La nota rivista americana Billboard ha stilato la classifica dei migliori libri musicali di tutti i tempi, classifica che comprende biografie e autobiografie ma anche volumi di critica, antologie e dizionari. Qui in basso la classifica integrale a partire dalla centesima posizione, tra parentesi autore/i e anno di pubblicazione.
100. Hamilton: The Revolution (Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter, 2016)
099. Kill Your Friends (John Niven, 2008)
098. You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup (Peter Doggett, 2011)
097. This Is Your Brain on Music (Daniel Levitin, 2007)
096. Bob Dylan: An Intimate Biography (Anthony Scaduto, 1971)
095. The Disco Files 1973-1978: New York’s Underground, Week by Week (Vince Aletti, 2009)
094. The Music of Black Americans: A History (Eileen Southern, 1971)
093. The Rap Yearbook (Shea Serrano, 2015)
092. The Recording Angel: Music, Records and Culture from Aristotle to Zappa (Evan Eisenberg, 1987)
091. Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting (Jimmy Webb, 1998)
090. Rod: The Autobiography (Rod Stewart, 2012)
089. How Music Got Free (Stephen Witt, 2015)
088. The Love Song of Jonny Valentine: A Novel (Teddy Wayne, 2014)
087. Yesterdays: Popular Song in America (Charles Hamm, 1979)
086. Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (Tricia Rose, 1994)
085. My Cross to Bear (Gregg Allman, 2012)
084. One Nation Under a Groove: Motown and American Culture (Gerald Early, 1995)
083. Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs (John Lydon with Keith and Kent Zimmerman, 1993)
082. Trouble Boys: The True Story of The Replacements (Bob Mehr, 2016)
081. X-Ray: The Unauthorized Autobiography (Ray Davies, 1994)
080. Girl in a Band: A Memoir (Kim Gordon, 2015)
079. Running With the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music (Robert Walser, 1993)
078. Finishing the Hat; Look, I Made a Hat (Stephen Sondheim, 2010; 2011)
077. Shakey: Neil Young’s Biography (Jimmy McDonough, 2002)
076. Subculture: The Meaning of Style (Dick Hebdige, 1979)
075. Visions of Jazz (Gary Giddins, 1998)
074. Noise: The Political Economy of Music (Jacques Attali, 1985)
073. Last Night a DJ Saved My Life (Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton, 1999)
072. Rock She Wrote: Women Write About Rock, Pop, and Rap (Evelyn McDonnell and Ann Powers (eds.), 2014)
071. Black Sabbath’s Master of Reality (John Darnielle, 2008)
070. Eminent Hipsters (Donald Fagen, 2013)
069. Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl: A Memoir (Carrie Brownstein, 2015)
068. Deep Blues: A Musical and Cultural History of the Mississippi Delta (Robert Palmer, 1982)
067. Last Train to Memphis; Careless Love (Peter Guralnick, 1995; 1999)
066. Autobiography (Morrissey, 2013)
065. Mo’ Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove (Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Ben Greenman, 2013)
064: Straight Life: The Story of Art Pepper (Art Pepper, 1994)
063. Positively 4th Street (David Hajdu, 2001)
062. Musicophilia (Oliver Sacks, 2007)
061. Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984 (Simon Reynolds, 2005)
060. The Death of Rhythm and Blues (Nelson George, 1988)
059. I Want My MTV (Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum, 2011)
058. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock (Nick Logan and Bob Woffinden)
057. Cash: The Autobiography (Johnny Cash, 1997)
056. Frank: The Voice; Sinatra: The Chairman (James Kaplan, 2010; 2015)
055. The Dark Stuff: Selected Writings on Rock Music (Nick Kent, 1994)
054. Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans (Louis Armstrong, 1954)
053. Tune In: The Beatles: All These Years, Vol. 1 (Mark Lewisohn, 2013)
052. Love & Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class (Eric Lott, 1993)
051. Really the Blues (Mezz Mezzrow, 1964)
050. Boys in the Trees: A Memoir (Carly Simon, 2015)
049. All You Need to Know About the Music Business (Donald S. Passman, 1991)
