The Best Rock Bands of All Time (According to the Fans)

Jun 20

2 min read

The votes are in!

After an incredible 14,150,906 total votes, music fans have spoken and ranked the best rock bands of all time. These aren't critic picks or Hall of Fame rankings—these results come directly from thousands of fans who voted on The People's Playlist at MrBaldman.com/vote.

From classic rock legends to grunge icons and metal giants, here's how the bands finished.

Final Rankings

Rank	Band	Votes
34	The Clash	3,269
33	The Rolling Stones	3,383
32	Journey	3,765
31	R.E.M.	4,227
30	The Allman Brothers Band	4,250
29	Eagles	4,430
28	The Who	4,658
27	Aerosmith	5,488
26	Foo Fighters	6,401
25	Bon Jovi	7,391
24	The Doors	7,433
23	AC/DC	8,106
22	Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers	10,709
21	Van Halen	12,170
20	Kiss	15,094
19	Alice in Chains	16,230
18	Lynyrd Skynyrd	22,835
17	Rush	22,961
16	Pearl Jam	38,795
15	Black Sabbath	42,042
14	Def Leppard	62,991
13	The Police	75,463
12	Radiohead	97,248
11	Nirvana	103,528
10	Fleetwood Mac	112,283
9	Led Zeppelin	140,168
8	Guns N' Roses	192,122
7	U2	234,413
6	The Beatles	849,538
5	Queen	1,002,332
4	Pink Floyd	1,014,256
🥉 3	Creedence Clearwater Revival	2,049,244
🥈 2	Red Hot Chili Peppers	3,184,751
🥇 1	Metallica	4,788,932

More than 14 million votes for the Best Rock Bands of All Time

This edition of The People's Playlist generated an incredible 14,150,906 votes, making it one of the biggest fan polls we've ever hosted.

Metallica dominates

With 4,788,932 votes, Metallica didn't just win—they ran away with it. They finished more than 1.6 million votes ahead of second-place Red Hot Chili Peppers, proving just how passionate their fanbase is.

A surprising Top 10

Some of rock's biggest names landed exactly where you'd expect, while others may surprise you. Creedence Clearwater Revival earned an impressive third-place finish ahead of Pink Floyd, Queen, and The Beatles. Meanwhile, iconic bands like Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, and Nirvana narrowly missed the Top 10.