Tupac had been the best rapper for about a half-decade. Dre had been the best producer for about a decade. Dre, “California Love.” This was a song that the last 10 years West Coast rap had been leading up to. The Beatles were the original boy band and this is the song where all that started.Ĭoming in at our No. This was the song that had a generation of teenagers losing their minds, screaming in the streets, ripping their clothes off. They combined the rock and roll of early rockers like Little Richard and Chuck Berry, melded it with girl group singles, and the result was “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” It became the first Beatles song to top the Billboard Hot 100. The Beatles are the group that turned rock music into the new pop music. Let’s kick off the Top 10 with The Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” Here’s the Billboard Top 10 from the 500 Best Pop Songs of All Time.
And now we’re revealing the Top 10, coming to you from the people who put the list together. In honor of the chart’s 65th anniversary, Billboard staff has been putting together a huge list of the Top 500 Best Pop songs, everything from Tony Bennett to SZA, The Kinks to The Chainsmokers, Chubby Checker to *NSYNC. It was August 4th, 1958, the Billboard Hot 100 was born.
