Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" voted best chart-topping song of past 50 years Sat Nov 9, 9:08 AM ET LONDON - "Bohemian Rhapsody," Queen's rousing rock classic, has been voted the greatest hit of the last 50 years, according to a poll released Saturday. The band's 1975 operatic rock song came in ahead of John Lennon's "Imagine," and "Hey Jude" by The Beatles, which took second and third place respectively. Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge over Troubled Water," and George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" took the next two slots, according to the poll conducted by The Official U.K. Charts Company, which received 190,000 internet votes to compile the list. The top two spots replicate the results of a poll published by Guinness World Records earlier this year. "Bohemian Rhapsody," a six-minute epic that first topped the music charts in 1975, made it to No. 1 again in 1991 when it was rereleased to raise funds for charity following the death of the band's lead singer, Freddie Mercury — the first single to top the charts twice in the same version. It is also the only song to have hit the No. 1 spot twice at Christmas. In all, the song has spent a total of 14 weeks at the top of the charts. Because of its complex harmonies it was difficult to reproduce and the band were unable to perform it live. The Beatles as a group claim 14 of the top 100 slots, way ahead of any other act. Contemporary stars barely get a look in, with only four tracks from the past decade making it into the top 100. Just Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out Of My Head," Elvis's revamped "A Little Less Conversation," Oasis's "Don't Look Back In Anger" and U2's "Beautiful Day" represent the past 10 years. There have been 941 number one songs since the charts began 50 years ago. "This list of the nation's favorite songs once again shows the enduring appeal of pop classics such as 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and John Lennon's masterpiece 'Imagine,'" said company spokesman Darren Haynes. The Top 100: 1. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody 2. John Lennon - Imagine 3. Beatles - Hey Jude 4. Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water 5. George Harrison - My Sweet Lord 6. Procol Harum - A Whiter Shade Of Pale 7. Animals - The House Of The Rising Sun 8. Abba - Dancing Queen 9. Beach Boys - Good Vibrations 10. Queen & David Bowie - Under Pressure 11. Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights 12. Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall 13. Police - Every Breath You Take 14. Righteous Brothers - You've Lost That Loving Feeling 15. Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas 16. Rolling Stones - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 17. Beatles - She Loves You 18. Soft Cell - Tainted Love 19. Beatles - All You Need Is Love 20. Elvis Presley - Jailhouse Rock 21. 10 CC - I'm Not In Love 22 Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) 22 Rod Stewart - Maggie May 24. Roy Orbison - Oh Pretty Woman 25. David Bowie - Space Oddity 26. Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U 27. Beatles - I Want To Hold Your Hand 28. Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen 29. Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine 30. Monkees - I'm A Believer 31. Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Mondays 32. Beatles - A Hard Day's Night 33. Beatles - Help! 34. Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax 35. Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out Of My Head 36. Queen - Innuendo 37. Byrds - Mr Tambourine Man 38. Abba - Waterloo 39. Elvis vs JXL - A Little Less Conversation 40. Kinks - You Really Got Me 41. Oasis - Don't Look Back In Anger 42. Elvis Presley - All Shook Up 43. Fleetwood Mac - Albatross 44. Elvis Presley - Are You Lonesome Tonight 45. Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You 46. Rolling Stones - Paint It Black 47. Nilsson - Without You 48. Elvis Presley - The Wonder Of You 49. Louis Armstrong - What A Wonderful World/Cabaret 50. Ian Dury & The Blockheads - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick 51. Abba - The Winner Takes It All 52. Blondie - Heart Of Glass 53. Beatles - Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out 54. Elvis Presley - Can't Help Falling In Love/Rock-A-Hula Baby 55. George Michael - Careless Whisper 56 Beatles - Ticket To Ride 56 John Lennon - Woman 58. Beatles - Can't Buy Me Love 59. Elvis Presley - It's Now Or Never 60. Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Chile 61. Dusty Springfield - You Don't Have To Say You Love Me 62. Beatles - Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby 63. Human League - Don't You Want Me 64. Roy Orbison - Only The Lonely 65. Bill Haley & His Comets - Rock Around The Clock 66. Beatles - Paperback Writer 67. Jam - Going Underground 68. T Rex - Get It On 69. Slade - Merry Xmas Everybody 70. Sonny & Cher - I Got You Babe 71. Kinks - Sunny Afternoon 72. Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse Of The Heart 73 Joe Cocker - With A Little Help From My Friends 73 Abba - Mamma Mia 75 Gerry & The Pacemakers - You'll Never Walk Alone 75 David Bowie - Ashes To Ashes 75 Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody 78. Beatles - Get Back 79. Abba - Knowing Me Knowing You 80. Madonna - Like A Prayer 81. Elvis Presley - Return To Sender 82. Bangles - Eternal Flame 83 Freddie Mercury - Living On My Own 83 U2 - Beautiful Day 85. Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star 86. Rolling Stones - Jumping Jack Flash 87. Meat Loaf - I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That) 88. Michael Jackson - Billie Jean 89. Scott McKenzie - San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair) 90. Beatles - From Me To You 91. Alice Cooper - School's Out 92. A-ha - The Sun Always Shines On TV 93. Bee Gees - Night Fever 94. Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive 95. Rolling Stones - Honky Tonk Women 95 (joint) Hollies - He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother 97. Beatles - Hello Goodbye 98. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Tears Of A Clown 99. Police - Message In A Bottle 99 (joint) Billy Joel - Uptown Girl
i do not agree with the top 10 but i do agree wit the number 1.Bohemian rhapsody is the best song made ever
I'm confused...how could Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" not even be in the top 100? Doesn't everyone love that song?
Clearly a very British-centric list. A big chunk of these songs (A-ha? Ian Dury and the Blockheads??) never saw the light of day in America. I'd be curious to see a US version of the top 100.
Wow.. really? I think it's pretty amazing that the most played rock song of all time (on the radio) never hit #1.
About the only thing that saved that list from mediocrity is the fact that Dexie's Midnight Runners made it.
You know old Dexie admitted that he stole the Eileen song from one of his old bandmates. That is cold man. Considering that that was their one hit wonder, I hardly think they deserve much credit in the music world. Could you imagine hearing a song you wrote stolen by somebody else played over and over again on the radio. Shotgun baby, shotgun...
I think the list only includes singles and since Zeppelin never release 'Stairway to heaven' as a single, it wasn't included.
Wham the group did Careless Whisper, not George Michael solo. Also, this list is crap. Yes, I am a dork
Actually, Wham was breaking up at the time when the song was made, and this was really a solo act by George Michael. While officially, the song was made by Wham, only George Michael was involved in this song. I'm a bigger dork
God bless the Limeys. Bo Rhap? Greatest ever. This is from a jazz guy. And Ian Dury? Coolest cat there ever was. Great Ian quote: "I mean; there's people that's read books, and there's people that ain't read books." Or, "I don't want to hear people moaning (b****ing), and I don't particularly want to hear music that moans."
