Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs list is one of the most popular — and most-argued over — features the magazine has ever produced. It’s a trip through eight decades of pop music, from Elvis Presley to Elvis Costello, Aretha to Ariana, hip-hop to art-pop, and beyond. Its rankings are hugely influential, and — if you disagree enough with them, at least — infamous. In the first episode of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs podcast, hosts Brittany Spanos and Rob Sheffield dive into the history, significance, and weird quirks of the list, zeroing in on its most recent version, from 2021. 
 
The hosts are joined by special guest and Rolling Stone staffer Angie Martoccio as they pivot to “Dreams,” the iconic 1977 Fleetwood Mac song that finished 9th on the most recent version of the 500 Greatest Songs list. In recent years, the Stevie Nicks masterpiece found new life — and a new audience — as a tik-tok mainstay and Gen-Z touchstone, but its history runs deep. The hosts delve into the fascinating story of the song, placing it within the context of the nonstop romantic drama that was Fleetwood Mac in the 1970s. Amazingly, Nicks wrote the song “in about 10 minutes,” as a mystical elegy to her fading relationship with Lindsey Buckingham. But its legacy is so much greater than that story would suggest — it’s a testament to making great art amid turmoil, and to the singular, shawl-clad sorcery of Stevie. “Dreams” sums up everything we love about her in four brilliant minutes.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fleetwood Mac's “Dreams”:  The Strange and Beautiful Life of a Breakup Classic

This exclusive podcast from Rolling Stone tells the stories behind the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time." Hosts Brittany Spanos and Rob Sheffield dissect Rolling Stone's iconic list and explore the magic and mythology behind the songs on this in-depth new series. From classics like Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” to The Ronettes' “Be My Baby,” and modern-era hits like The Killers' “Mr. Brightside,” and Britney Spears' “...Baby One More Time," we talk to artists and insiders about what makes these the greatest songs of all time.

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Music History

Drake has always been a magnet for attention. His strange journey has taken him from teen fame on Degrassi to blockbuster rap stardom. In 2024, his beef with Kendrick Lamar has blown up into one of the all-time biggest hip-hop beefs. They went from zero to 100 real quick, sending deadly insults and accusations back and forth. Yet he’s also still Drake, the pop icon and the certified loverboy who sings emo ballads like the 2015 classic “Hotline Bling.”
When “Hotline Bling” dropped, it felt like a victory lap—after a year of hip-hop flexes, he felt confident enough to sing his most vulnerable soul ballad, pining over an ex who’s doing fine without him. Obviously, in 2024 Drake is in a totally different place. He hasn’t been in his feelings over his exes’ vacation photos lately. Instead, he’s caught up in a rap beef of historic proportions.
On this week’s episode hosts Rob Sheffield and Brittany Spanos discuss Drake’s career, “Hotline Bling,” and the Kendrick beef. They’re joined by their brilliant colleague Jeff Ihaza to talk about “Hotline Bling” and its place in the Drake story. Jeff also helps us break down the context of Drake’s hip-hop status in 2015, and how that influenced how the world heard “Hotline Bling. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How Drake’s “Hotline Bling” Became His Peak Emo Ballad

On this week’s episode hosts Brittany Spanos and Rob Sheffield break down Jeff Buckley's "Grace" as well as his much-too-short career due to his tragic passing at age 30. The pair are joined by Rolling Stone senior writer David Browne, who penned the 2001 biography about Jeff and his father Tim Buckley titled Dream Brother: The Life and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley. Browne had been an early fan of the younger Buckley, having been one of the singer's first interviews.
In the early Aughts, Buckley’s heartbreaking cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" became a radio staple and minor hit for the singer. Upon the release of his debut album however, Grace performed poorly and received mixed reviews, with Buckley's emotional intensity being a turn-off to some critics and listeners. When Buckley died it felt like a young singer-songwriter's promising, burgeoning career was cut much too short. At the time of his death, Buckley's place in music was still unclear.
No one could have anticipated that three decades on, Buckley would more famous than ever. Thanks to the internet, millennial and now Gen Z fans have emerged as a massive audience for Buckley's music. His sweeping romanticism mixed with the lore surrounding his passing has made him a tragic hero of sorts, on par with Kurt Cobain, Elliott Smith and River Phoenix. Buckley not only showed incredible promise as a songwriter but also as an interpreter of great music, and there was so much more he was working to showcase on his sophomore album, which ended up being released posthumously. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How Jeff Buckley’s Legacy Was Immortalized with “Grace”

