200+ Worst Songs in Popular Music - Pop Culture | History | Facts | Trivia (2023)

Worst Songs in Pop Music

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World’s Worst Pop Music

Bad music and all of the worst songs are subjective, we admit. Often, the songs on this are loved by many but hated even more by others.

This section is devoted entirely to the worst songs of all time. Well, maybe not the all-time worst written songs or worst performances of all time. Perhaps “Really irritating songs that used to be popular songs” would be a better title. On the other hand, there are people reading the list below and saying to themselves ‘these are the greatest hits of all time!”

These are songs that, admit it or not, we all knew and mostly liked when they first came out. These are songs that make us cringe when we hear them now in front of loved ones.
What were we thinking?

How does one define a “bad song”?

Sometimes they are just too ‘catchy’ or we have heard them far too many times for a single lifetime. You may love a particular ditty and the person next to you may give you a look of horror, disdain, and even a little pity when they realize that you are enjoying that sound coming out of the speakers.

We’re not talking about music genres here. Parents/Adults have been whining about what the “kids” were listening to since the 1920’s. That nasty Charleston stuff that evolved into that Sinful Swinging, that enabled Elvis to gyrate, leading to Tina Turner showing some leg, Jim Morrison performing nude, Ozzie biting live bats, the Sex Pistols urinating on stage, James Brown singing about his “Sex Machine”, and Eminem flipping the world “the bird” at the 2000 Grammys.

Don’t tell us “today’s music is terrible”. You sound like your mom talking about those long-haired, unkempt bad boys in “The Beatles”, or her mom harping about Elvis. Or those teachers who banned swing dancing at the school dances during World War II. Music marches in.

People like Pat Boone tried to make R & B/rock-n-roll acceptable to the masses, yet, for all his pop music success, his greatest achievement was the fathering of his daughter, Debbie Boone, who went on to record one of the most successful bad songs of all time, “You Light Up My Life”, lasting 10 weeks at Billboard’s number one, and over 20 weeks in the Top 40 in 1977. She won the Grammy for the best new artist as well. She never charted again, which is just fine for those of us who heard it, on average, a hundred thousand times that
Summer of ’77.

(BTW – the 70s was the list filled the fastest, followed by the 2000s with the 90s close behind.)
(BTW2 – The further back we go, the more complaints we seem to get about the “worst” selections. Time is very kind to bad songs, apparently.)

The 2000s – Worst Songs

1. Popozao – Kevin Federline2. American Pie – Madonna3. Magic – B.o.B Featuring Rivers Cuomo4. All Day Long I Dream About Sex – JC Chasez5. Lonely – Akon6. Who Let The Dogs Out – Baha Men7. Butterfly – Crazytown8. I’m A Girl, Not Yet a Woman – Britney Spears9. My Humps – Black Eyed Peas10. I Played Chicken With A Train – Cowboy Troy11. Black and Yellow – Wiz Khalifa12. It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp – Djay f/ Shug (OSCAR WINNING SONG)13. Country Girl – DF Dub14. Las Ketchup – The Ketchup Song15. Shut Up – Kelly Osbourne16. Ring The Alarm – Beyonce17. Starry Eyed Surprized – Oakenfold18. Laffy Taffy – D4L19. Teenage Dirtbag – Wheatus20. A Little Less Conversation – Elvis vs JXL21. She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy – Kenny Chesney22. Sorry – Justin Guarini23. Friday – Rebecca Black24. Pimpin’ All Over The World – Ludacris Featuring Bobby Valentino25. Unfaithful – Rihanna26. Hey Ma – Cam’ron feat. Juelz Santana, Feekey Zekey and Toya27. Grillz – Nelly, featuring Paul Wall, Ali & Gipp28. Beautiful Soul – Jessie McCartney29. Your Body Is a Wonderland – John Mayer30. Picture – Kid Rock featuring Sheryl Crow31. American Life – Madonna32. Float On – Modest Mouse33. She Bangs – Ricky Martin34. I’m Real – Jennifer Lopez35. You’re Beautiful – James Blunt36. I’m In Love With A Stripper – T. Pain with Mike Jones37. I Kissed A Girl – Katy Perry38. Sorry 2004 – Ruben Studdard39. Catch My Disease – Ben Lee40. Black Suits Comin’ – Will Smith

