I’ve never been afraid to say that if it weren’t for Nirvana, the Foo Fighters wouldn’t be in the same position that we’re in now,” he previously told Kerrang. “We had an advantage right out of the gate that there was an interest in the band because of that. I mean, it’s obvious.” Their often-hilarious music videos show that though the Foo Fighters are seriously talented, they don’t take themselves too seriously.
52. U2
Bono brings a distinct voice and The Edge a distinct guitar sound to U2, whose first 25 years of work admittedly hold up better than the rest—but oh, does it hold up.
53. Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Red Hot Chili Peppersstarted out as one of the edgiest bands of their time with hits like “Under the Bridge” and “Give It Away,” and over time—after getting over addictions and debauchery eclipsed only by Mötley Crüe—mellowed out to achieve longevity and classic rock status with tunes like “Californication” and “The Zephyr Song.”
54. Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkinssold over 10 million copies of Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sorrow in their 1990s peak, becoming one of the artists to define the decade’s alternative rock.
55. Green Day
Green Daywas one of the biggest bands in the 1990s, with their third album, Dookie, selling 20 million copies worldwide. The band gradually saw their popularity dwindle in the early 2000s, going from a headlining arena act to opening for Blink-182—but they had one of the biggest comeback stories in rock history. American Idiot, a rock opera inspired by the Iraq War and George W. Bush’s presidency, became the first Green Day album to hit No. 1, selling 6 million copies stateside and sending the band back to headlining stadiums.
56. The Runaways
The Runawaysboasted Joan Jettand frontwoman Cherie Currie, but let’s take a moment and show some love to the criminally underrated Lita Ford—still slaying in the rock and metal world, the late great drummer Sandy West, and Jackie Fox, who recently killed it on Jeopardy.
57. Soundgarden
The late Chris Cornell brought incredible vocals to Soundgarden, winning Grammys for singles “Black Hole Sun” and “Spoonman.”
58. Santana
Carlos Santanais a guitar god. His band’s rendition of “Black Magic Woman” cemented his legacy in 1970, and he enjoyed a resurgence in success courtesy of collaborations with Rob Thomas, Alex Band, Michelle Branchand The Project G&B nearly three decades later.
59. The Yardbirds
The Yardbirds were one of the most influential bands ever for guitar geeks, featuring, at different times, three of the best guitar players who ever lived: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beckand Jimmy Page.
60. Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nailscombines hooks straight out of pop playbooks with grunge, metal, techno and folk elements and dark lyrics. Driving home Trent Reznor’s timeless tunes: Miley Cyrus performing teeny-bopper covers of them as Ashley O. in Black Mirrorin 2019.
61. REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagonsold more than 40 million records, including their signature hit “Keep On Loving You.” After more than three decades, the song charted again in April 2020 thanks to a prominent feature in Ozark, which was just one more ode to the track’s endurance.
62. The White Stripes
The White Stripes, powered by notorious recluse Meg White’s signature minimalist drums and Jack White on vocals, were one of the most influential acts of the early 2000s.
63. Slayer
Slayer has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way with their lyrics, which have focused on topics such as murder, prison, Satanism, terrorism, fascism and just about every other evil you can imagine—but their unique brand of thrash metal helped pave the way for the entire death metal subgenre.
64. Phish
What other band can jam on a single song for nearly an hour? Hence the popularity of Phish, a favorite of those who don’t just love jam bands, but also who have the endurance necessary to sit or stand through a show that long.
65. The Replacements
The Replacements were some of the pioneers of alternative rock as we know it today, though self-sabotage—like being so intoxicated during a performance they got banned from the venue—blocked the band from bigger mainstream success.
66. The Black Keys
The blues-tinged rock duo of drummer Patrick Carney and guitarist and frontman Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys evolved quite a bit over time, but eventually they went back to their original formula: Just the two of them and zero outside help for their most recent record, Let’s Rock. “We learned to play music together, basically,” Carney told NPR. “I wanted to be a guitar player. I had this drum set at my house that I bought from washing dishes, so that I could have a friend play drums, and I would play guitar. But it soon became apparent that Dan was my only friend that wanted to come over and play music, and he was a much better guitar player, so I got moved to the drums. You know, we just kind of taught ourselves how to make records together.” “We got together in the studio and it was like it was already agreed upon, but we hadn’t even spoken about it: It was just going to be a guitar and drums record,” Auerbach explained. “There’s no keyboards, no other musicians, no outside producers, just the two of us. After so many years apart, that was the way that it had to be.”
