Top 10 best-selling singles in music history

Founded in 2002, Shazam is a popular service that offers customers the ability to recognise a song by using the microphone built into the mobile phone.

Shazam is a great tool when we don't know a song, especially when the song is by an emerging or little-known artist.

In December 2017, Apple announced the acquisition of the company and today a playlist called 'Top 100 Shazams of All Time' is available on Apple Music. Here, as certified by Apple Music, are the most 'shazammed' songs of all time.

A 'power ballad' is defined as a slow, melodic song characterised by sweet, strongly emotional and evocative sounds that explore sentimental themes.

These songs often touch on sentimental themes, but also more serious ones such as abandonment, death or complex moments, and represent the most moving songs in the repertoire of a band (even rock bands) or an artist.

VH1, Paramount's music television network, has compiled its own ranking of the best power ballads of all time: here are the top 10.

Metal is strength and energy, as well as pure dynamism. The music magazine 'Rolling Stone' tried to make a ranking of the best 'metal' songs of all time.

To realise this ranking, the magazine made use of authors and critics who have been writing for 'Rolling Stone' for a long time, as well as authors of publications exclusively dedicated to this musical genre. 'Rolling Stone' evaluated around 300 songs, sticking to the canons for defining a song as 'metal', taking into account the differences with 'hard rock'.

Here are, according to 'Rolling Stone', the 10 best metal songs of all time, always keeping one thing in mind: music is a subjective experience and it is impossible to agree on everyone. Everyone has their own preferences and rightly so.

Sometimes a cover song manages to be more successful than the original song. In fact, some of these songs have climbed the charts after being recorded by other artists or bands, despite the fact that theirs is not the original version.

From rock to metal to country and pop: many musicians have created new versions of historical songs, creating true masterpieces.

For many of these songs, we have even forgotten who the author or musician was who created the original version. Here are some of the most sensational cases.

'Club 27' is a journalistic expression referring to a number of songwriters and musicians, mostly from a rock background, who all died at the age of 27. 

This project, created with the support of Artificial Intelligence by artist Gil Finkelstein (Instagram account @gilfinkelstein), shows what these great musicians of the past would look like today if they had not all left when they were still very young. 

From Kurt Cobain to Jim Morrison: what would music stars who died at the age of 27 look like today.

There are so many band in which, compared to the original lineup, the guitarist is the last one left still working.

We are talking about some of the most famous groups in the world, in which, for a variety of reasons, the other members of band are no longer part of the team. Some of these groups, however, continue to exist by enlisting the support of new members or turnaround singers and musicians.

Browse the photo gallery to learn about bands in which the guitarist has remained the only original member.

Boy bands have always been an institution in music. Over the decades, the definition of a boy band has changed and evolved from a real youth band to a simple vocal group. 

The well-known Rolling Stone magazine asked its readers to vote for their top ten favourite boy bands and then compiled and published their ranking, based on this poll. 

Here, according to Rolling Stone, are the 10 best boy bands of all time, always bearing in mind that there is nothing more subjective than music and everyone has, inevitably and rightly, their own personal Top 10.

Puns, references to events of the past or random terms: often behind the birth of the name of some of the most famous band in the world there are very curious anecdotes.

Some names were born almost by chance, such as that of the Rolling Stones, while others derive from musical characters of the past, as in the case of the Pink Floyd.

Here's where the name of some of the main groups that have made the history of music, especially in the world of rock come from: browse the photo gallery to learn more!

When a band becomes famous, the name by which everyone knows it may not have been the first choice in the initial phase of the band's life.

In fact, in addition to the band members, one of the most important decisions for a band is the name to be used. The name is the first detail that represents the band; it must be impressive, it must mean something and it must remain in the hearts and memories of the fans.  

Many famous bands, which have now become historical, opted for a different name at the beginning of their career: here are some of the most famous examples.

In its issue 931 of 18 September 2003, the well-known music magazine Rolling Stone published a list of the 100 best guitarists of all time. The list is mostly made up of American rock, blues and jazz guitarists, and although there are some of the best artists in the history of music, some feel that certain positions are unfair. 

The list was later revised by Rolling Stone after eight years: in particular, the new ranking was published in the 8 December 2011 issue. Here are the top 20 places. 

Of course, there is nothing more subjective than music, which means that this list does not necessarily indicate whether one musician is better than the other in absolute terms, but everyone will always have their own personal and unquestionable opinion.

Any instrument can have unforgettable melodies or riffs that can generate a memorable song.

Usually, in fact, the  most famous riffs are those of electric guitar, particularly those regarding rock music. Often, however, people underestimate the electric bass, which instead plays a key role in successful songs.

Here are some of the best bass lines ever, which are part of songs that have become symbols of some of the most famous bands around the world. Do you agree with this list?

They climbed the charts, their songs are very famous and recognizable by the first note, but the success lasted only the time of that song.

The term One-Hit Wonder refers to musicians capable of achieving only one hit during their career, and then no longer replicating those results, ending up gathering consensus only in their country of origin or little more.

Here are some of the most famous cases of One-Hit Wonders, also chosen based on the ranking made by the historic VH1 television network.

Music would be meaningless without the support of live events: for a musician or band today, a tour is crucial for its earnings.

Over the decades, there have been memorable tours, even lasting for more than a year, in which singers have toured the world, earning considerable revenues.

Here is a list of the highest-grossing tours ever, as reported by Forbes magazine. This ranking, before inflation, only takes into account official box office data from reliable sources: tours for which there are no reliable sources may not be included.