Anyone who’s heard The Killers' "Mr. Brightside" has an almost Pavlovian response to the song's opening lines. It's hard to go anywhere in the world without watching a room or crowd immediately sing along to the synth-rock classic. First released in 2003, the group's unique sound mixed with Brandon Flowers' New Wave vocal delivery helped make this song about jealousy, deception and calling a cab one of the most irresistibly catchy hits in pop history.
On this week’s episode, hosts Brittany Spanos and Rob Sheffield discuss the story of “Mr. Brightside,” breaking down the song’s gargantuan global success. From the Eighties pastiche of Hot Fuss to the song's entry into the pantheon of wedding DJ must-plays, the hosts unpack what it is about this single that has kept it charting in the UK for over 400 weeks.
Later in the episode Rob and Brittany are joined by mixing engineer Mark Needham, who was working with members of Fleetwood Mac when he got the call to work with this burgeoning Las Vegas band. Needham was instrumental in developing the band and shares technical details about the recording process, the song's distinctive sound, and anecdotes about working with The Killers during their early days. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Killer’s Ageless Classic: Mr. Brightside

On this week’s episode of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs, hosts Brittany Spanos and Rob Sheffield discuss the story of “Be My Baby,” breaking down the song’s massive impact on pop history. The song comes in at #22 on Rolling Stone’s list and is as universal as a pop song can be. It’s the song that made Ronnie Spector a timeless rock & roll legend, a teenage girl from Spanish Harlem who packed a lifetime of raw power into three minutes.
Ever since Ronnie belted “Be My Baby” in 1963, it’s been the classic that sums up the whole Sixties girl-group era, with Phil Spector’s lavish Wall of Sound production – but it’s never left the airwaves. It’s been the foundation for artists from Brian Wilson to Bruce Springsteen to Lana Del Rey. You hear it everywhere, from Scorsese movies to goth clubs to hair metal, from the Ramones to Beyoncé.
This week Rob and Brittany are joined by a true legend: Jeff Barry, who co-wrote “Be My Baby.” The Barry/Greenwich team cranked out a host of Sixties girl-group smashes for stars like the Crystals (“Then He Kissed Me”), the Dixie Cups (“Chapel of Love”), the Chiffons (“I Have a Boyfriend”), and the Shangri-Las (“Leader of the Pack”). Barry discusses the making of “Be My Baby,” the early Brill Building songwriting days, and his long career from pop to soul to country. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Timeless Raw Power of “Be My Baby”

Even before Beyoncé kicked off her solo career, it was clear that she was a legend-in-the-making. As the de facto leader of Destiny's Child, she was a guiding light for the girl group and helped shepherd them to stardom in both the pop and R&B; spaces. The group was at their height (and still very much together) as she launched her solo career, first with "Work It Out" for the Austin Powers in Goldmember soundtrack but with more gusto on "Crazy in Love.
"Crazy in Love" served as the lead single for Beyoncé's debut solo album Dangerously in Love. The song was written in two hours and became a Number One hit the same week Dangerously in Love topped the albums chart. Beyoncé has developed significantly as an artist since then with her last two albums, Renaissance and Cowboy Carter, being prime examples of how she’s still growing and finding new ways to master her artistry even two decades after the world first got a taste of who Beyoncé was on her own.
On this week’s episode hosts Rob Sheffield and Brittany Spanos discuss Beyoncé's career trajectory and how the superstar ended up being the youngest artist with the most entries on the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time List. Later in the episode, they are joined by their Rolling Stone colleague Mankaprr Conteh to dig into the star's artistry and appreciation for Black music history, which she continues to embed in all her work. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fleetwood Mac's “Dreams”: The Strange and Beautiful Life of a Breakup Classic

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