The Nineties’ – Worst Songs

1. You Must Love Me – Madonna2. I Can’t Dance – Genesis3. Rico Suave – Gerardo4. Achy Breaky Heart – Billy Ray Cyrus5. Ice Ice Baby – Vanilla Ice6. 2 Legit 2 Quit – M.C. Hammer 7. I Will Always Love You – Whitney Houston 8. Informer – Snow9. Life – Des’ree 10. U Can’t Touch This – M.C. Hammer11. Cantaloop – US312. Champagne Supernova – Oasis13. All For Love – Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, and Sting14. My Heart Will Go On – Celine Dion (Totally controversial as a bad song)15. (Everything I Do) I Do It For You – Bryan Adams16. This Kiss – Faith Hill17. Let Her Cry – Hootie and the Blowfish18. I’m Too Sexy – Right Said Fred19. Peaches – The Presidents of the United States20. The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You – Bryan Adams21. Good Stuff – B-52s22. I Finally Found Someone – Bryan Adams and Barbra Streisand23. Fly Away – Lenny Kravitz24. One Of Us – Joan Osborne25. Higher – Creed26. Lump – Presidents of the United States of America27. Are You Jimmy Ray? – Jimmy Ray28. Believe – Cher29. Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough – Patty Smyth and Don Henley30. Roam – B-52s31. Shiny Happy People – R.E.M.32. Play That Funky Music – Vanilla Ice33. Faith – Limp Bizkit34. Ironic – Alanis Morrisette35. Can I Touch You… There? – Michael Bolton36. One Headlight – The Wallflowers37. If I Was Your Mother – Bon Jovi38. Barbie Girl – Aqua39. Something Happened On The Way To Heaven – Phil Collins40. Macarena – Los Del Rio

The Eighties’ – Worst Songs

1. Morning Train (9 to 5) – Sheena Easton2. The Girl Is Mine – Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney3. To All the Girls I Loved Before – Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson4. The Final Countdown – Europe5. Never Gonna Give You Up – Rick Astley6. Ebony and Ivory – Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder 7. We Built This City – Starship 8. Lady In Red – Chris DeBurgh9. Rock Me Amadeus – Falco 10. Hip To Be Square – Huey Lewis and the News11. Wild Wild West – Escape Club12. The Twist (Yo, Twist!) – Fat Boys featuring Chubby Checker13. Mickey – Toni Basil14. Groovy Kind of Love – Phil Collins15. We Didn’t Start The Fire – Billy Joel16. Get Outta My Dreams Get Into My Car – Billy Ocean17. We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off – Jermaine Stewart18. Hangin’ Tough – New Kids on the Block19. Puttin On The Ritz – Taco20. Goonies R Good Enough – Cyndi Lauper21. Safety Dance – Men Without Hats22. The One That You Love – Air Supply23. Harlem Shuffle – Rolling Stones24. Maneater – Hall and Oates25. Bad – Michael Jackson26. The Warrior – Scandal27. Word Up – Cameo28. Don’t Worry Be Happy – Bobby McFerrin29. Invisible Touch – Genesis30. My Prerogative – Bobby Brown31. Who’s That Girl – Madonna32. Good Thing – Fine Young Cannibals33. Medley – Stars on 4534. Woman In Love – Barbra Streisand35. Sussudio – Phil Collins36. Let Me Tickle Your Fancy – Jermaine Jackson & Devo37. Venus – Bananarama38. Two Hearst – Phil Collins39. I Like To Rock – April Wine40. The Look – Roxette

