From their ‘Greatest Singers Ever’ to the ‘Top 200 Songs of the 80s,’ ‘100 Best R&B Songs of the 21st Century,’ and more, Rolling Stone has gotten tongues wagging and side-eyes galore over the years from music lovers and critics for their polarizing rankings on “best-ever” tallies.
After garnering the aforementioned responses when their ‘500 Greatest Albums of All Time’ list was first printed in 2003, the magazine quietly revised the list in December 2023 – an update that not altered the order of the included projects but removed some all together.
Among the surprising placements is Amy Winehouse‘s ‘Back to Black’ and Beyonce’s 2022 smash ‘Renaissance.’
The youngest entrant in the top 100, Bey’s critically acclaimed ‘Renaissance’ project – which infamously lost out at the GRAMMYs for Album of the Year – was listed at #71 on the mag’s updated take on the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The placement marks the highest any album released this decade received.
Among all 500 projects, Bey’s 2016 masterpiece, ‘Lemonade,’- which also lost out on the GRAMMYs AOTY honors the year it was nominated – was crowned the overall greatest female album of the century, besting major titles like Adele‘s ’21,’ Norah Jones’ ‘Come Away with Me,’ Mary J. Blige’s ‘TheBreakthrough,’ Mariah Carey’s ‘Emancipation fo Mimi,’ Alicia Keys’ ‘Songs in A Minor,’ Christina Aguilera‘s ‘Stripped,’ and more.
The news comes shortly after the mag also named Bey’s ‘Dangerously in Love (Part 2)’ the best R&B song of the century.
On the ‘500 Greatest Albums’ tally, Amy Winehouse‘s ‘Back to Black‘ was voted the second greatest female opus to be released since 2000.
See how the three stacked against the all-time greats on the list.
Rolling Stone’s Greatest Albums of All Time (Female)
*updated on December 31, 2023*
- Joni Mitchell’s ‘Blue’ (1971)
- Lauryn Hill’s ‘Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ (1998)
- Aretha Franklin’s ‘I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You’ (1967)
- Carole King’s ‘Tapestry’ (1971)
- Patti Smith’s ‘Horses’ (1975)
- Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’ (2016)
- Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back to Black’ (2006)
- Liz Phair’s ‘Exile in Guyville’ (1993)
- Kate Bush’s ‘Hounds of Love’ (1985)
- Alanis Morissette’s ‘Jagged Little Pill’ (1995)
- Beyonce’s ‘Renaissance’ (2022)
Click here to see the full list.