Apple Music’s 100 Best Albums list culminates today with the much-anticipated reveal of the top 10 albums of all time and The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill crowned No. 1

22 May 2024 - Press release

Upon receiving the news, Lauryn Hill told Apple Music: “This is my award, but it’s a rich, deep narrative, and involves so many people, and so much sacrifice, and so much time, and so much collective love.”

To celebrate, Apple Music’s Zane Lowe and Ebro Darden sat down with legendary record producer, writer, and performer Nile Rodgers and Grammy-nominated artist and producer Maggie Rogers to reflect on the list during a special roundtable broadcasting globally today on Apple Music. Watch the full roundtable at music.apple.com *live from 1pm BST.

Apple Music’s 100 Best Albums is a modern 21st-century ranking of the greatest records ever made, crafted by Apple Music’s team of experts alongside a select group of artists, songwriters, producers, and industry professionals. The list is an editorial statement, fully independent of any streaming numbers on Apple Music — a love letter to the records that have shaped the world music lovers live and listen in.

The full 100 albums can be found here: 100 Best

Explore the top 10 albums here:

1. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998), Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill’s debut — and only — solo studio album was a seismic event in 1998: a stunningly raw, profound look into the spiritual landscape not just of one of the era’s biggest stars, but of the era itself. She was, and remains, a once-in-a-generation talent whose inspiration and innovation can be heard through the decades. Artists exhaust long discographies hoping for a cohesive piece of work resonant enough to reshape culture and inscribe its creator into the pantheon; Lauryn Hill did it in one.

2. Thriller (1982), Michael Jackson

There are few pop albums, or even works of art, that denote a wholesale shift in time and space the way Michael Jackson’s Thriller did in 1982. It did nothing less than define the modern pop blockbuster and redefine the scope and reach of music. Seven of its nine original cuts were top 10 singles, and it became one of the bestselling albums ever made.

3. Abbey Road (1969), The Beatles

The Beatles’ Abbey Road is an ageless, unmatched collection of songs by a world-changing band at their creative peak. The band’s 11th and penultimate album sounds like nothing more or less than four extremely gifted humans playing one indelible song after another in the same room together.

4. Purple Rain (1984), Prince & The Revolution

With half its track list comprising top 10 singles, this soundtrack is what truly turned Prince Rogers Nelson into one of the most instantly recognisable and distinctive pop artists ever. Prince often drew comparisons to Jimi Hendrix for the way he mixed music that felt Black and white, sacred and profane. The reality is that he had no precedent then and no comparison now.

5. Blonde (2016), Frank Ocean

Though Blonde packs 17 tracks into one quick hour, it’s a sprawling palette of ideas, a testament to the intelligence of flying one’s own artistic freak flag and trusting that audiences will meet them where they’re at. They did. And Ocean established himself as a generational artist uniquely suited to the complexities and convulsive changes of the second decade of the 21st century.

6. Songs in the Key of Life (1976), Stevie Wonder

In 1974, Stevie Wonder was the most critically revered pop star in the world; he was also considering leaving the music industry altogether. So when Songs in the Key of Life was released two years later, demand was so high that it became, at the time, the fastest-selling album in history. The album, which runs nearly 90 minutes, is effortlessly melodic, broad in scope, and deeply personal. Sonically, culturally, and emotionally, Songs in the Key of Life is much more than a gigantic collection of songs — it forms an entire worldview.

7. good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012), Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar’s sophomore album good kid, m.A.A.d city is one of the defining hip-hop records of the 21st century. West Coast hip-hop elders like Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre anointed Lamar to carry on the legacy of gangsta rap, and the legacy of this album is a crucial example of American storytelling that established the future Pulitzer Prize winner as perhaps his generation’s most accomplished writer.

8. Back to Black (2006), Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse’s presentation and otherworldly, timeless vocals make her music feel different — not so much an attempt to re-create the past as to honour the music she loved while still being true to the trash-talking, self-effacing millennial she was. The sound of Back to Black might appeal to retro-soul fans and jazz classicists, but the attitude is closer to rap. Yes, she was funny. But she wasn’t kidding.

9. Nevermind (1991), Nirvana

Nevermind and its opening salvo “Smells Like Teen Spirit” didn’t just mark an unlikely breakthrough for the Seattle trio, it upended popular culture in ways never before and never since. Punk became pop, grunge became global vernacular, industry walls broke into rubble, and lead vocalist Kurt Cobain was anointed the reluctant voice of a generation in need of catharsis — all seemingly overnight.

10. Lemonade (2016), Beyoncé

Beyoncé’s genre-obliterating blockbuster sixth album is furious, defiant, anguished, vulnerable, experimental, muscular, triumphant, humorous, and brave — a vivid personal statement, released without warning in a time of public scrutiny and private suffering. Every second of Lemonade deserves to be studied and celebrated.

Watch the full roundtable conversation with Zane Lowe, Ebro Darden, Nile Rodgers and Maggie Rogers at music.apple.com.

As an additional gift to music fans, Apple Music created 100 audio vignettes telling the story of each album and contextualising its significance and position on the list. Written by a team of music experts and edited by award-winning audio editors, these vignettes are sonic companions to Apple Music’s 100 Best Albums. Listen to the stories behind each of the albums and more on Apple Podcasts at apple.co/100BestRadio.

Music lovers can also access 100 Best Albums special content across the Apple ecosystem on the App Store, Apple News, Apple Retail, apple.com, and more. Additionally, they can explore a 100 Best Albums dedicated space on Apple Books, which celebrates titles by and about artists from the list.

