Lauryn Hill will need to make space on her mantel for a shiny new accolade.
For, the revered multihyphenate has seen her singular solo album, 1998’s ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,’ named the Best Album of All-Time by Apple Music.
The streamer’s countdown of the “best” LPs ever culminated today (May 22) with the reveal of the top 10 – and it brought with it several surprises.
Per Apple Music, the tally was crafted by its team of experts alongside a select group of artists, songwriters, producers, and industry professionals. It’s touted as an “editorial statement, independent of any streaming numbers” on their platform – or any platform.
Full story below…
Touted as “a love letter to the records that have shaped the world music lovers live and listen in,” the top 10 saw the Fugees front-woman best the likes of Michael Jackson’s game-changing ‘Thriller’ – which settled for #2.
Speaking on the honor, Hill said:
“This is my award, but it’s a rich, deep narrative, and involves so many people, and so much sacrifice, and so much time, and so much collective love.”
Check out the full list, which ranks culture-shifting efforts from MJ, Stevie Wonder, Beyonce, and more.
- 100: Body Talk – Robyn
- 99: Hotel California – The Eagles
- 98: ASTROWORLD – Travis Scott
- 97: Rage Against The Machine – Rage Against The Machine
- 96: Pure Heroine – Lorde
- 95: Confessions – USHER
- 94: Untrue – Burial
- 93: A Seat at the Table – Solange
- 92: Flower Boy – Tyler, The Creator
- 91: Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 – George Michael
- 90: Back in Black – AC/DC
- 89: The Fame Monster (Deluxe Edition) – Lady Gaga
- 88: I Put a Spell on You – Nina Simone
- 87: Blue Lines – Massive Attack
- 86: My Life – Mary J Blige
- 85: Golden Hour – Kacey Musgraves
- 84: Doggystyle – Snoop Dogg
- 83: Horses – Patti Smith
- 82: Get Rich or Die Tryin’ – 50 Cent
- 81: After the Gold Rush – Neil Young
- 80: The Marshall Mathers LP – Eminem
- 79: Norman F****** Rockwell! – Lana Del Rey
- 78: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – Elton John
- 77: Like A Prayer – Madonna
- 76: Un Verano Sin Ti – Bad Bunny
- 75: Supa Dupa Fly – Missy Eliott
- 74: Downward Spiral – Nine Inch Nails
- 73: Aja – Steely Dan
- 72: SOS – SZA
- 71: Trans-Europe Express – Kraftwerk
- 70: Straight Outta Compton – N.W.A
- 69: Master of Puppets (Remastered) – Metallica
- 68: Is this It – The Strokes
- 67: Dummy – Portishead
- 66: The Queen Is Dead – The Smiths
- 65: 3 Feet High and Rising – De La Soul
- 64: Baduizm – Erykah Badu
- 63: Are You Experienced? – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
- 62: All Eyez on Me – 2Pac
- 61: Love Deluxe – Sade
- 60: The Velvet Underground and Nico (45th Anniversary Edition) – Velvet Underground & Nico
- 59: AM – Arctic Monkeys
- 58: (What’s The Story) Morning Glory – Oasis
- 57: Voodoo – D’Angelo
- 56: Disintegration (Remastered) – The Cure
- 55: ANTI – Rihanna
- 54: A Love Supreme – John Coltrane
- 53: Exile on Main Street (2010 Remaster) – Rolling Stones
- 52: Appetite for Destruction – Guns ‘N Roses
- 51: Sign O’The Times – Prince
- 50. Hounds of Love (2018 Remaster) – Kate Bush
- 49. The Joshua Tree – U2
- 48. Paul’s Boutique – Beastie Boys
- 47. Take Care (Deluxe Version) – Drake
- 46. Exodus ((2013 Remaster) – Bob Marley & The Wailers
- 45. Homogenic – Björk
- 44. Innervisions – Stevie Wonder
- 43. Remain in Light – Talking Heads
- 42. Control – Janet Jackson
- 41. Aquemini – Outkast
- 40. I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You – Aretha Franklin
- 39. Illmatic – Nas
- 38. Tapestry – Carole King
- 37. Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) [Expanded Edition] – Wu-Tang Clan
- 36. BEYONCÉ – Beyoncé
- 35. London Calling – The Clash
- 34. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back – Public Enemy
- 33. Kid A – Radiohead
- 32. Ready to Die (The Remaster) – Notorious B.I.G.
