Rolling Stone names Beyonce’s ‘Formation’ Best Music Video of All Time
Rolling Stone has ranked the 100 greatest music videos of all time and Beyoncé’s “Formation” tops the list.
In honor of MTV’s 40th anniversary, the magazine compiled a list of 100 of the greatest music videos to ever be released, and Queen Bey’s 2016 visual was on top of the list, beating other iconic music videos like Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” Prince’s “Kiss” and Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance”.
Beyoncé’s “Formation”, directed by Melina Matsoukas featured several striking visuals. The song and music video sparked backlash from conservatives and politicians, who called out Beyonce for allegedly spreading anti-police messages.
A scene of the music video showed Bey sitting on top of a sinking police car in a ruined New Orleans and a Rolling Stone names Beyonce’s ‘Formation’ Best Music Video of All Time
wall with the words “stop shooting us” spray-painted on it.
According to Matsoukas, Queen Bey wanted the video to show the “historical impact of slavery on black love, and what it has done to the black family”.
Despite the negative reactions, the visual helped Bey bring home a few awards, including six wins at the MTV Video Music Awards and the Best Music Video award at the 2017 Grammys. Billboard named “Formation” the best music video of the 2010s, and now, Rolling Stone is praising the visual as well. The video, released in 2016 had garnered 253 million views on YouTube up till today.
Other notable songs in the top 10 are “This Is America” by Childish Gambino — which placed at No. 4 — the seventh song, D’Angelo’s “Untitled (How Does It Feel?)” and “Billie Jean” by the late Michael Jackson, which just made the cut as the tenth song on the list.
The list also includes Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” (No. 12), Missy Elliott’s “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” (No. 16), Prince’s “Kiss” (No. 18), Young Thug’s “Wyclef Jean” (No. 22), JAY-Z’s “99 Problems” (No. 23), 2Pac and Dr. Dre’s “California Love” (No. 27), Drake’s “Hotline Bling” (No. 32), Kanye West’s “Bound 2” (No. 34), and Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda” (No. 82).
See the top 20 below
1. Beyoncé – “Formation”
2. Johnny Cash – “Hurt”
3. Madonna – “Vogue”
4. Childish Gambino – “This Is America”
5. New Order – “The Perfect Kiss”
6. Beastie Boys – “Sabotage”
7. D’Angelo – “Untitled (How Does It Feel?)”
8. Peter Gabriel – “Sledgehammer”
9. Guns N’ Roses – “November Rain”
10. Michael Jackson – “Billie Jean”
11. George Michael – “Freedom ’90”
12. Beyoncé – “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
13. Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
14. A-ha – “Take on Me”
15. The White Stripes – “Fell in Love With a Girl”
16. Missy Elliott – “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)”
17. Duran Duran – “Hungry Like the Wolf”
18. Prince – “Kiss”
19. Radiohead – “Paranoid Android”
20. DJ Shadow feat. Run the Jewels – “Nobody Speak
See full list here: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-music-videos-1194411/
