Madonna’s 100 Greatest Songs (Critics’ Picks) The best songs from the inarguable Queen of Pop.

[Dj Garrido 1,689]

BILLBOARD TODAY (MAR 8TH, 2023):

 

Madonna’s 100 Greatest Songs (Critics’ Picks)

The best songs from the inarguable Queen of Pop.

By  Joe Lynch, Andrew Unterberger, Bianca Gracie, Nolan Feeney, Katie Atkinson

 

The history of pop music can essentially be divided into two eras: pre-Madonna and post-Madonna. Michael Jackson sold more albums and Prince was more prolific, but of the three singular musical icons born in 1958, Madonna is still the one who most set the template for what a pop star could and should be: bold, brilliant, ambitious, consistently innovative and constantly evolving.    

Madonna’s rise to galactic superpower status in the ’80s mirrored the rise of MTV as a cultural force, and hardly by coincidence: no figure since David Bowie married sound and vision so expertly. Before Madonna, artists could be considered daring if they reinvented themselves with each new album; she sped up the pace to where she was doing so practically with each music video, defining “iconic” so many times over she eventually had to make a song about it. Unlike many of her superstar predecessors and peers, there is no one true definitive Madonna sound or album — rather, there are a couple dozen definitive Madonna eras, which could last as long as four years or as short as, well, four minutes.   

Starting with her 1983 self-titled debut, the hits (and controversies) came quickly for the woman who boldly declared she wanted “to rule the world” during her North American network TV debut appearance on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. Since then, she’s delivered on that promise, reigning as the undeniable Queen of Pop.

Her four decades of culture-shifting hits — including 12 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s — will take center stage during her 2023 Celebration Tour. And there’s a lot to celebrate. For years, Madonna wasn’t ahead of the curve so much as consistently bending its angle with her gravity. She talked (and sang, and wrote, and performed) frankly about sex and desire at a time when doing so largely inspired mockery at best and condemnation at worst. She loudly championed her LGBT fanbase while many pop stars were still avoiding their existence altogether. She confronted misogyny, abuse and gender double standards inside and outside of the music industry for decades before there was any kind of nationwide #MeToo movement to support her.

While many of her peers struggled to adapt or openly railed against new trends in popular music, she successfully incorporated elements of house, trip-hop, techno, drum and bass, G-funk and Auto-Tune into her music at various points in her career, working with everyone from Nile Rodgers to Lenny Kravitz to Björk to Andrew Lloyd Webber to Pharrell to SOPHIE — scoring Billboard Hot 100 hits with all of them — without ever losing her center. She’s spent so much of her career dragging pop music into the future that it’s not surprising to see today’s pop stars continuing to call back to her, whether it’s Drake invoking her name as the ultimate superstar presence, or Ariana Grande casting her as the no-credit-needed voice of biblical female vengeance, or Rihanna simply using her entire career arc as the pace-setter for her own. 

But for all her innovation, iconicity and activism, what really endure are the songs. So many, many songs: well over 200 officially released tracks over the course of her career, a stunning percentage of which should remain familiar to even casual pop fans of her lifetime. Madonna scored her first Hot 100 top ten hit with “Borderline” in 1984, and her (to date) last with “Give Me All Your Luvin'” in 2012. In between, she’s amassed a total of 38 top ten hits — most of any artist in Billboard history, a record that stands tall even in this robust era of streaming-powered single-artist chart dominance. And the range of those hits is similarly unimpeachable, encompassing euphoric dance floor slayers, heartbreaking big ballads, bubblegum pop perfection, edgy electro-funk and the most vital radio-ready sounds in between.

We here at Billboard wanted to celebrate the living legend with a list of our 100 favorite tracks from her incredible career. See our picks below, and be sure to take one day out of life to celebrate your own favorites by the artist who remains the dictionary definition of pop stardom. 

 

Check the rankin on this link: 

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spoiler:

96 - "Sooner or Later" (I'm Breathless, 1990)

91 - "You'll See" (Something to Remember, 1995)

73 - "Rain" (Erotica, 1992)

55 - "Love Song" (Like a Prayer, 1989)

50 - "Living for Love" (Rebel Heart, 2015)

23 - "Get Together" (Confessions on a Dance Floor, 2005)

9 - "Deeper and Deeper" (Erotica, 1992)

4 - "Ray of Light" (Ray of Light, 1998)

[MaDöner Kebab 6,877]

Love Song at 55

Frozen at 31 (only 3 spots above I Love New York at 34 and Bitch I'm Madonna at 36) 

Whoever made this list was high and/or drunk. They even listed some remixes over the original versions. Some of her Top 10 worst songs are listed as well.

