Rolling Stone has unveiled a new version of its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.
This is the first update of the list since 2003 and it has 154 new entries, with 86 albums from this century. Perhaps the biggest surprise is that the usual leader on these lists, The Beatles‘ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, is down at number-24. (Abbey Road is now the highest ranked album from The Fab Four.) Marvin Gaye‘s 1971 classic What’s Going On tops the list.
Here’s the Top 10:
- Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On
- The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
- Joni Mitchell – Blue
- Stevie Wonder – Songs in the Key of Life
- The Beatles – Abbey Road
- Nirvana – Nevermind
- Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
- Prince and the Revolution – Purple Rain
- Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks
- Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
The Beatles have five albums in the Top 50, Bob Dylan three and Radiohead, Rolling Stones, Prince, Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder have two apiece.
Over 300 musicians, music industry figures and journalists voted on the list. The musicians that cast votes include Mick Avory of The Kinks, Beyoncé, Eric Burdon of The Animals, John Cale of The Velvet Underground, Patrick Carney of The Black Keys, Adam Clayton of U2, Alice Cooper, Stewart Copeland of The Police, Elliot Easton of The Cars, The Edge of U2, Billie Eilish, El-P of Run the Jewels, Ace Frehley of KISS, Richie Furay of Buffalo Springfield, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Lzzy Hale of Halestorm, Rob Halford of Judas Priest, Ben Harper, Mickey Hart of Grateful Dead, Adam Horovitz of Beastie Boys, Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes, Marcus King, Lauren Mayberry of Chvrches, Roger McGuinn of The Byrds, Morrissey, Graham Nash, Stevie Nicks, Finneas O’Connell, Steve Perry, Questlove of The Roots, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Emily Saliers of Indigo Girls, Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, Gene Simmons of KISS, Robert Smith of The Cure, Johnny Stevens of Highly Suspect, Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, Taylor Swift, Butch Vig of Garbage, Lars Ulrich of Metallica, Rick Wakeman of Yes, Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, Lucinda Williams, Dan Wilson of Semisonic and Yola.
