Rock has such a long and diverse history, it's difficult to give a single list, since early rock is utterly different than contemporary rock. The closest you can probably come to a canonical list is something like this one from *Rolling Stone* magazine, the most famous and influential rock-oriented magazine: http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/sns-rolling-stone-top-songs-pictures-photogallery.html If I was going to give my own, highly-subjective list --of *iconic* rock songs, not necessarily personal favorites -- it would probably include: "Johnny B Goode" - Chuck Berry "Tutti Frutti" - Little Richard "Blueberry Hill" - Fats Domino "Strange Things Happening Every Day" - Sister Rosetta Tharpe "Hound Dog" - Elvis Presley "Great Balls of Fire" - Jerry Lee Lewis "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan "Satisfaction" - Rolling Stones "Purple Haze" - Jimi Hendrix "Stairway to Heaven" - Led Zepplin "Bohemian Rhapsody" - Queen "Enter Sandman" - Metallica "Ironman" - Black Sabbath "Tipitina" - Professor Longhair "I Love Rock and Roll" - Joan Jett "Walk This Way" - Aerosmith / Run DMC "Rock and Roll, Hootchie Koo" - Rick Derringer "What's Love Got to Do With It?" - Tina Turner "Born in the USA" - Bruce Springsteen "Old Time Rock n Roll" - Bob Seger "Purple Rain" - Prince "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana "Say it Ain't So" - Weezer "Creep" - Radiohead "One" - U2 "Hey Ya!" - Outkast "Seven Nation Army" - White Stripes "Tribute" - Tenacious D "Tighten Up" - The Black Keys I've left off some of my own favorite rock songs and groups --such as the immortal Beatles --because, while they were rock musicians, and their songs are iconic, their best songs are not iconic *as* rock, but as their own individual thing. At least in my humble opinion. At any rate, although I'm sure there could be a ton of arguments over any particular song on this list, together, they'll give you a good, roughly chronological sense of the shape of rock over the years from the 50s to the early 2000s. I'll try to put this into a playlist later.