Table of Contents
Rock music has existed since the 1970s and originated from rock’n’roll, beat music, and blues. Those who read our article “The 200 best rock songs of all time” will have noticed that it included a lot of seventies songs. The reason is simple: rock was prevalent in the 70s, and hardly any other music genre had relative success in this decade.
Music groups that had their breakthrough in the 70s, such as The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Pink Floyd, The Who, Lynyrd Skynyrd, or Led Zeppelin, delivered one hit after the other, which can still be heard today on the radio or at parties.
One of the most famous rock songs is definitely “Stairway to Heaven” by the English band Led Zeppelin, which should not be played at any 70s party may be missing. But actually, no song from our playlist should be highlighted in particular! The following 150 songs are all hits that everyone should have heard and make rock fans’ hearts beat faster.
(At the end of the article, we have created a Spotify playlist for you with all the songs listed here.)
The 150 best rock songs of the 1970s:
Each song is linked to the corresponding music video via the title.
| Place: | Listen: | Artist: | Year: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Stairway to Heaven | Led Zeppelin | 1971 | |
| 2. | Free Bird | Lynyrd Skynyrd | 1973 | |
| 3. | Baba O’Riley | The Who | 1971 | |
| 4. | Born to Run | Bruce Springsteen | 1975 | |
| 5. | Highway Star | Deep Purple | 1972 | |
| 6. | Comfortably Numb | Pink Floyd | 1979 | |
| 7. | Highway to Hell | AC/DC | 1979 | |
| 8. | Bohemian Rhapsody | Queen | 1975 | |
| 9. | We Will Rock You | Queen | 1977 | |
| 10. | Bat Out of Hell | Meat Loaf | 1977 | |
| 11. | Hotel California | The Eagles | 1976 | |
| 12. | American Girl | Tom Petty | 1976 | |
| 13. | Whole Lotta Rosie | AC/DC | 1977 | |
| 14. | Carry On Wayward Son | Kansas | 1976 | |
| 15. | All Right Now | Free | 1970 | |
| 16. | Kashmir | Led Zeppelin | 1975 | |
| 17. | Rock And Roll | Led Zeppelin | 1971 | |
| 18. | Wish You Were Here | Pink Floyd | 1975 | |
| 19. | Whiskey In The Jar | Thin Lizzy | 1973 | |
| 20. | Detroit Rock City | Kiss | 1976 | |
| 21. | Baby Hold On | Eddie Money | 1977 | |
| 22. | Still In Love With You | Thin Lizzy | 1974 | |
| 23. | Another Brick In The Wall Part 2 | Pink Floyd | 1979 | |
| 24. | Stargazer | Rainbow | 1976 | |
| 25. | Achilles Last Stand | Led Zeppelin | — | 1976 |
| 26. | Sweet Home Alabama | Lynyrd Skynyrd | 1974 | |
| 27. | Brown Sugar | Rolling Stones | 1971 | |
| 28. | Won’t Get Fooled Again | The Who | 1971 | |
| 29. | Barracuda | Heart | 1977 | |
| 30. | Lola | The Kinks | 1970 | |
| 31. | Purple Haze | Jimi Hendrix | 1970 | |
| 32. | The Boys Are Back In Town | Thin Lizzy | 1976 | |
| 33. | Backstreets | Bruce Springsteen | 1975 | |
| 34. | Tiny Dancer | Elton John | 1971 | |
| 35. | Since I’ve Been Loving You | Led Zeppelin | 1970 | |
| 36. | Wishing Well | Free | 1972 | |
| 37. | Band on the Run | Paul McCartney and Wings | 1974 | |
| 38. | Rock Bottom | UFO | 1974 | |
| 39. | Money | Pink Floyd | 1973 | |
| 40. | Speed King | Deep Purple | 1970 | |
| 41. | Locomotive Breath | Jethro Tull | 1978 | |
| 42. | War Pigs | Black Sabbath | 1970 | |
| 43. | Let It Be | The Beatles | 1970 | |
| 44. | Don’t Fear the Reaper | Blue Oyster Cult | 1976 | |
| 45. | I’ve Seen All Good People | Yes | 1971 | |
| 46. | Black Magic Woman | Santana | 1970 | |
| 47. | Beast of Burden | Rolling Stones | 1978 | |
| 48. | Burn | Deep Purple | 1974 | |
| 49. | July Morning | Uriah Heep | 1971 | |
| 50. | La Grange | ZZ Top | 1973 | |
| 51. | In My Time of Dying | Led Zeppelin | 1975 | |
| 52. | Lean on Me | Bill Withers | 1972 | |
| 53. | Dream On | Aerosmith | 1973 | |
| 54. | Roxanne | Police | 1978 | |
| 55. | Bennie and the Jets | Elton John | 1974 | |
| 56. | Shine On You Crazy Diamond | Pink Floyd | 1975 | |
| 57. | The Chain | Fleetwood Mac | 1977 | |
| 58. | Supper’s Ready | Genesis | 1972 | |
| 59. | You Really Got Me | Van Halen | 1978 | |
| 60. | Layla | Derek & The Dominos | 1970 | |
| 61. | When The Levee Breaks | Led Zeppelin | 1971 | |
