1967 Hit Was Just Ranked the 'Top Rock Song of All Time'
Rock bands have consistently produced countless hits, making it difficult to narrow down the best songs from the genre. However, Ultimate Classic Rock did just that and recently released a list of the 100 best rock songs of all time.
The ranking, published on April 22, featured classics like Fleetwood Mac's 1977 hit, "Dreams," David Bowie's "Heroes" from 1977, Pink Floyd's 1975 "Wish You Were Here," the 1986 song, "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi, Prince and the Revolution's 1986 "Kiss," "Purple Haze" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience from 1967, Queen's 1975 "Bohemian Rhapsody," Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" from 1975, 1980's "Once in a Lifetime"by Talking Heads, and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," released in 1991.
Ultimate Classic Rock's top five songs included Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" from 1975, The Beatles' 1967 classic "A Day in the Life," Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone" from 1965, and 1971's "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin.
The Beatles' 1967 hit single "Strawberry Fields Forever" took home the title of the best rock song ever released. Ultimate Classic Rock reported that the song deserved the list's top spot because of its unique production and how much it has influenced the rock genre.
John Lennon & Paul McCartney Shared Details About the Song
The official Beatles TikTok account shared a video of John Lennon discussing writing "Strawberry Fields Forever." He shared that he began writing the song while in Spain during the production of the 1967 film, How I Won the War, wherein he played the character Gripweed. Lennon, who died in 1980 at the age of 40, said it was a relatively long process to come up with the iconic tune.
"It took me a long time to write it. I was writing bits and bits and bits," recalled the musician.
He also shared that he "just wanted the lyrics to be like conversational."
"I just wanted it to be like we're talking and then I just happen to be singing, you know like that. And it was very quiet," said Lennon.
In a separate interview, Lennon's bandmate Paul McCartney noted that Lennon was inspired to write the 1967 single "because he used to live next door to this place called Strawberry Fields," a Salvation Army children's home, in Liverpool. According to McCartney, he would visit the real Strawberry Fields with Lennon.
"It was just his little garden to play in. So whenever I would visit him, and we'd go past, and he'd say, 'This is Strawberry Fields,'" recalled McCartney, now 83.
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This story was originally published April 22, 2026 at 10:57 AM.