Live Forever by Oasis named winner of Radio X Best Of British 500 with B&Q
6 April 2026, 18:52 | Updated: 6 April 2026, 19:07
Radio X celebrates its biggest Best Of British countdown ever by publishing the top 500 British songs of all time – as voted for by our listeners!
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This Easter Monday (6th April), Radio X listeners have for the first time ever named the 500 best British songs of all time, with Oasis and their seminal 1994 hit Live Forever taking the top spot following the band’s huge comeback tour last summer.
For the past 10 years, Radio X has asked listeners to vote for their favourite British songs of all time in its annual Best Of British poll.
See the full Radio X Best Of British 500 with B&Q chart here
Oasis - Live Forever (Official HD Remastered Video)
Shaking things up this year, the station expanded the poll from its traditional Top 100 to an enormous Top 500 for the first time ever, drawing from tracks played across Radio X and its sister stations - Radio X Classic Rock, Radio X 00s, Radio X 90s and Radio X Chilled. The complete Radio X Best Of British 500 with B&Q was played across the bank holiday weekend, with the number one track being crowned at 7:00pm on Easter Monday.
Still riding high off the back of last year’s hugely successful "Live '25" reunion tour, Radio X listeners have crowned Live Forever as the greatest British song of all time for the fourth year running.
Listen to the Radio X Best Of British 500 with B&Q playlist here
Queen take second place for the third consecutive year with their 1975 epic Bohemian Rhapsody, closely followed by The Stone Roses and I Am The Resurrection moving up one place in third - a fitting tribute to bass player Mani, who died in November. Oasis complete the top five with Slide Away and Champagne Supernova in fourth and fifth.
Fleetwood Mac break into the top 10 for the first time following the chart’s expansion to include Radio X Classic Rock, with the 1977 classic The Chain coming ninth in the poll.
Radio X Best Of British 500 with B&Q - the Top 100:
- Oasis - Live Forever
- Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
- The Stone Roses - I Am The Resurrection
- Oasis - Slide Away
- Oasis - Champagne Supernova
- The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter
- The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony
- Arctic Monkeys - 505
- Fleetwood Mac - The Chain
- Courteeners - Not Nineteen Forever
- Pulp - Common People
- Sam Fender - Seventeen Going Under
- David Bowie - Heroes
- Oasis - Acquiesce
- Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
- Stereophonics - Dakota
- Oasis - Don't Look Back In Anger
- Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
- The Smiths - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
- The Stone Roses - I Wanna Be Adored
- Wolf Alice - The Sofa
- David Bowie - Life On Mars?
- The Who - Baba O'Riley
- Oasis - The Masterplan
- The Rolling Stones - Sympathy For The Devil
- Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven
- Radiohead - Creep
- Arctic Monkeys - A Certain Romance
- Queen and David Bowie - Under Pressure (Queen and David Bowie)
- The Smiths - How Soon Is Now?
- Muse - Knights Of Cydonia
- David Bowie - Modern Love
- Sam Fender - People Watching
- New Order - Blue Monday
- The Beatles - Hey Jude
- Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
- Florence And The Machine - Dog Days Are Over
- The Verve - Lucky Man
- Oasis - Supersonic
- The Rolling Stones - Paint It, Black
- The Stone Roses - Fool's Gold
- Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
- Stereophonics - Local Boy In The Photograph
- Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees
- Oasis - Cigarettes And Alcohol
- The Stone Roses - Sally Cinnamon
- Shed Seven - Chasing Rainbows
- Biffy Clyro - Bubbles
- Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars
- Sam Fender - Hypersonic Missiles
- The Verve - The Drugs Don't Work
- Biffy Clyro - Many Of Horror (When We Collide)
- The Stone Roses - She Bangs The Drums
- Nothing But Thieves - Overcome
- Oasis - Morning Glory
- Muse - Plug In Baby
- Stereophonics - A Thousand Trees
- Arctic Monkeys - Mardy Bum
- Pulp - Babies
- Oasis - Half The World Away
- Oasis - Whatever
- James - Getting Away With It (All Messed Up)
- Led Zeppelin - Kashmir
- The Beatles - Let It Be
- Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know?
