The Story Behind 1001 Songs

"1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die", general-edited by Robert Dimery, applied the series' canonical treatment to individual recordings rather than whole albums. First published in 2010, it runs broadly chronologically from early-20th-century recordings through to the modern day.

The list tracked here combines every edition of the book, sourced from a curated Discogs list, so it spans the full sweep of songs the various editions have argued you must hear.