Criteria: Songs listed are from Rock 'n' Roll and related sub-genres from the 1970s. Rankings are based on initial and lasting popularity and on acclaim received from critics and musicians.
Edited By: Brian
Last Updated: 2010-07-30
Newly added names are in Red
Greatest Rock Songs of the 1970s
1. Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin 2. Hotel California - The Eagles 3. Imagine - John Lennon 4. What's Going On - Marvin Gaye 5. Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen 6. Superstition - Stevie Wonder 7. Layla - Derek and the Dominos 8. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen 9. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel 10. Let's Stay Together - Al Green 11. Let It Be - The Beatles 12. Maggie May - Rod Stewart 13. American Pie - Don McLean 14. Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who 15. Stayin' Alive - The Bee Gees 16. Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd 17. Brown Sugar - The Rolling Stones 18. Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye 19. Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac 20. Papa Was a Rollin' Stone - The Temptations 21. Your Song - Elton John 22. Midnight Train to Georgia - Gladys Knight and the Pips 23. More Than a Feeling - Boston 24. Just My Imagination - The Temptations 25. I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor 26. Roxanne - The Police 27. Dream On - Aerosmith 28. Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2 - Pink Floyd 29. No Woman, No Cry - Bob Marley and the Wailers 30. London Calling - The Clash 31. Family Affair - Sly and the Family Stone 32. Anarchy in the UK - The Sex Pistols 33. Dancing Queen - ABBA 34. We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions - Queen 35. Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine - James Brown 36. Living for the City - Stevie Wonder 37. Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd 38. Lola - The Kinks 39. Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple 40. Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits 41. Walk This Way - Aerosmith 42. Lean on Me - Bill Withers 43. Who'll Stop the Rain - Creedence Clearwater Revival 44. Kashmir - Led Zeppelin 45. Rapper's Delight - The Sugarhill Gang 46. Heart of Glass - Blondie 47. Theme from "Shaft" - Isaac Hayes 48. Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin 49. Fire and Rain - James Taylor 50. Baba O'Riley - The Who 51. Paranoid - Black Sabbath 52. Heart of Gold - Neil Young 53. Walk on the Wild Side - Lou Reed 54. It's Too Late - Carole King 55. You Are the Sunshine of My Life - Stevie Wonder 56. All Right Now - Free 57. Good Times - Chic 58. (Don't Fear) The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult 59. If You Don't Know Me by Now - Harold Melvin & Blue Notes 60. Riders On the Storm - The Doors 61. My Sweet Lord - George Harrison 62. Bang a Gong (Get It On) - T. Rex 63. Black Magic Woman - Santana 64. Tangled Up in Blue - Bob Dylan 65. One Nation Under a Groove - Funkadelic 66. Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd 67. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough - Michael Jackson 68. We Are Family - Sister Sledge 69. Rock and Roll - Led Zeppelin 70. I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones 71. Money - Pink Floyd 72. Miss You - The Rolling Stones 73. Piano Man - Billy Joel 74. Tired of Being Alone - Al Green 75. Killing Me Softly with His Song - Roberta Flack 76. Changes - David Bowie 77. Le Freak - Chic 78. Band of Gold - Freda Payne 79. Maybe I'm Amazed (studio version) - Paul McCartney 80. Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen 81. Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd 82. Heroes - David Bowie 83. Hot Stuff - Donna Summer 84. War - Edwin Starr 85. Night Moves - Bob Seger 86. Black Dog - Led Zeppelin 87. Brass in Pocket - The Pretenders 88. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John 89. You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet - Bachman-Turner Overdrive 90. I'll Take You There - The Staple Singers 91. Tumbling Dice - The Rolling Stones 92. Love Train - The O'Jays 93. You're So Vain - Carly Simon 94. Best of My Love - The Emotions 95. God Save the Queen - The Sex Pistols 96. Old Time Rock 'n' Roll - Bob Seger & Silver Bullet Band 97. Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones 98. Message in a Bottle - The Police 99. Mercy Mercy Me - Marvin Gaye 100. One of These Nights - The Eagles
