Approximately 60 Rock songs have generated over a billion streams on Sportify.
10. Creedence Clearwater Revival: Fortunate Son
The song became a ’60s anti-war anthem and a symbol of the counterculture’s opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam war while expressing solidarity with the soldiers fighting it.
9. Black Sabbath: Paranoid
With Tony Iommi’s machine-gun guitar and Ozzy Osbourne’s menacingly troubled vocals the song is widely regarded as one of the greatest Heavy Metal songs of all time.
8. Oasis: Wonderwall
According to the band’s guitarist Noel Gallagher, “Wonderwall” described “an imaginary friend who’s gonna come and save you from yourself.” The song reached the Top 10 in 13 other countries, including the U.S. and Canada.
7. Metallica: Enter Sandman
“Enter Sandman” was the first song Metallica had written for their ’91 eponymous album. The single achieved platinum certification for more than 1,000,000 copies shipped.
6. Red Hot Chili Peppers: Californication
The song is notable for its sparse combination of guitar and bass notes in the main riff; Frusciante drew inspiration from “Carnage Visors” by The Cure. It was named the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ best song by both Kerrang and Rolling Stone.
5. Guns N’ Roses: Sweet Child O’ Mine
The band’s first single topped the Billboard 100 chart becoming the band’s only U.S. #1 single. Lead singer Axl Rose based the lyrics on his girlfriend Erin Everly.
4. Nirvana: Smells Like Teen Spirit
“I was trying to write the ultimate pop song.” said Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. “I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard.”
3. U2: With or Without You
As the group’s most successful single at the time, it became their first #1 hit in both the United States and Canada topping the Billboard 100 for three weeks. The track’s lyrics were inspired by Bono’s conflicting feelings about the lives he led as a musician and domestic man.
2. The White Stripes: Seven Nation Army
“Seven Nation Army” received widespread critical acclaim and won the Best Rock Song Award at the 46th Grammy Awards. It has become a sports anthem and has also served as a theme song for sports teams, personalities, and events.
1. Queen: Bohemian Rapsody
Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite that is notable for not having a refraining chorus but rather several sections. It is one of the few Prog Rock songs of the ’70s to achieve both widespread acclaim and commercial success.
