Are These the Best Rock Love Songs?

Valentine’s Day is the perfect excuse to argue about music rankings, and Billboard gave rock fans plenty to debate.

The magazine’s editorial staff released its list of the 50 Best Rock Love Songs of All Time, pulling from six decades of music and covering everything from classic rock staples to modern favorites.

If you are building the ultimate love song playlist, or just looking for an excuse to revisit some legendary tracks, this list has you covered.

Taking the top spot is David Bowie’s “Heroes” from 1977. Billboard’s staff crowned it the best rock love song ever, praising its emotional weight and larger than life feel. It is a love song that feels hopeful, defiant, and cinematic all at once, which is probably why it still hits just as hard today.

Right behind it at #2 is “Maps” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs from 2003. It is raw, vulnerable, and painfully honest, showing that love songs do not need to be polished to be powerful. Coming in at #3 is The Beatles’ “Something”, released in 1969, a track often described as one of the most sincere and beautiful love songs ever written.

Here are the Top 25:

1. “Heroes”, David Bowie (1977)
2. “Maps”, Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2003)
3. “Something”, The Beatles (1969)
4. “Just Like Heaven”, The Cure (1987)
5. “In Your Eyes”, Peter Gabriel (1986)
6. “Your Song”, Elton John (1970)
7. “Still Into You”, Paramore (2013)
8. “Because the Night”, Patti Smith (1978)
9. “Sweet Child O’ Mine”, Guns N’ Roses (1987)
10. “Can’t Help Falling in Love”, Elvis Presley (1961)
11. “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)”, Talking Heads (1983)
12. “I’ll Stand By You”, The Pretenders (1994)
13. “Maybe I’m Amazed”, Paul McCartney (1970)
14. “Happy Together”, The Turtles (1967)
15. “Come to My Window”, Melissa Etheridge (1993)
16. “All the Small Things”, Blink-182 (1999)
17. “Harvest Moon”, Neil Young (1992)
18. “Never Tear Us Apart”, INXS (1987)
19. “I Want to Know What Love Is”, Foreigner (1984)
20. “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out”, The Smiths (1986)
21. “May This Be Love”, Jimi Hendrix (1967)
22. “Eres”, Café Tacvba (2003)
23. “Just the Way You Are”, Billy Joel (1977)
24. “Lovesong”, The Cure (1989)
25. “You Make Loving Fun”, Fleetwood Mac (1977)

The list jumps across eras and subgenres, from classic rock and new wave to pop punk and alternative. It is a reminder that rock love songs are not just slow dances and power ballads. They can be joyful, heartbreaking, awkward, or explosive, sometimes all in the same track.

If you are building a Valentine’s Day playlist or just looking for an excuse to revisit some all time greats, Billboard’s ranking makes a strong case that rock music has never been short on love.