The “Songs of the Century” project, sponsored by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), is a nationwide education initiative intended to promote a better understanding of America’s musical and cultural heritage in our schools. Distributed to schools throughout the country, the “Songs of the Century” curriculum is designed to help further an appreciation for the music development process, including songwriting, musicianship, recording, performing, producing, distributing and the development of cultural values.

The oldest songs are listed in a 30-year span up to 1920. From there songs are listed in 10-year spans. The songs, their performer, and the year of the song are shown in each table. Click on any of the tabs shown under Top Century to find the songs for that period.

The final tab provides a list of the top 365 songs from all the years in the century.

This page updated on February 16, 2024.