| 62. | Sultans of Swing | Dire Straits | 1978 | |
| 63. | Time | Pink Floyd | 1973 | |
| 64. | Xanadu | Rush | 1977 | |
| 65. | Black Water | Doobie Brothers | 1974 | |
| 66. | Iron Man | Black Sabbath | 1970 | |
| 67. | Black Betty | Ram Jam | 1977 | |
| 68. | Bargain | The Who | 1971 | |
| 69. | Black Diamond | Kiss | 1974 | |
| 70. | Thunder Road | Bruce Springsteen | 1975 | |
| 71. | Stay With Me | Faces | 1971 | |
| 72. | Sweet Emotion | Aerosmith | 1975 | |
| 73. | Black Dog | Led Zeppelin | 1971 | |
| 74. | Blinded by the Light | Manfred Mann | 1977 | |
| 75. | Take It Easy | Eagles | 1972 | |
| 76. | Bloody Well Right | Supertramp | 1974 | |
| 77. | Call Me The Breeze | Lynyrd Skynyrd | 1974 | |
| 78. | Rocket Man | Elton John | 1972 | |
| 79. | Can’t Get Enough | Bad Company | 1974 | |
| 80. | Immigrant Song | Led Zeppelin | 1970 | |
| 81. | Bennie & The Jets | Elton John | 1973 | |
| 82. | Who’ll Stop The Rain | CCR | 1970 | |
| 83. | Jessica | Allman Brothers | 1973 | |
| 84. | Brass in Pocket | Pretenders | 1979 | |
| 85. | Already Gone | Eagles | 1974 | |
| 86. | Dirty Deeds | AC/DC | 1976 | |
| 87. | Turn the Page | Bob Seger | 1973 | |
| 88. | Runnin’ With The Devil | Van Halen | 1978 | |
| 89. | Breakdown | Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers | 1976 | |
| 90. | Caravan | Van Morrison | 1970 | |
| 91. | Brain Damage | Pink Floyd | 1973 | |
| 92. | Crazy On You | Heart | 1976 | |
| 93. | Tush | ZZ Top | 1975 | |
| 94 | Maybe I’m Amazed | Paul McCartney | 1970 | |
| 95.. | Lucky Man | ELP | 1970 | |
| 96. | Breakfast In America | Supertramp | 1979 | |
| 97. | Walkin’ On The Moon | Police | 1979 | |
| 98. | Bridge of Sighs | Robin Trower | 1974 | |
| 99. | Cat Scratch Fever | Ted Nugent | 1977 | |
| 100. | Walk This Way | Aerosmith | 1975 | |
| 101. | Oye Como Va | Santana | 1970 | |
| 102. | Do It Again | Steely Dan | 1972 | |
| 103. | Changes | David Bowie | 1972 | |
| 104. | I’d Love to Change the World | Ten Years After | 1971 | |
| 105. | Cheap Sunglasses | ZZ Top | 1979 | |
| 106. | Stranglehold | Ted Nugent | 1975 | |
| 107. | Dancing Days | Led Zeppelin | — | 1973 |
| 108. | Fire on High | ELO | 1975 | |
| 109. | Feel Like Making Love | Bad Company | 1975 | |
| 110. | China Grove | Doobie Brothers | 1973 | |
| 111. | Do You Feel Like We Do | Peter Frampton | 1973 | |
| 112. | Smoke on the Water | Deep Purple | 1972 | |
| 113. | Aqualung | Jethro Tull | 1971 | |
| 114. | Dreams | Fleetwood Mac | 1977 | |
| 115. | Cocaine | Eric Clapton | 1977 | |
| 116. | Radar Love | Golden Earring | 1973 | |
| 117. | Come Sail Away | Styx | 1977 | |
| 118. | More Than a Feeling | Boston | 1976 | |
| 119. | Cold As Ice | Foreigner | 1977 | |
| 120. | Magic Man | Heart | 1976 | |
| 121. | Rock and Roll Fantasy | Bad Company | 1979 | |
| 122. | Go Your Own Way | Fleetwood Mac | 1977 | |
| 123. | Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door | Bob Dylan | 1973 | |
| 124. | Killer Queen | Queen | 1974 | |
| 125. | Dance The Night Away | Van Halen | 1979 | |
| 126. | Hitch A Ride | Boston | 1976 | |
| 127. | American Woman | Guess Who | 1970 | |
| 128. | Cortez the Killer | Neil Young | 1975 | |
| 129. | Angie | Rolling Stones | 1973 | |
| 130. | Give A Little Bit | Supertramp | 1977 | |
| 131. | Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone | The Temptations | 1972 | |
| 132. | Reeling In The Years | Steely Dan | 1972 | |
| 133. | Behind Blue Eyes | The Who | 1971 | |
| 134. | Deacon Blues | Steely Dan | 1977 | |
| 135. | Have A Cigar | Pink Floyd | 1975 | |
| 136. | You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away | The Beatles | 1965 | |
| 137. | Never Been Any Reason | Head East | 1974 | |
| 138. | Karn Evil 9 | ELP | — | 1973 |
| 139. | Just What I Needed | Cars | 1978 | |
| 140. | Doctor My Eyes | Jackson Browne | 1972 | |
| 141. | Witchy Woman | Eagles | 1972 | |
| 142. | Burnin’ Sky | Bad Company | 1977 | |
| 143. | Can’t You See | Marshall Tucker Band | 1973 | |
| 144. | Don’t Bring Me Down | Electric Light Orchestra | 1979 | |
| 145. | Your Song | Elton John | 1970 | |
| 146. | Don’t Do Me Like That | Tom Petty | 1979 |