67. Radiohead
The members of Radiohead famously hate their first hit song, 1993’s “Creep,” despite its catchy hook. Fair enough, because it’s OK Computer that’s considered their finest work. Though it was written largely about the isolation one faces when living in a tour bus for half a decade, it’s more relevant than ever: Thom Yorke told Rolling Stonefor the album’s 20th anniversary, “The paranoia I felt at the time was much more related to how people related to each other. But I was using the terminology of technology to express it. Everything I was writing was actually a way of trying to reconnect with other human beings when you’re always in transit. That’s what I had to write about because that’s what was going on, which in itself instilled a kind of loneliness and disconnection.”
68. No Doubt
No Doubtwere a ska band long before Gwen Stefanicame along, but it wasn’t until her signature SoCal warble and red lipstick came on the scene that they broke big in the mainstream. Stefani penned some of her best breakup songs about her own bandmate, Tony Kanal, which may have made for some awkward recording sessions, but also made for some of the group’s biggest hits.
69. Superdrag
Tennessee-based alternative rockers Superdrag have a cult legacy that far outweighs and outspans their commercial success. Their biggest hit, “Sucked Out,” almost never happened. John Davis told Vice, “The record was mastered. We thought it was done. I went home and we had two to three weeks off and I got on a roll and started writing every day, including a bunch of the material that ended up on the second record. ‘Sucked Out’ was one of those that I just threw on a tape and just kind of jokingly said, ‘Hey, here’s the second record. Ha ha.’ Just kind of to be a d**k,” he recalled. “I thought it was funny, to be that ready to go in and do some more. That kind of changed. All of a sudden there was going to be a video budget and they were going to promote it to alternative radio. They weren’t planning on doing any of that before we came up with that song.”
70. Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden’s original singer, Paul Di’anno, was replaced by Bruce Dickinson in 1982—right before the band dropped their trademark album The Number of the Beast. The title track is one of the most defining songs in metal and earned a ton of backlash for the band, who were accused of Satanism, thanks to lyrics like “Woe to you, oh earth and sea / For the Devil sends the beast with wrath / Because he knows the time is short / Let him who hath understanding / Reckon the number of the beast / For it is a human number / Its number is six hundred and sixty six.”
71. Garbage
Garbagewas a critical and commercial darling, with its eponymous debut spawning hit singles like “Stupid Girl” and “Only Happen When It Rains;” their sophomore effort, Version 2.0, was nominated for two Grammys. The band, fronted by Shirley Manson, performed the theme song to Bond film The World Is Not Enough in 1999, and their critical acclaim continued for their third album, Beautiful Garbage. They quietly split during production of their fourth record, Bleed Like Me. The band reunited to complete the effort, released in 2005, and it peaked at No. 4—a career-high for Garbage. The group reunited in 2007 to record new songs for their greatest hits compilation, then split again, but reunited in 2011.
72. The Killers
The Killers brought dance-rock back to the mainstream in the 2000s, and their signature song, “Mr. Brightside,” balances heartwrenching lyrics about a cheating lover with soaring melodies, a killer beat and an amazing arrangement of guitars and synths. Fun fact: It was (and, so far, remains) the longest-charting song in the history of the U.K. charts.
73. Arcade Fire
Canadian rockers Arcade Firemix a slew of genre influences, including alternative, dance rock and baroque pop, with their incredible live instrumentation, which includes frontman Win Butler’s signature 12-string guitar, French horns, glockenspiels, mandolins, synthesizers, harps and more.
74. Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath, along with Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, were named the “Unholy Trinity” of British hard rock and heavy metal in the 1970s. Black Sabbath fit the bill the most literally, with frontman Ozzy Osbourneliterally once biting the head off of a bat. That said, musically, the band’s classics like “Suicide Solution” and “Crazy Train” were also some of the trinity’s darkest.
75. Funkadelic
George Clinton led Funkadelic from 1964 to 1982, a more psychedelic, rock-tinged funk band compared to his sister project, Parliament. Their hit, “(Not Just) Knee Deep” has been sampled quite a bit in hip-hop, by artists including Snoop Doggand Dr. Dre.
76. The Go-Gos
The Go-Gos, comprised of Belinda Carlisle(lead vocals), Charlotte Caffey (lead guitar and keyboards), Gina Schock (drums), Kathy Valentine (bass) and Jane Wiedlin (rhythm guitar), was the first—and still so far the only—all-female band that both wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts.
