For Rolling Stone, good politics make good music

In 2020, Rolling Stone magazine revamped its famed list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time,” replacing many of the iconic soundscapes from the last half-century of music with newer and more diverse offerings from the past two decades. Last week, Rolling Stone gave its equally contested list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” the same treatment.

The music and culture magazine first published such a list in 2004, heavily lining its ranks with indelible classics — Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, and John Lennon rounded off the top three.