# Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time, 2009

The Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time was a music poll conducted in 2009 amongst listeners of Australian youth radio network Triple J. Over half a million votes were compiled, with Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" collecting the highest number of votes. Voters could submit a list of up to ten different songs as well as nominating one of these as their "all-time" favourite song.
It was the fifth such poll organised by Triple J, following similar polls in 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1998. Initially, all songs were eligible for annual Triple J Hottest 100s, however, from 1993 onward (after having no list in 1992), only songs released in the previous year were permitted. Thus, the Hottest 100 of All Time is conducted via a separate vote, held irregularly to reflect listeners' favourite songs across all eras.
The 2009 list was designed to reflect the twentieth anniversary of the Hottest 100's inception. The countdown was carried out from Tuesday, 7 July 2009 and finishing Sunday, 12 July 2009. The countdown was also broadcast over two nights on ABC TV's music show Rage. However, certain songs were omitted from the broadcast because they were never made into music videos.

## Full list

* Bold: Previous winner of a standard Hottest 100
* Green background: Australian artists
| # | Song | Artist | Country of origin | Year of release | Hottest 100 of the year position (year if different from year of release) | Previous Hottest 100 of all time position/s (year/s) |
| 1 | Smells Like Teen Spirit | Nirvana | United States | 1991 | NA | 1 (1991), 1 (1998) |
| 2 | Killing in the Name | Rage Against the Machine | United States | 1992 | 6 (1993) | 17 (1998) |
| 3 | Hallelujah | Jeff Buckley | United States | 1994 | | |
| 4 | Love Will Tear Us Apart | Joy Division | United Kingdom | 1980 | NA | 1 (1989), 1 (1990), 2 (1991), 16 (1998) |
| 5 | Paranoid Android | Radiohead | United Kingdom | 1997 | 5 | 13 (1998) |
| 6 | Bohemian Rhapsody | Queen | United Kingdom | 1975 | NA | 17 (1991), 8 (1998) |
| 7 | Last Goodbye | Jeff Buckley | United States | 1994 | 14 (1995) | 4 (1998) |
| 8 | Under the Bridge | Red Hot Chili Peppers | United States | 1991 | NA | 31 (1998) |
| 9 | Everlong | Foo Fighters | United States | 1997 | 61 (2006) | |
| 10 | Stairway to Heaven | Led Zeppelin | United Kingdom | 1971 | NA | 30 (1989), 61 (1990), 30 (1991), 6 (1998) |
| 11 | Imagine | John Lennon | United Kingdom | 1971 | NA | 31 (1989), 66 (1990), 121 (1991) |
| 12 | Wonderwall | Oasis | United Kingdom | 1995 | 1 | |
| 13 | Creep | Radiohead | United Kingdom | 1992 | 2 (1993) | 5 (1998) |
| 14 | Bitter Sweet Symphony | The Verve | United Kingdom | 1997 | 4 | 99 (1998) |
| 15 | Karma Police | Radiohead | United Kingdom | 1997 | 9 | 54 (1998) |
| 16 | Wish You Were Here | Pink Floyd | United Kingdom | 1975 | NA | 33 (1989), 35 (1990), 58 (1991), 41 (1998) |
| 17 | The Nosebleed Section | Hilltop Hoods | Australia | 2003 | 9 | |
| 18 | Knights of Cydonia | Muse | United Kingdom | 2006 | 1 (2007) | |
| 19 | One | Metallica | United States | 1988 | NA | 89 (1991), 7 (1998) |
| 20 | Seven Nation Army | The White Stripes | United States | 2003 | 3 | |
| 21 | These Days | Powderfinger | Australia | 1998 | 1 (1999) | |
| 22 | Teardrop | Massive Attack | United Kingdom | 1998 | 23 | |
| 23 | Throw Your Arms Around Me | Hunters & Collectors | Australia | 1985 | NA | 2 (1989), 2 (1990), 4 (1991), 2 (1998) |
| 24 | A Day in the Life | The Beatles | United Kingdom | 1967 | NA | 69 (1989), 49 (1998) |
| 25 | Alive | Pearl Jam | United States | 1991 | NA | 3 (1998) |
| 26 | Thriller | Michael Jackson | United States | 1984 | NA | |
| 27 | My Happiness | Powderfinger | Australia | 2000 | 1 | |
| 28 | Fake Plastic Trees | Radiohead | United Kingdom | 1995 | | |
| 29 | Where Is My Mind? | Pixies | United States | 1988 | NA | |
| 30 | All Along the Watchtower | Jimi Hendrix | United States | 1968 | NA | 49 (1989), 83 (1990), 61 (1991), 70 (1998) |
