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The voters were selected by RIAA, and only 200 out of 1,300 selected responded. RIAA did not reveal the method it used to select the voters and whether random sampling was adopted to ensure the voters were a representative cross-section of American society. [1]. Some of the most popular American singers of the 20th century fare poorly; Elvis Presley's best showing is #68 (the "Don't Be Cruel"/"Hound Dog" single), Frank Sinatra does no better than #144 ("My Way"), Michael Jackson hits a high of #76 ("Beat It"), while Mariah Carey only hits a high of #351 ("One Sweet Day")and Madonna hits high of #161 ("Material Girl"). Many genres of music such as heavy metal, teen pop, and hip-hop are barely represented [2].
The list, in the order of votes received. Each song is followed by the name of an artist who made a recording of the song.