77. Jeff Lynne’s Electric Light Orchestra
Jeff Lynne is a huge Beatles fan, and you can hear their influence in his work with the Electric Light Orchestra. Lynne was actually present for some Beatles recording sessions and went on to work with George Harrison in the Traveling Wilburys, in addition to selling more than 50 million records with ELO…but much of that success was lost on his mother. He told Louder Soundof his legacy, “It makes me feel good about the music I’ve made. I didn’t ever get a proper job, I just carried on doing this. My mum hated me doing music. She’d go: ‘You don’t want to do that all rubbish. There’s a job going at ATV for a cameraman.’ I’d already had about three hits by that point!”
78. Rage Against the Machine
Music comes secondary to spreading a message for Rage Against the Machine, which is somewhat shocking when you consider how great their music is. The band is famous for its statements against consumerism, corporatism, imperialism and government oppression. The band teamed up with director Michael Moorefor their “Sleep Now in the Fire” music video in 2000, causing a near-riot on Wall St. and getting the New York Stock Exchange to close its doors in the middle of the trading day.
79. Beastie Boys
The Beastie Boyswere most famous for their rock-infused hip-hop, but the trio never lost sight of their punk roots. The group released their final album, Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, in 2011. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, and shortly afterward, Adam “MCA” Yauchpassed away from cancer. In the band’s memoir, The Beastie Boys Book, released after Yauch’s death, Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitzwrote, “The band didn’t break up. We didn’t go our own creative ways. No solo project fked things up to cause animosity. This was our last album because Adam got cancer and died. If that hadn’t happened, we would probably be making a new record as you read this. Sadly, it didn’t turn out that way… Too fking sad to write about.”
80. Misfits
The Misfits are Halloween party playlist staples for being the original horror punks, but there’s more to them than the macabre. Glenn Danzig told Kerrang of his band’s influence on the hardcore and punk scenes, “At the beginning there weren’t any other bands like the Misfits. We were angrier, we were faster, we were louder, we didn’t dress the same, and people were taken aback by us at first, particularly when we were smashing s**t up at our shows. To be honest, we didn’t really know that there were other bands like us until we went to check out a band who wanted to play our big Halloween show at [New York venue] Irving Plaza and Bad Brains were opening for us. We were like, ‘Wow!’ It was only then that we realized there were other bands around the country playing hard and fast.”
81. Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is largely credited with opening the doors for the no-wave genre, and their “noise rock” sound changed the game for guitarists; Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo were famous for using alternative tunings and would use specific guitars tuned for specific songs. As a result, they had to bring dozens of guitars to live performances, which likely made load-in and load-out a whole lot of work. Bassist and singer Kim Gordon reflected to Ellein 2013, “When I came to New York, I’d go and see bands downtown playing no-wave music. It was expressionistic and it was also nihilistic. Punk rock was tongue-in-cheek, saying, ‘Yeah, we’re destroying rock.’ No-wave music is more like, ‘NO, we’re really destroying rock.’ It was very dissonant. I just felt like, ‘Wow, this is really free. I could do that.’”
82. MC5
MC5 is considered a forefather of the punk movement, outspoken in their left-leaning, anti-establishment stances combined with a psychedelic-twinged garage rock sound. Leveraged by their biggest hit single, 1969’s “Kick Out the Jams,” the Detroit-bred band released their debut album, Back in the U.S.A., in 1970 and High Time one year later, but the high streak wouldn’t last. Both albums lost money for their labels, which, combined with in-fighting in the group (largely due to bassist Michael Davis’ drug use), led to their disbandment in 1972.
83. Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains was one of the first grunge bands to break through into the mainstream and remain largely influential in metal and alternative rock to this day. One of the most successful bands of the 1990s, their time in the sun was shortlived—the group was largely inactive after 1996 due to frontman Layne Staley’s struggles with both fame and drug use. Sadly, Staley passed away from a heroin overdose in 2002.
84. Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon have a unique combination of Southern and garage rock influences, and their sound is so timeless it’s hard to wrap your head around the fact that they’ve been around since 1999—because they’re still relevant in 2020, but if you time-traveled and saw them performing in a bar in the 1970s, they wouldn’t be at all out of place.
85. INXS
Australian dance-rock band INXS released some of the sexiest songs of the 1980s, largely thanks to late frontman Michael Hutchence’s magnetism, charisma and vocals, as well as the band’s interweaving of dance and funk elements into their rock sound.
86. The Cars
Ric Ocasek and The Cars were groundbreaking, combining new wave, pop and rock to create the perfect mix of bubblegum, synths and riffs in hits like “Just What I Needed,” “You Might Think” and “Magic,” plus moving ballads like “Drive.”