[MaDöner Kebab 6,877]

All the songs that DIDN'T make the list:

• I Know It
• Ain't No Big Deal

 

• Love Don't Live Here Anymore
• Shoo-Bee-Doo
• Pretender
• Stay

 

• Jimmy Jimmy
• Love Makes the World Go Round
• Can't Stop
• Santa Baby

 

• Promise to Try
• Keep It Together
• Act Of Contrition
• Supernatural

 

• He's a Man
• More
• I'm Going Bananas
• Cry Baby
• Back In Business
• What Can You Lose
• Now I'm Following You (Part I)
• Now I'm Following You (Part II)

 

• Where Life Begins
• Thief of Hearts
• Words
• Why's It So Hard
• Secret Garden
• Goodbye to Innocence
• If You Forget Me

 

• I'd Rather Be Your Lover
• Inside of Me
• Love Tried to Welcome Me
• Sanctuary
• Let Down Your Guard
• Freedom
• Your Honesty
• One More Chance
• Guilty by Association

 

• Eva and Magaldi / Eva Beware of the City
• Buenos Aires
• Goodnight and Thank You
• I'd Be Surprisingly Good for You
• Hello and Goodbye
• A New Argentina
• Rainbow High
• Waltz For Eva And Che
• You Must Love Me
• Lament

 

• Candy Perfume Girl
• Skin
• To Have and Not to Hold
• Little Star
• Has to Be
• Be Careful (Cuidado Con Mi Corazòn)
• Bittersweet

 

• American Pie
• Time Stood Still
• I Deserve It
• Nobody's Perfect
• Paradise (Not For Me)
• Gone
• Cyber-Raga

 

• Die Another Day
• Nothing Fails
• I'm So Stupid
• Intervention
• Mother and Father
• Easy Ride
• Imagine

 

• Future Lovers
• How High
• Forbidden Love (05)
• Isaac
• Push
• Like It Or Not
• Let It Will Be
• Fighting Spirit
• Superpop

 

• Hey You
• Sing
• Miles Away
• Candy Shop
• Heartbeat
• Incredible
• Dance Night
• Spanish Lesson
• Voices
• Ring My Bell
• Celebration
• Revolver (feat. Lil' Wayne)
• It's So Cool
• Broken

 

• Give Me All Your Luvin'
• Girl Gone Wild
• Masterpiece
• Turn Up The Radio
• Love Spent
• Falling Free
• Gang Bang
• I'm Addicted
• Some Girls
• I Don't Give A
• I'm A Sinner
• Beautiful Killer
• I Fucked Up
• B-Day Song
• Best Friend

 

• Ghosttown
• Devil Pray
• Unapologetic Bitch
• Illuminati
• Hold Tight
• Joan of Arc
• Iconic
• HeartBreakCity
• Inside Out
• Wash All Over Me
• Best Night
• Veni Vidi Vici
• S.E.X.
• Messiah
• Beautiful Scars
• Queen
• Auto-Tune Baby
• Borrowed Time
• Graffiti Heart
• Addicted
• La Vie en Rose

 

• Champagne Rosé
• Medellín
• Killers Who Are Partying
• Extreme Occident
• Dark Ballet
• Future
• Crave
• Crazy
• Looking for Mercy
• Bitch I'm Loca
• Faz Gostoso
• Batuka
• Come Alive
• I Rise
• I Don't Search I Find
• Ciao Bella
• Funana
• Back That Up to the Beat
• Soltera
• Levitating (The Blessed Madonna Remix)

[Dj Garrido 1,689]

It´s already hard to agree with a top 10. What can we say about a top 100?

The most important of this ranking is that Billboard put it out in International Women´s Day and it also helps to promote The Celebration Tour. 

[Miki 245]

I’m glad that Body Shop, Superstar, Holy Water, X-static Process, Forbidden Love 94, Don't Stop, Living for Love, She's Not Me, Bitch I'm Madonna, I Love New York were included and given good reviews.

[Pootz333 2,690]

99. Rescue Me

98. Another Suitcase In Another Hall