Quotes on the top 3 from the roundtable:

1. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998), Lauryn Hill

Zane Lowe: "This album doesn’t just resonate with the people who were around when it came out and who hold it dear. It has not dated, not even a fraction. In fact, it feels more fresh and more relevant the more you listen to it… There are a lot of young artists hearing it, and it’s becoming part of their artistic DNA. It’s inspiring and influencing them… It’s timeless."

2. Thriller (1982), Michael Jackson

Zane Lowe: "Not only did it outsell everything in its opening year, it outsold everything in its second year. It changed the way people approached making music, releasing music, distributing, marketing music, and no one ever caught up to it. It set the bar so high."

Nile Rodgers: "When Michael dropped this record, to me, the world changed. It was a seismic shift. Having a Black artist do a music video on the level of “Thriller” just changed the world.”

3. Abbey Road (1969), The Beatles

Nile Rodgers: "There’s something about the Beatles that’s always really magical to me. Believe it or not, the first song I ever actually learned to play on guitar was a Beatles song. I knew at that moment that I was going to be a guitar player. Prior to that, I played the clarinet."

Zane Lowe: "The amount of songs that have stayed with people as they’ve lived their lives to a point… played at anniversaries, weddings, funerals, fall in love to, broken up to. There are lots of songbooks that speak to many times in life. I think The Beatles have the songbook of life."

Apple Music 100 Best Albums - Full List

100: Body Talk - Robyn
99: Hotel California - The Eagles
98: ASTROWORLD - Travis Scott
97: Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine
96: Pure Heroine - Lorde
95: Confessions - USHER
94: Untrue - Burial
93: A Seat at the Table - Solange
92: Flower Boy - Tyler, The Creator
91: Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 - George Michael
90: Back in Black - AC/DC
89: The Fame Monster (Deluxe Edition) - Lady Gaga
88: I Put a Spell on You - Nina Simone
87: Blue Lines - Massive Attack
86: My Life - Mary J Blige
85: Golden Hour - Kacey Musgraves
84: Doggystyle - Snoop Dogg
83: Horses - Patti Smith
82: Get Rich or Die Tryin’ - 50 Cent
81: After the Gold Rush - Neil Young
80: The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem
79: Norman F****** Rockwell! - Lana Del Rey
78: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
77: Like A Prayer - Madonna
76: Un Verano Sin Ti - Bad Bunny
75: Supa Dupa Fly - Missy Eliott
74: Downward Spiral - Nine Inch Nails
73: Aja - Steely Dan
72: SOS - SZA
71: Trans-Europe Express - Kraftwerk
70: Straight Outta Compton - N.W.A
69: Master of Puppets (Remastered) - Metallica
68: Is this It - The Strokes
67: Dummy - Portishead
66: The Queen Is Dead - The Smiths
65: 3 Feet High and Rising - De La Soul
64: Baduizm - Erykah Badu
63: Are You Experienced? - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
62: All Eyez on Me - 2Pac
61: Love Deluxe - Sade
60: The Velvet Underground and Nico (45th Anniversary Edition) - Velvet Underground & Nico
59: AM - Arctic Monkeys
58: (What's The Story) Morning Glory - Oasis
57: Voodoo - D’Angelo
56: Disintegration (Remastered) - The Cure
55: ANTI - Rihanna
54: A Love Supreme - John Coltrane
53: Exile on Main Street (2010 Remaster) - Rolling Stones
52: Appetite for Destruction - Guns 'N Roses
51: Sign O’The Times - Prince
50. Hounds of Love (2018 Remaster) - Kate Bush
49. The Joshua Tree - U2
48. Paul’s Boutique - Beastie Boys
47. Take Care (Deluxe Version) - Drake
46. Exodus ((2013 Remaster) - Bob Marley & The Wailers
45. Homogenic - Björk
44. Innervisions - Stevie Wonder
43. Remain in Light - Talking Heads
42. Control - Janet Jackson
41. Aquemini - Outkast
40. I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You - Aretha Franklin
39. Illmatic - Nas
38. Tapestry - Carole King
37. Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) [Expanded Edition] - Wu-Tang Clan
36. BEYONCÉ - Beyoncé
35. London Calling - The Clash
34. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back - Public Enemy
33. Kid A - Radiohead
32. Ready to Die (The Remaster) - Notorious B.I.G.
31. Jagged Little Pill (Remastered) - Alanis Morisette
30. WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? - Billie Eilish
29. The Low End Theory - A Tribe Called Quest
28. The Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
27. Led Zeppelin II - Led Zeppelin
26. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Kanye West
25. Kind of Blue - Miles Davis
24. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (2012 Remaster) - David Bowie
23. Discovery - Daft Punk
22. Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
21. Revolver - The Beatles
20: Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys
19: The Chronic - Dr. Dre
18: 1989 (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift
17: What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
16: Blue - Joni Mitchell
15: 21 - Adele
14: Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan
13: The Blueprint - JAY-Z
12: OK Computer - Radiohead
11: Rumours - Fleetwood Mac
10. Lemonade - Beyoncé
9. Nevermind - Nirvana
8. Back to Black, Amy Winehouse
7. good kid, m.A.A.d city, Kendrick Lamar
6. Songs in the Key of Life, Stevie Wonder
5. Blonde, Frank Ocean
4. Purple Rain, Prince & The Revolution
3. Abbey Road , The Beatles
2. Thriller, Michael Jackson
1. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Lauryn Hill

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