- Oasis - Wonderwall
- Radiohead - Street Spirit (Fade Out)
- Elbow - One Day Like This
- Black Sabbath - Paranoid
- Wolf Alice - The Last Man On Earth
- Manic Street Preachers - Motorcycle Emptiness
- Queen - Don't Stop Me Now
- Kasabian - Club Foot
- Paolo Nutini - Iron Sky
- The Smiths - This Charming Man
- Oasis - Little By Little
- Oasis - Rock 'N' Roll Star
- Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song
- The Beatles - Come Together
- Radiohead - Karma Police
- Stereophonics - The Bartender And The Thief
- Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill
- The Verve - Sonnet
- Oasis - Columbia
- Muse - Hysteria
- Faithless - Insomnia
- Manic Street Preachers - A Design For Life
- The Libertines - Don't Look Back Into The Sun
- The Beatles - While My Guitar Gently Weeps
- James - Laid
- The Clash - London Calling
- Blossoms - Charlemagne
- The Jam - Town Called Malice
- Wolf Alice - Don't Delete The Kisses
- The Beatles - Here Comes The Sun
- Coldplay - Yellow
- The La's - There She Goes
- The Stone Roses - Made Of Stone
- David Bowie - Starman
- New Order - True Faith
See the full Radio X Best Of British 500 with B&Q here:
The late Ozzy Osbourne’s legacy was also reflected in the vote, with two of his most iconic solo tracks making the list - Crazy Train at 231 and Mama I’m Coming Home at 409 - alongside Black Sabbath’s Paranoid at 69, which makes the top 100 for the first time following the legendary singer’s death last July.
Fresh off the back of being named Radio X’s Record of the Year 2025 winners and Group of the Year at the BRIT Awards, Wolf’s Alice’s The Sofa debuts in the Best of British 500 at number 21 as the highest-placed new release in the list, while The Last Man On Earth places at 70, followed closely behind by Don’t Delete The Kisses at 94.
As one of the world’s cultural capitals, London was the most represented city on the Best of British 500 list, with a whopping 148 songs coming from 39 different artists from the English capital, including David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Florence + The Machine and more making up over 29% of the vote. A city synonymous with guitar-based music, Manchester was the second most represented city with 91 songs from 14 different artists on the list.
As illustrated by the 500 tracks that made the list, '90s nostalgia remains supreme, as over 26% of the songs included were released in the decade that brought us "Cool Britannia", Euro 1996, and Britpop. Spurred on by artists like Oasis, The Stone Roses and Blur, more than one in four songs on the list were released in the 1990s.
Other notes on this year's poll include:
- THIS YEAR’S HIGHEST CLIMBER: Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven; up 51 places to No 26
- THIS YEAR’S HIGHEST FALLER: The Clash - London Calling; down 41 places to No 91
- NEWEST SONG is Opening Night by Arctic Monkeys, released on 22nd January 2026
- OLDEST SONG is The Beatles - A Hard Day’s Night, released on 10th July 1964
- MOST POPULAR ARTISTS: Oasis have 33 entries in the Top 500; Arctic Monkeys have 27.
Matt Deverson, Managing Editor of Radio X, said: "Radio X Best of British has always been a brilliant snapshot of what our listeners love most, but this year feels extra special. For the first time, they’ve ranked their 500 favourite British songs in order of greatness, and the result is a landmark countdown that celebrates the depth, quality and lasting influence of British music.
"It’s no surprise to see Live Forever take the crown again after such a huge year for Oasis, showing just how deeply that song still connects with people. Let’s cross our fingers and see what Liam, Noel and the band have in store next..."
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