048. Howling at the Moon: The Odyssey of a Monstrous Mogul in an Age of Excess (Walter Yetnikoff with David Ritz, 2004)
047. Christgau’s Record Guide: Rock Albums of the ’70s (Robert Christgau, 1981)
046. Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye (David Ritz, 1985)
045. Love Goes to Buildings on Fire: Five Years in New York That Changed Music Forever (Will Hermes, 2011)
044. Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age (Steve Knopper, 2009)
043. Rock Dreams (Guy Peellaert and Nik Cohn, 1973)
042. Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock’s Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout (Laura Jane Grace, 2016)
041. How Music Works (David Byrne, 2012)
040. The One: The Life and Music of James Brown (RJ Smith, 2012)
039. Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga (Stephen Davis, 1986)
038. Celine Dion’s Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste (Carl Wilson, 2007)
037. Yes I Can: The Story of Sammy Davis Jr. (Sammy Davis Jr. and Jane and Burt Boyar, 1965)
036. Blues People: Negro Music in White America (Leroi Jones (Amiri Baraka), 1963)
035. Follow the Music: The Life and High Times of Elektra Records in the Great Years of American Pop Culture (Jac Holzman and Gavan Daws, 1998)
034. Sound Effects: Youth, Leisure and the Politics of Rock ’n’ Roll (Simon Frith, 1981)
033. Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota (Chuck Klosterman, 2001)
032. The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century (Alex Ross, 2007)
031. Clothes Clothes Clothes Music Music Music Boys Boys Boys (Viv Albertine, 2014)
030. Decoded (Jay Z, 2011)
029. Our Band Could Be Your LIfe: Scenes From the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991 (Michael Azerrad, 2001)
028. Bound for Glory (Woody Guthrie, 1976)
027. Catch a Fire: The Life of Bob Marley (Timothy White, 1983)
026. Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time (Rob Sheffield, 2007)
025. Lady Sings the Blues (Billie Holiday with William Dufty, 1956)
024. Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung: The Work of a Legendary Critic: Rock ’n’ Roll as Literature and Literature as Rock ’n’ Roll (Lester Bangs, 1987)
023. Out of the Vinyl Deeps: Ellen Willis on Rock Music (Ellen Willis, 2011)
022. The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory (John Seabrook, 2015)
021. Miles: The Autobiography (Miles Davis with Quincy Troupe, 1989)
020. The Mansion on the Hill: Dylan, Young, Geffen, Springsteen and the Head-On Collision of Rock and Commerce (Fred Goodman, 1997)
019. Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon — and the Journey of a Generation (Sheila Weller, 2008)
018. The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll (Charlie Gillett, 1970)
017. Lost Highway: Journeys and Arrivals of American Musicians (Peter Guralnick, 1979)
016. The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band (Motley Crue with Neil Strauss, 2001)
015. Beneath the Underdog: His World as Composed by Mingus (Charles Mingus, 1971)
014. Ego Trip’s Big Book of Racism! (Sacha Jenkins, Elliott Wilson, Chairman Jefferson Mao, Gabriel Alvarez and Brent Rollins, 2002)
013. England’s Dreaming: The Sex Pistols and Punk Rock (Jon Savage, 1991)
012. I’m With the Band: Confessions of a Groupie (Pamela Des Barres, 1987)
011. Nowhere to Run: The Story of Soul Music (Gerri Hirshey, 1984)
010. Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk (Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, 1996)
009. High Fidelity (Nick Hornby, 1995)
008. Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation (Jeff Chang, 2005)
007. Revolution in the Head: The Beatles’ Records and the Sixties (Ian MacDonald, 1994)
006. Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock ’n’ Roll Music (Greil Marcus, 1975)
005. Just Kids (Patti Smith, 2010)
004. Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams (Nick Tosches, 1992)
003. Life (Keith Richards, 2010)
002. Hit Men: Power Brokers and Fast Money Inside the Music Business (Fredric Dannen, 1990)
001. Chronicles, Volume One (Bob Dylan, 2004)
