Breaking Down the 100 Greatest Power Ballads of All Time

When you say “Power Ballad” most people conjure up hair bands from the eighties usually with black and white videos with slow motion synchronized guitar moves. But if you flip the words and think powerful ballads that can encompass many different genres and time periods. And that expanded definition was the basis of my list of The 100 Greatest Power Ballads of All Time which I am sure many of the younins have heard lately in the middle of prom season. Many may not think there is a connection between White Lion, Lauyrn Hill, and Kelly Clarkson, but they have all recorded soft ballads that build to a crescendo of guitars, pianos, choirs, or a combination of the three. Here is a look at the list by the numbers.

Songs by Genre
Alternative Rock - 25
Adult Contemporary – 24
Hard Rock – 22
Rock - 21
R&B - 6
Country – 2

Songs by Decade
60’s – 2
70’s – 5
80’s – 30
90’s – 37
00’s – 23
10’s – 3

Artists with Multiple Songs
U2 - 4
Coldplay – 3
Guns N' Roses – 3
Snow Patrol - 3
Aerosmith – 2
Bonnie Tyler – 2
Foreigner – 2
Green Day – 2
Hootie & The Blowfish – 2
INXS – 2
Journey – 2
Oasis – 2
Ozzy Osbourne - 2
Phil Collins – 2
Poison – 2
R.E.M. – 2
Radiohead - 2


Year with Most Songs – 1988 (8)
Songs with Rain in the Title – 3 (All in the top 10)
“Love Theme” from a Movie – 3