Best Rock Ballads Ever

Stairway to Heaven

Led Zeppelin never released it as a single, yet it became the most requested song in FM radio history purely on the strength of its slow-build structure from finger-picked acoustic intro to Jimmy Page's soaring outro solo. Robert Plant's mystical lyrics and the song's eight-minut

Release Year: 1971Artist: Led ZeppelinPeak US Chart: —Length: 8:02Ballad Power: 10/10

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November Rain

Guns N' Roses spent over a million dollars on a music video featuring a wedding, a funeral, and Slash soloing in the desert, turning a nine-minute piano ballad into an MTV spectacle. Axl Rose's operatic vocal and the orchestral arrangement made it the longest song ever to crack t

Release Year: 1992Artist: Guns N' RosesPeak US Chart: 3Length: 8:57Ballad Power: 9.6/10

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Free Bird

Lynyrd Skynyrd's tribute to Duane Allman starts as a mournful Southern lament before exploding into a three-guitar solo marathon that became the ultimate concert-shout anthem. Ronnie Van Zant's plea for freedom, paired with that unhinged instrumental finale, invented the template

Release Year: 1974Artist: Lynyrd SkynyrdPeak US Chart: 19Length: 9:08Ballad Power: 9.5/10

added by IJRFree Bird

Nothing Else Matters

Metallica, the biggest thrash band on the planet, stunned fans by writing a tender, string-laden ballad James Hetfield originally considered too personal to release. Its raw vulnerability and eventual orchestral version with the San Francisco Symphony proved metal bands could do

Release Year: 1992Artist: MetallicaPeak US Chart: 34Length: 6:28Ballad Power: 9.3/10

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Dream On

Aerosmith's breakthrough ballad, built on Steven Tyler's own piano composition written as a teenager, foreshadowed the band's future stardom with its slow-burn dynamics and wailing falsetto climax. It flopped on first release before a 1976 re-issue sent it into the top 10, provin

Release Year: 1973Artist: AerosmithPeak US Chart: 6Length: 4:28Ballad Power: 9.1/10

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Wish You Were Here

Pink Floyd's aching meditation on absence and the lost Syd Barrett opens with a crackling radio effect before Gilmour's acoustic riff and Waters' plainspoken lyrics turn grief into something universal. It's less bombastic than typical rock ballads but arguably more devastating, a

Release Year: 1975Artist: Pink FloydPeak US Chart: 90Length: 5:34Ballad Power: 9/10

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More Than Words

Extreme shocked hair-metal audiences by stripping everything back to two acoustic guitars and pure vocal harmony, scoring a surprise number-one hit with a song about actions over words. It proved a rock band could top the charts without a single distorted riff. Nuno Bettencourt's

Release Year: 1990Artist: ExtremePeak US Chart: 1Length: 5:33Ballad Power: 8.8/10

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I Want to Know What Love Is

Foreigner enlisted the New Jersey Mass Choir to elevate Lou Gramm's yearning vocal into something almost gospel, giving the band its only US number one. The song's earnest, universal question about love turned it into a wedding and prom staple far beyond rock circles. It's the po

Release Year: 1984Artist: ForeignerPeak US Chart: 1Length: 5:03Ballad Power: 8.7/10

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Every Rose Has Its Thorn

Poison's Bret Michaels wrote this heartbreak anthem about a real long-distance relationship falling apart, and its acoustic vulnerability shocked fans who knew the band mainly for glam-metal party tracks. It became their only number-one single, proving the biggest hair-metal band

Release Year: 1988Artist: PoisonPeak US Chart: 1Length: 4:21Ballad Power: 8.5/10

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Wanted Dead or Alive

Bon Jovi's cowboy-outlaw ballad, inspired by the exhaustion of touring life, turned road weariness into a swaggering anthem with one of the most recognizable acoustic intros in rock. Jon Bon Jovi's 'steel horse' metaphor made rock stardom sound as lonely as it is glamorous. It's

Release Year: 1987Artist: Bon JoviPeak US Chart: 7Length: 5:07Ballad Power: 8.6/10

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Angie

The Rolling Stones traded their usual swagger for tender resignation on this piano-driven breakup ballad, with Mick Jagger's vocal sounding genuinely wounded rather than defiant. Rumors swirled about whether it was written for Angela Bowie or David Bowie's wife, adding mystique t

Release Year: 1973Artist: The Rolling StonesPeak US Chart: 1Length: 4:33Ballad Power: 8.4/10

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Patience

Guns N' Roses proved Appetite for Destruction wasn't a fluke by whistling their way into a tender acoustic hit that showcased Axl Rose's softer register long before 'November Rain.' Recorded live in the studio around a single microphone, it captured a rawness that studio polish u

Release Year: 1989Artist: Guns N' RosesPeak US Chart: 4Length: 5:56Ballad Power: 8.3/10

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Home Sweet Home

Mötley Crüe's power ballad, written by Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee about the loneliness of touring, became an inescapable staple of late-80s MTV and prom slow-dances. Its piano intro and Vince Neil's raspy longing turned the band's excess-fueled image on its head. A 1991 re-release

Release Year: 1985Artist: Mötley CrüePeak US Chart: 2Length: 4:50Ballad Power: 8.1/10

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Don't Cry

Guns N' Roses closed out the Use Your Illusion ballad trilogy with this bittersweet farewell, notable for two different lyric versions recorded for the twin albums. Slash's mournful solo and Axl's cracked-voice delivery gave it an emotional rawness that matched the band's chaotic

Release Year: 1991Artist: Guns N' RosesPeak US Chart: 10Length: 4:44Ballad Power: 8/10

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Faithfully

Journey's Jonathan Cain wrote this tour-bus love letter to his wife, and Steve Perry's soaring vocal turned it into the ultimate long-distance-relationship anthem of the arena-rock era. Its simple piano foundation let Perry's voice carry the entire emotional weight of the song. I

Release Year: 1983Artist: JourneyPeak US Chart: 12Length: 4:26Ballad Power: 7.9/10

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Open Arms

Journey's Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain crafted the quintessential 80s slow-dance ballad, its simple piano melody and unabashedly romantic lyrics making it a crossover smash beyond rock radio. It nearly hit number one, only kept off the top by Olivia Newton-John's 'Physical.' Its

Release Year: 1981Artist: JourneyPeak US Chart: 2Length: 3:20Ballad Power: 7.8/10

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To Be with You

Mr. Big scored a surprise global number one with this acoustic ballad, a stark departure from the shred-heavy hard rock the band was known for. Eric Martin's plainspoken vocal and the simple 'na na na' hook made it one of the most disarmingly catchy rock ballads of the early 90s.

Release Year: 1991Artist: Mr. BigPeak US Chart: 1Length: 3:49Ballad Power: 7.6/10

added by IJRTo Be with You

Nights in White Satin

The Moody Blues fused orchestral pop with rock instrumentation on this hazy, mellotron-drenched ballad about longing and unspoken love. Initially a modest hit, it became a top-two smash on re-release years later, cementing its status as one of the earliest and most influential ro

Release Year: 1967Artist: The Moody BluesPeak US Chart: 2Length: 7:23Ballad Power: 7.7/10

added by IJRNights in White Satin