101. Oh Girl - The Chi-Lites 102. Train in Vain - The Clash 103. Take It Easy - The Eagles 104. I'll Be Around - The Spinners 105. American Woman - The Guess Who 106. Roundabout - Yes 107. That Lady - The Isley Brothers 108. Angie - The Rolling Stones 109. Rock Lobster - The B-52's 110. Have You Seen Her - The Chi-Lites 111. Reeling in the Years - Steely Dan 112. Bennie and the Jets - Elton John 113. Aqualung - Jethro Tull 114. Low Rider - War 115. I'm Not in Love - 10cc 116. Brick House - Commodores 117. Y.M.C.A. - Village People 118. The Boys Are Back in Town - Thin Lizzy 119. Play That Funky Music - Wild Cherry 120. Rocket Man - Elton John 121. The Joker - The Steve Miller Band 122. Dreams - Fleetwood Mac 123. Have You Ever Seen the Rain - CCR 124. Paradise by the Dashboard Light - Meat Loaf 125. School's Out - Alice Cooper 126. Joy to the World - Three Dog Night 127. Highway to Hell - AC/DC 128. Tear the Roof off the Sucker - Parliament 129. Radar Love - Golden Earring 130. The Long and Winding Road - The Beatles 131. I Feel Love - Donna Summer 132. I'll Be There - The Jackson 5 133. Oye Como Va - Santana 134. Jamming - Bob Marley and the Wailers 135. All the Young Dudes - Mott the Hoople 136. Ohio - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 137. Moondance - Van Morrison 138. Drift Away - Dobie Gray 139. Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder 140. Knockin' on Heaven's Door - Bob Dylan 141. Rock Your Baby - George McCrae 142. Instant Karma - John Lennon 143. Child in Time - Deep Purple 144. Get Up, Stand Up - The Wailers 145. Lady Marmalade - LaBelle 146. Flash Light - Parliament 147. Rhiannon - Fleetwood Mac 148. Long Cool Woman - The Hollies 149. Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers 150. Respect Yourself - The Staple Singers 151. Sweet Emotion - Aerosmith 152. Cars - Gary Numan 153. Takin' Care of Business - Bachman-Turner Overdrive 154. Just What I Needed - The Cars 155. Funkytown - Lipps, Inc. 156. My Sharona - The Knack 157. Rock with You - Michael Jackson 158. The Harder They Come - Jimmy Cliff 159. Back Stabbers - The O-Jays 160. I Can See Clearly Now - Johnny Nash 161. Without You - Nilsson 162. Tiny Dancer - Elton John 163. Because the Night - Patti Smith 164. Ramblin' Man - The Allman Brothers 165. Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton 166. Just the Way You Are - Billy Joel 167. Rock and Roll All Nite - KISS 168. That's the Way (I Like It) - KC & the Sunshine Band 169. Autobahn - Kraftwerk 170. Help Me - Joni Mitchell 171. Fame - David Bowie 172. Love to Love You Baby - Donna Summer 173. Kiss and Say Goodbye - The Manhattans 174. Time - Pink Floyd 175. Burning Love - Elvis Presley 176. I'm Still in Love with You - Al Green 177. Lust for Life - Iggy Pop 178. Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon 179. Disco Inferno - The Trammps 180. Cruisin' - Smokey Robinson 181. Refugee - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 182. Tonight's the Night - Rod Stewart 183. Smiling Faces Sometimes - The Undisputed Truth 184. Behind Blue Eyes - The Who 185. Always and Forever - Heatwave 186. We're an American Band - Grand Funk 187. Band on the Run - Paul McCartney and Wings 188. Listen to the Music - The Doobie Brothers 189. September - Earth, Wind and Fire 190. Runnin' with the Devil - Van Halen 191. Who Are You - The Who 192. Waterloo - ABBA 193. Got to Give It Up - Marvin Gaye 194. Fly Like an Eagle - The Steve Miller Band 195. I Wish - Stevie Wonder 196. Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe - Barry White 197. Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas 198. Surrender - Cheap Trick 199. Ball of Confusion - The Temptations 200. Cocaine - Eric Clapton
201. Alone Again (Naturally) - Gilbert O'Sullivan 202. Crocodile Rock - Elton John 203. Love Is the Drug - Roxy Music 204. LA Woman - The Doors 205. Stuck in the Middle with You - Stealers Wheel 206. Mr. Big Stuff - Jean Knight 207. The Logical Song - Supertramp 208. Tell Me Something Good - Rufus 209. Oliver's Army - Elvis Costello 210. 25 or 6 to 4 - Chicago 211. What I Like About You - The Romantics 212. Shame - Evelyn "Champagne" King 213. Inner City Blues - Marvin Gaye 214. Life in the Fast Lane - The Eagles 215. A Horse with No Name - America 216. Hey Hey My My (Into the Black) - Neil Young 217. Natural High - Bloodstone 218. One Way or Another - Blondie 219. O-o-h Child - The Five Stairsteps 220. I Saw the Light - Todd Rundgren 221. Night Fever - The Bee Gees 222. Truckin' - The Grateful Dead 223. Rock and Roll, Part 2 - Gary Glitter 224. Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty 225. Psycho Killer - Talking Heads 226. What a Fool Believes - The Doobie Brothers 227. Margaritaville - Jimmy Buffet 228. Dust in the Wind - Kansas 229. When Will I See You Again - The Three Degrees 230. Black Water - The Doobie Brothers 231. Me and Mrs. Jones - Billy Paul 232. Running on Empty - Jackson Browne 233. Turn the Page - Bob Seger 234. Roadhouse Blues - The Doors 235. The Payback - James Brown 236. Rebel Rebel - David Bowie 237. Killer Queen - Queen 238. Pick Up the Pieces - Average White Band 239. Can't Get Enough - Bad Company 240. Fantasy - Earth, Wind and Fire 241. Long Time - Boston 242. Until You Come Back to Me - Aretha Franklin 243.Long Train Running - The Doobie Brothers 244. Over the Hills and Far Away - Led Zeppelin 245. Locomotive Breath - Jethro Tull 246. That's the Way of the World - Earth, Wind and Fire 247.December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night) - The Four Seasons 248. Question - The Moody Blues 249.Go All the Way - The Raspberries 250.You Make Me Feel Brand New - The Stylistics