- 31. Jagged Little Pill (Remastered) – Alanis Morisette
- 30. WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? – Billie Eilish
- 29. The Low End Theory – A Tribe Called Quest
- 28. The Dark Side of the Moon – Pink Floyd
- 27. Led Zeppelin II – Led Zeppelin
- 26. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Kanye West
- 25. Kind of Blue – Miles Davis
- 24. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (2012 Remaster) – David Bowie
- 23. Discovery – Daft Punk
- 22. Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen
- 21. Revolver – The Beatles
- 20: Pet Sounds – The Beach Boys
- 19: The Chronic – Dr. Dre
- 18: 1989 (Taylor’s Version) – Taylor Swift
- 17: What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye
- 16: Blue – Joni Mitchell
- 15: 21 – Adele
- 14: Highway 61 Revisited – Bob Dylan
- 13: The Blueprint – JAY-Z
- 12: OK Computer – Radiohead
- 11: Rumours – Fleetwood Mac
- 10. Lemonade – Beyoncé
- 9. Nevermind – Nirvana
- 8. Back to Black, Amy Winehouse
- 7. good kid, m.A.A.d city, Kendrick Lamar
- 6. Songs in the Key of Life, Stevie Wonder
- 5. Blonde, Frank Ocean
- 4. Purple Rain, Prince & The Revolution
- 3. Abbey Road , The Beatles
- 2. Thriller, Michael Jackson
- 1. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Lauryn Hill
Do you agree with the list?
This has to be the worst Music ranking List I’ve ever seen in my life. Between Billboard and Rolling stone there’s been a lot of horrible List but this one takes the cake SMD
Agreed, this list is terrible . Like why is ASTROWORLD on here?
You can tell that there were a lot of white hipsters who fancy themselves music historians putting this list together.
just one album…. she should’ve been on the walk of shame.
Sam you mad Beyonce isn’t number 1. Congratulations Ms Hill , truly deserve it
Anyway they lost me when Taylor 1989 was above anti 💁🏽♂️
We know tyla is selling like hotcakes but all this ass kissing needs to stawp 🤣🤣 again congrats Ms Hill I’m sure Michael wouldn’t even mind because his legacy is etched forever in history
Astroworld and sos have no business on this list and thriller album is OVERRATED
Confessions should be higher and so too should Lemonade 🍋
Every song on Thriller was a HIT! Miseducation has several skips🤷🏾♂️
Thriller was lyrically CORNY and one dimensional & had PLENTY of skips… A lot of the songs said the EXACT same things.
Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin
Baby Be Mine #SKIP
The Girl Is Mine #SKIP
Thriller
Beat It
Billie Jean
Human Nature #SKIP
P.Y.T.
The Lady In My Life
Coming from a f****** Beyonce stan lmao. LYRICS, PRODUCTION, VOCALS AND INNOVATION = THRILLER
You = SEVERLY OBESE & DELUSIONAL
Thriller was/is BORING.
The most OVERRATED album ever.
I still remember when I first heard it, being so UNDERWHELMED by my experience.
Confessions > Thriller
I’d put JUSTIFIED by JT as Thriller’s equal musically. It really is NOT that great 😆
HIStory and Invincible however are WAYYY BETTER and more deserving of TOP 2.
Thriller is only here because of SUCCESS AND IMPACT. It is not mjs best album.
This list is fraudulent obviously in part because it only allows 1 entry per artist for the sake of making room for the inclusion of other artists. An artist CAN have more than ONE great top 100 album. Smh
Taylor swift is selling another 350k this week in its 5th week to stay at number 1.
Taylor is the greatest artist in recent times and the biggest, top of the game. Never had a flop era.
Of course they had to shove down our throats a Taylor Swift album….
I retract, I see that sum artist do have more than 1 album. The list is still fraudulent tho if Blonde by frank ocean if top 5 😆 🤣 😂 🗑
Mad because Fleayonce ain’t doing it???
Beyoncé is on the list twice at #36 and #10 🐝
Frank Ocean better than Rumours. I haven’t laughed this hard since….fill in the blank.