21 April 2025
Marco Gandolfi
This Easter Monday (21st April), Radio X listeners have crowned ‘Live Forever’ by Oasis as the best British song of all time, ahead of the band’s highly-anticipated reunion tour this summer. Voted for by Radio X listeners in the station’s 10th annual Best Of British with B&Q poll, ‘Live Forever’ tops the list for the third year in a row as one of four Oasis tracks making up the top 10, alongside ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger,’ ‘Slide Away’ and ‘Champagne Supernova.’
Queen’s iconic 1975 anthem ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is named second in the list for a consecutive year, while The Stone Roses’ ‘I Am The Resurrection’ moves up one place to fifth. The Rolling Stones’ ‘Gimme Shelter’ jumps up two places to sixth, and Geordie hero Sam Fender’s ‘Seventeen Going Under’ re-enters the top 10, moving up five places into seventh. Arctic Monkeys’ ‘505’ and Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back To Black’ make up the rest of the top 10, coming in ninth and 10th respectively.
Ahead of kicking off their world tour this summer, Oasis dominate the Best Of British poll as the most popular artist with 16 entries – two more than last year – with fan favourites like ‘The Masterplan,’ ‘Morning Glory’ and ‘Wonderwall’ all making it into the top 100. Behind Oasis are Arctic Monkeys with eight tracks in total, followed closely by The Stone Roses with seven, who also had this year’s highest climber – ‘Fools Gold,’ jumping up 68 places to 11th place!
Marking the release of his third album, People Watching, Sam Fender’s roaring title track ‘People Watching’ is this year’s highest new entry, debuting at number 21 on the list. Other new entries for 2025 include Amy Winehouse’s ‘Rehab’ at 57, Blossoms’ ‘Perfect Me’ at 59, and The Beatles’ 1968 hit ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ at 85. Led Zeppelin’s rock classic ‘Stairway To Heaven’ re-enters the list this year, as does Kasabian’s ‘Club Foot,’ Radiohead’s ‘Fake Plastic Trees,’ and Skunk Anansie’s ‘Hedonism (Just Because You Feel Good).’
A city synonymous with guitar-based music, Manchester was the most represented city on the list for the second year running, with 34 songs from 11 different Manchester-based artists, including The Smiths, Joy Division and Oasis, making up 39% of the vote. 17 songs from 10 different London artists feature on the final poll, such as David Bowie, The Clash and Florence And The Machine, making up 16% of the total votes.
Matt Deverson, Managing Editor of Radio X, said: “‘Live Forever’ had to be number one, didn’t it? And with Oasis dominating the 100 with 16 songs in the list, it reflects the growing excitement among Radio X listeners for what will be the biggest music and cultural moment of the year, from the biggest band in the world right now!”
The Radio X Best of British 2025 top 100 in full:
