Rolling Stone Updates 500 Greatest Albums of All Time List
US magazine Rolling Stone has released a new version of its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. The list was originally released in 2003 and slightly updated in 2012.
The new list was voted on by over 300 music professionals, including journalists, music company executives, and artists like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift. Voters had to name their top 50 albums, which were then given points based on their position in each person's list. Over 3,000 albums received votes.
US soul singer Marvin Gaye's What's Going On was voted number one on the new list, after coming sixth in 2003 and 2012.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles was the top album in 2003 and 2012, but is in 24th position this time. The band from Liverpool had four albums in the top 10 on the first two lists, but only one in 2020 — Abbey Road, in fifth position.
US singer Lauryn Hill's first album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, made a huge jump from the 2012 list, rising from 314th position to number 10.
Canadian Joni Mitchell's Blue was again the highest-placed album by a female artist. The album moved from 30th position in 2012 to number three in 2020.
The new top 50 includes seven female artists, compared to just three in 2012.
There are also 153 albums on the new list that didn't appear in the previous lists at all, including 86 from the 21st century. US rapper Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly is the highest new album, in 19th place.
The top ten albums on the new list are:
- What's Going On — Marvin Gaye
- Pet Sounds — The Beach Boys
- Blue — Joni Mitchell
- Songs in the Key of Life — Stevie Wonder
- Abbey Road — The Beatles
- Nevermind — Nirvana
- Rumours — Fleetwood Mac
- Purple Rain — Prince and the Revolution
- Blood on the Tracks — Bob Dylan
- The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill — Lauryn Hill