The Seventies’ – Worst Songs

1. I’ve Never Been To Me – Charlene2. Seasons In The Sun – Terry Jacks3. Tusk – Fleetwood Mac4. Feelings – Morris Albert5. Don’t Give Up On Us – David Soul6. Let Her In – John Travolta 7. MacArthur Park – Donna Summer8. You Light Up My Life – Debbie Boone (OSCAR WINNING SONG)9. Boogie Oogie Oogie – A Taste of Honey 10. Lovin’ You – Minnie Riperton11. Midnight At The Oasis – Maria Muldaur12. I Am… I Said – Neil Diamond13. Sometimes When We Touch – Dan Hill14. Afternoon Delight – Starland Vocal Band15. Oh Babe, What Would You Say? – Hurricane Smith16. Shannon – Henry Gross17. (You’re) Having My Baby – Paul Anka18. A Horse With No Name – America19. Silly Love Songs – Wings20. Disco Duck – Rick Dees21. I Write The Songs – Barry Manilow22. Muskrat Love – Captain and Tennille23. Ma Belle Amie – The Tee Set24. Run Joey Run – David Geddes25. Brand New Key – Melanie26. Do Ya Think I’m Sexy – Rod Stewart27. Have You Never Been Mellow? – Olivia Newton-John28. Daddy Don’t You Walk So Fast – Wayne Newton29. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown – Frank Sinatra30. Ode To Billie Joe – Bobbi Gentry31. The Logical Song – Supertramp32. Alone Again (Naturally) – Gilbert O’Sullivan33. Billy, Don’t Be a Hero – Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods34. Escape (The Pina Colada Song) – Rupert Holmes35. I Am Woman – Helen Reddy36. Do That To Me One More Time – Captain and Tennille37. O-o-h Child – The 5 Stairsteps38. Wildfire – Michael Murphy39. Mama Can’t Buy You Love – Elton John40. Playground In My Mind – Clint Holmes

The 60s’ – Worst Songs

1. MacArthur Park – Richard Harris2. I Dig Rock and Roll Music – Peter, Paul and Mary3. Yummy Yummy Yummy – Ohio Express4. Palisades Park – Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon5. The Tra La La Song – The Banana Splits6. Ringo – Lorne Greene 7. I’m Henry VII I Am – Herman’s Hermits 8. 98.6 – Keith9. Honey – Bobby Goldsboro 10. Tiptoe Through The Tulips – Tiny Tim11. Winchester Cathedral – New Vaudeville Band12. Surfin Bird – The Trashman13. Jingle Jangle – The Archies14. Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini – Bryan Hyland15. Cherish – The Association16. Inna-Gadda-Da-Vita – Iron Butterfly17. Somethin’ Stupid – Frank and Nancy Sinatra18. Tell Laura I Love Her – Ray Peterson19. Take a Letter Maria – R.B. Greaves20. Do The Freddie – Freddie and the Dreamers21. Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon – Neil Diamond22. Please Mr. Custer – Larry Verne23. In The Year 2525 – (Exordium and Terminus) – Zager and Evans24. Feeling Groovy – Simon and Garfunkle25. The Name Game – Shirley Ellis26. Revolution 9 – The Beatles27. Do The Clam – Elvis Presley28. Judy In Disguise (With Glasses) – John Fred and His Playboy Band29. Young Girl – Gary Puckett30. Dizzy – Tommy Roe31. San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) – Scott McKenzie32. Dominique – The Singing Nun33. Do Wah Diddy Diddy – Manfred Mann34. Lady Willpower – Gary Puckett35. Teen Angel – Mark Dinning36. Ringo – Lorne Green37. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes – Crosby Stills and Nash38. Wives and Lovers – Jack Jones39. Don’t Pass Me By – The Beatles40. The Happening – The Supremes

The 50s’ – Worst Songs

1. The Chipmonk Song – David Seville2. The Happy Organ – Dave “Baby” Cortez3. Doggie In The Window – Patti Page4. Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom) – Perry Como5. Venus – Frankie Avalon6. Beep Beep – The Playmates 7. I Wish I Were In Love Again – Frank Sinatra 8. Dance With Me, Henry – Georgia Gibbs9. Lonely Boy – Paul Anka 10. Teen-Age Crush – Tommy Sands11. Young Love – Tab Hunter12. Banana Boat Song – Steve Lawrence13. Rock and Roll Waltz – Kay Starr14. Aba Daba Honeymoon – Debbie Reynolds & Carleton Carpenter15. Teen-Age Crush – Tommy Sands16. Charlie Brown – The Coasters17. The Battle of New Orleans – Johnny Horton18. Kookie Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb) – Connie Stevens with Edd Byrnes19. Why – Frankie Avalon20. Tutti Frutti – Pat Boone21. Western Movies – The Olympics22. Sugartime – The McGuire Sisters23. Seven Little Girls Sitting In The Back Seat – Paul Evans24. Come On-A My House – Rosemary Clooney25. Butterfly – Andy Williams