87. The Cranberries
The Cranberries’ hits endure to this day thanks to late singer Dolores O’Riordan. Her voice was haunting, emotive, powerful and distinct.
88. Bikini Kill
Bikini Kill was considered a pioneer of the riot grrl movement thanks to their grunge-punk hybrid sound and third-wave feminist lyrics.
89. Toto
Even if you won’t admit to loving Toto, famous for the indelible “Africa” and Grammy-winning “Rosanna,” chances are you enjoy songs they’ve worked on. “The deepest, darkest secret is, whether you listen to Toto or not, you’ve heard us play millions of times on so many other things in so many different styles of music,” guitarist and singer Steve Lukather told NPR. “That’s probably something people may not know.”
90. Siouxsie and the Banshees
Siouxsie and the Banshees helped usher in the post-punk and goth scenes. They’re also widely credited as one of the very first alternative rock bands and exerted influence over artists including The Cure (with whom they toured), Joy Division, PJ Harvey, Depeche Mode, Radiohead and more.
91. Against Me!
Laura Jane Grace and Against Me! count Bruce Springsteenamong fans of their anarchy-themed punk rock. In addition to their musical accomplishments, frontwoman Grace brought some much-needed trans representation to the mainstream.
92. Veruca Salt
Named after the bratty Charlie and The Chocolate Factory rich girl, Veruca Salt provided angelic, pop-infused harmonies from Nina Gordon and Louise Post with heavy guitars for a distinctive place in the grunge canon.
93. Velvet Underground
What The Velvet Underground lacked in commercial attention, they made up for in influence—Andy Warholwas such a fan that he convinced Lou Reedand the gang to feature vocals from German model Nico, and the rest is history.
94. The Smiths
The Smiths’ catalog is full of heartbreak, but also a lot of sass and relatable crankiness: See “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now,” in which Morrissey croons, “In my life / Why do I smile / At people who I’d much rather kick in the eye?”
95. The Pixies
The Pixies, with their unique song structures and surrealist lyrics, were more commercially successful in Europe than in the United States during the late 1980s, but they influenced some of the biggest acts in alternative rock, including Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead. When the band reunited in 2004, they received much greater appreciation from audiences, enjoying sold out tours both internationally and domestically.
96. Blink-182
Blink-182brought pop punk into the mainstream with Dude Ranch and Enema of the State, and their cheeky pop sensibilities (“Josie,” “All the Small Things,” “Aliens Exist,” “First Date,” “Feeling This,” “What’s My Age Again”) are perfectly complemented by their more serious fare (“Adam’s Song,” nearly all of their self-titled album and Neighborhoods). Though many of their hits were penned by Tom DeLonge, who left the band and is now fronting Angels and Airwaves, their work with Matt Skiba is just as stellar—and earned them their first Grammy nomination for California.
97. Hole
Courtney Loveand Hole broke into the mainstream in 1994 with Live Through This, released a week after the death of Love’s husband, Kurt Cobain, and just months before their own bassist, Kristen Pfaff, died from a drug overdose. The album and its fame-themed followup, Celebrity Skin, were critical and commercial successes (the title track of the latter was even featured in Captain Marvel), but the band couldn’t keep it up and split in 2002. In 2010, Hole released its final work, Nobody’s Daughter, though Love revealed in 2019 that a potential reunion may be in the works.
98. Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots were known as chameleons in their prime (especially late vocalist Scott Weiland), with genre influences ranging from grunge to metal to country to pop to psychedelic rock and even ragtime and lounge. The band had 16 top 10 singles (eight of those went to No. 1) and won a Grammy for “Plush.”
99. Sleater-Kinney
Sleater-Kinney, comprised of Corin Tucker, Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss, got their start in the riot grrl movement, dropping seven albums between 1994 and 2005, starting out as a side project between members of other local Olympia, Washington-area bands. They were integral parts of the independent and punk rock scenes, known for their liberal and feminist leanings. The band went on hiatus in 2006 to focus on their own solo efforts but reunited in 2014. In 2019, drummer Weiss left the band, simply saying it was “time to move on,” and was replaced by Angie Boylan.
100. Minor Threat
Minor Threat was only active for four years, but their legacy and influence is still heard decades later—especially among the sober straight edge movement, which the band spearheaded with their song by the same name. Not sure where exactly to get your rock n’ roll fix? Check out these music streaming services to find out the best option for you.
