Current:Home > NewsRoll over Beatles. Lauryn Hill tops Apple Music's new list of top 100 albums of all time. -TradeWise
Roll over Beatles. Lauryn Hill tops Apple Music's new list of top 100 albums of all time.
PredictIQ Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-10 15:57:21
Lauryn Hill's "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" has been named the best album ever made, according to a new list released by Apple Music. And the rest of the top 10 shows a strong push toward hip-hop and R&B artists, and away from the classic rock titans that have long dominated similar canonical roundups.
Apple Music called Hill's 1998 LP a "stunningly raw, profound look into the spiritual landscape not just of one of the era's biggest stars, but of the era itself," praising Hill for being a "once-in-a-generation talent whose inspiration and innovation can be heard through the decades."
Hill's album, her solo debut after reaching international success with The Fugees, won five Grammy Awards upon its initial release, setting a new record for the most Grammys won by a female artist in a single ceremony.
Apple Music's new list was determined with the participation of artists, songwriters, producers, industry professionals and Apple's own editorial staff members. Apple Music emphasized that it was not meant to be taken as a reflection of the platform's most-streamed offerings, but rather "a love letter to the records that have shaped the world music lovers live and listen in."
Top 100 album lists have long been a staple of music industry media, popularized by such outlets as Rolling Stone, whose own lists throughout the decades have cemented the "all-timer" reputations of such Baby Boomer stalwarts as the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and The Beach Boys.
In contrast, Apple Music's new list is more strongly centered around female artists, and artists of color. Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Kendrick Lamar and Frank Ocean are all ranked high up among Hill's runners-up, though The Beatles' "Abbey Road" and Nirvana's "Nevermind" ensured rock its position in the overall top 10:
- Lauryn Hill, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" (1998)
- Michael Jackson, "Thriller" (1982)
- The Beatles, "Abbey Road" (1969)
- Prince and the Revolution, "Purple Rain" (1984)
- Frank Ocean, "Blonde" (2016)
- Stevie Wonder, "Songs in the Key of Life" (1976)
- Kendrick Lamar, "good kid, m.A.A.d city" (2012)
- Amy Winehouse, "Back to Black" (2006)
- Nirvana, "Nevermind" (1991)
- Beyoncé, "Lemonade" (2016)
Beyoncé, Prince, Stevie Wonder, The Beatles and Radiohead are the only acts with more than one album represented in the overall list of 100.
Apple Music's top 10 features four albums from the 21st century, whereas even the most recent edition of Rolling Stone's top albums list (which positioned Hill's album in 10th place) remained a predominately pre-Y2K zone. The 1990s were the most-represented decade overall, with 23 albums included. The oldest album on the list: Miles Davis's 1959 "Kind of Blue."
As for Bob Dylan, Beach Boys and Rolling Stones, their included albums ranked 14th ("Highway 61 Revisited"), 20th ("Pet Sounds") and 53rd ("Exile on Main Street").
The most-represented genre among the top 100, according to Apple Music's own tags, is hip-hop; more than one-fifth of the list is made up of albums within that genre, compared to the 18% of albums tagged as rock, and the 16% filed under pop.
Those following Lamar's beef with rapper Drake will note that the latter, while on the overall list of 100 albums, ranks much further down than his sparring partner — Drake's 2011 album "Take Care" shows up in 47th place.
Swifties can rest easy that Taylor Swift made the list, landing in 18th place with "1989 (Taylor's Version)."
- In:
- Michael Jackson
- Beatles
- Prince
- Music
- Lauryn Hill
Eric Henderson is Managing Editor, Midwest for CBSNews.com. He has won three Emmy Awards, an Eric Sevareid Award and two Edward R. Murrow Awards.
veryGood! (3)
Related
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- Republicans consider killing motion-to-vacate rule that Gaetz used to oust McCarthy
- Vermont police launch manhunt for 'armed and dangerous' suspect after woman found dead
- North Korea provides Russia artillery for the Ukraine war as U.S. hands Kyiv ammunition seized from Iran
- North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
- Slain journalist allegedly shot by 19-year-old he was trying to help: Police
- EU summit to look at changes the bloc needs to make to welcome Ukraine, others as new members
- ‘It was just despair’: Abortion bans leave doctors uncertain about care - even in emergencies
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Giraffe feces seized at the border from woman who planned to make necklaces with it
Ranking
- Rams vs. 49ers highlights: LA wins rainy defensive struggle in key divisional game
- How Love Is Blind's Milton Johnson Really Feels About Lydia Gonzalez & Uche Okoroha's Relationship
- A Russian missile attack in eastern Ukraine kills a 10-year-old boy, a day after a rocket killed 51
- Michael B. Jordan Reunites With Steve Harvey Over a Year After Lori Harvey Breakup
- Don't let hackers fool you with a 'scam
- North Korea provides Russia artillery for the Ukraine war as U.S. hands Kyiv ammunition seized from Iran
- Tropical Storm Philippe drenches Bermuda en route to Atlantic Canada and New England
- What's plaguing Paris and why are Catholics gathering in Rome? Find out in the quiz
Recommendation
Tarte Shape Tape Concealer Sells Once Every 4 Seconds: Get 50% Off Before It's Gone
Powerball at its 33rd straight drawing, now at $1.4 billion
Dick Butkus, Chicago Bears legend and iconic NFL linebacker, dies at 80
Shares in troubled British lender Metro Bank bounce back by a third as asset sale speculation swirls
Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
Beyoncé unveils first trailer for Renaissance movie, opening this December in theaters
Suspect arrested in attempted abduction of University of Virginia student
Simone Biles' good-luck charm: Decade-old gift adds sweet serendipity to gymnastics worlds