1. Oasis – ‘Live Forever’
2. Queen – ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’
3. Oasis – ‘Slide Away’
4. The Stone Roses – ‘I Am The Resurrection’
5. Oasis – ‘Champagne Supernova’
6. The Rolling Stones – ‘Gimme Shelter’
7. Sam Fender – ‘Seventeen Going Under’
8. Oasis – ‘Don't Look Back In Anger’
9. Arctic Monkeys – ‘505’
10. Amy Winehouse – ‘Back To Black’
11. The Stone Roses – ‘Fool’s Gold’
12. Pink Floyd – ‘Wish You Were Here’
13. Courteeners – ‘Not Nineteen Forever’
14. David Bowie – ‘Heroes’
15. Nothing But Thieves – ‘Overcome’
16. Pulp – ‘Common People’
17. Stereophonics – ‘Dakota’
18. Joy Division – ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’
19. Paolo Nutini – ‘Iron Sky’
20. Shed Seven – ‘Chasing Rainbows’
21. Sam Fender – ‘People Watching’
22. Florence And The Machine – ‘Dog Days Are Over’
23. Snow Patrol – ‘Chasing Cars’
24. Oasis – ‘Acquiesce’
25. The Stone Roses – ‘I Wanna Be Adored’
26. The Verve – ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’
27. The Smiths – ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’
28. Oasis – ‘Wonderwall’
29. Arctic Monkeys – ‘A Certain Romance’
30. New Order – ‘Blue Monday’
31. Oasis – ‘The Masterplan’
32. The Prodigy – Firestarter’
33. David Bowie – ‘Life On Mars?’
34. Radiohead – ‘Creep’
35. The Rolling Stones – ‘Sympathy For The Devil’
36. The Rolling Stones – ‘Paint It, Black’
37. Nothing But Thieves – ‘Welcome To The DCC’
38. The Smiths – ‘How Soon Is Now?’
39. Depeche Mode – ‘Enjoy The Silence’
40. Arctic Monkeys – ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’
41. Oasis – ‘Cigarettes And Alcohol’
42. Stereophonics – ‘A Thousand Trees’
43. The Beatles – ‘Let It Be’
44. Nothing But Thieves – ‘Amsterdam’
45. Oasis – ‘Supersonic’
46. Arctic Monkeys – ‘Mardy Bum’
47. Blur – ‘Parklife’
48. The Lathums – ‘Struggle’
49. David Bowie – ‘Let's Dance’
50. The Clash – ‘London Calling’
51. Muse – ‘Knights Of Cydonia’
52. The Smiths – ‘This Charming Man’
53. Sam Fender – ‘Hypersonic Missiles’
54. The Libertines – ‘Don't Look Back Into The Sun’
55. Nothing But Thieves – ‘Impossible’
56. Stereophonics – ‘Local Boy In The Photograph’
57. Amy Winehouse – ‘Rehab’
58. The Stone Roses – ‘Waterfall’
59. Blossoms – ‘Gary’
60. The Prodigy – ‘Breathe’
61. Oasis – ‘Half The World Away’
62. Oasis – ‘Rock 'N' Roll Star’
63. Skunk Anansie – ‘Weak’
64. Oasis – ‘Whatever’
65. David Bowie – ‘Starman’
66. Arctic Monkeys – ‘Fluorescent Adolescent’
67. Blur – ‘Song 2’
68. Oasis – ‘Morning Glory’
69. The Stone Roses – ‘Made Of Stone’
70. The Lathums – ‘Say My Name’
71. The Verve – ‘Lucky Man’
72. Stereophonics – ‘The Bartender And The Thief’
73. Kasabian – ‘Club Foot’
74. The Stone Roses – ‘Sally Cinnamon’
75. Stereophonics – ‘C'est La Vie’
76. The Stone Roses – ‘She Bangs The Drums’
77. Radiohead – ‘Fake Plastic Trees’
78. Led Zeppelin – ‘Stairway To Heaven’
79. Arctic Monkeys – ‘Do I Wanna Know?’
80. Snow Patrol – ‘Run’
81. Elbow – ‘One Day Like This’
82. Kasabian – ‘Fire’
83. Oasis – ‘Cast No Shadow’
84. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds – ‘If I Had A Gun’
85. The Beatles – ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’
86. The Prodigy – ‘No Good (Start The Dance)’
87. The Beatles – ‘Come Together’
88. Arctic Monkeys – ‘When The Sun Goes Down’
89. Skunk Anansie – ‘Hedonism (Just Because You Feel Good)’
90. Blossoms – ‘Perfect Me’
91. Paolo Nutini – ‘Last Request’
92. Arctic Monkeys – ‘Cornerstone’
93. Sam Fender – ‘Spit Of You’
94. Blossoms – ‘Your Girlfriend’
95. The Kooks – ‘Naïve’
96. Stereophonics – ‘Maybe Tomorrow’
97. Oasis – ‘All Around The World’
98. Pulp – ‘Disco 2000’
99. Wet Leg – ‘Wet Dream’
100. Oasis – ‘Some Might Say’