| 31 | Enter Sandman | Metallica | United States | 1991 | NA | 60 (1991), 9 (1998) |
| 32 | Blue Monday | New Order | United Kingdom | 1983 | NA | 5 (1989), 5 (1990), 10 (1991), 30 (1998) |
| 33 | Tomorrow | Silverchair | Australia | 1994 | 5 | 59 (1998) |
| 34 | Prisoner of Society | The Living End | Australia | 1997 | 15 | 18 (1998) |
| 35 | 1979 | The Smashing Pumpkins | United States | 1996 | 13 | 71 (1998) |
| 36 | Into My Arms | Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds | Australia | 1997 | 18 | 84 (1998) |
| 37 | Stinkfist | Tool | United States | 1996 | 2 | 24 (1998) |
| 38 | Mr. Brightside | The Killers | United States | 2004 | 13 | |
| 39 | Better Man | Pearl Jam | United States | 1994 | 44 (1995) | 22 (1998) |
| 40 | Come as You Are | Nirvana | United States | 1991 | NA | 76 (1991), 62 (1998) |
| 41 | Billie Jean | Michael Jackson | United States | 1983 | NA | |
| 42 | Banquet | Bloc Party | United Kingdom | 2005 | | |
| 43 | God Only Knows | The Beach Boys | United States | 1966 | NA | |
| 44 | Hey Jude | The Beatles | United Kingdom | 1968 | NA | |
| 45 | No One Knows | Queens of the Stone Age | United States | 2002 | 1 | |
| 46 | Epic | Faith No More | United States | 1990 | NA | 19 (1998) |
| 47 | Betterman | The John Butler Trio | Australia | 2001 | 5 | |
| 48 | Sabotage | Beastie Boys | United States | 1994 | 16 | 44 (1998) |
| 49 | Sweet Child o' Mine | Guns N' Roses | United States | 1988 | NA | 27 (1991), 77 (1998) |
| 50 | Don't Dream It's Over | Crowded House | Australia | 1986 | NA | 76 (1998) |
| 51 | Bullet with Butterfly Wings | The Smashing Pumpkins | United States | 1995 | 2 | 33 (1998) |
| 52 | Berlin Chair | You Am I | Australia | 1994 | 23 | 61 (1998) |
| 53 | Comfortably Numb | Pink Floyd | United Kingdom | 1979 | NA | 95 (1990), 73 (1991), 90 (1998) |
| 54 | Close to Me | The Cure | United Kingdom | 1985 | NA | 89 (1998) |
| 55 | Like a Rolling Stone | Bob Dylan | United States | 1965 | NA | |
| 56 | Lover, You Should've Come Over | Jeff Buckley | United States | 1994 | | 47 (1998) |
| 57 | Forty-Six & 2 | Tool | United States | 1997 | 30 | 57 (1998) |
| 58 | Around the World | Daft Punk | France | 1997 | | |
| 59 | One Crowded Hour | Augie March | Australia | 2006 | 1 | |
| 60 | Hurt | Johnny Cash | United States | 2003 | | |
| 61 | Song 2 | Blur | United Kingdom | 1997 | 2 | 46 (1998) |
| 62 | Closer | Nine Inch Nails | United States | 1994 | 2 | 14 (1998) |
| 63 | Thunderstruck | AC/DC | Australia | 1990 | NA | |
| 64 | Blister in the Sun | Violent Femmes | United States | 1982 | NA | 46 (1989), 41 (1990), 9 (1991), 15 (1998) |
| 65 | Born Slippy | Underworld | United Kingdom | 1995 | 12 (1996) | |
| 66 | Tiny Dancer | Elton John | United Kingdom | 1971 | NA | |
| 67 | Brick | Ben Folds Five | United States | 1997 | 12 (1998) | 32 (1998) |
| 68 | Dammit (Growing Up) | Blink-182 | United States | 1997 | 6 | 20 (1998) |
| 69 | Grace | Jeff Buckley | United States | 1994 | 89 (1995) | 29 (1998) |
| 70 | Breathe | The Prodigy | United Kingdom | 1996 | 7 | 95 (1998) |
| 71 | How Soon Is Now? | The Smiths | United Kingdom | 1984 | NA | 7 (1989), 3 (1990), 6 (1991), 28 (1998) |
| 72 | New Slang | The Shins | United States | 2001 | | |
| 73 | London Calling | The Clash | United Kingdom | 1979 | na | 18 (1989), 28 (1990), 97 (1991) |
| 74 | Lithium | Nirvana | United States | 1991 | NA | 3 (1991), 45 (1998) |
| 75 | Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) | Green Day | United States | 1997 | 84 (1998) | |
| 76 | Fools Gold | The Stone Roses | United Kingdom | 1989 | NA | 6 (1990), 7 (1991), 39 (1998) |
| 77 | Hearts a Mess | Gotye | Australia | 2006 | 8 | |
| 78 | Today | The Smashing Pumpkins | United States | 1993 | 25 (1994) | 40 (1998) |
| 79 | Life on Mars? | David Bowie | United Kingdom | 1971 | NA | |
| 80 | Paint It, Black | The Rolling Stones | United Kingdom | 1966 | NA | |
| 81 | Common People | Pulp | United Kingdom | 1995 | 38 | |
| 82 | Chop Suey! | System of a Down | United States | 2001 | 3 | |
| 83 | Every You Every Me | Placebo | United Kingdom | 1999 | 5 | |
| 84 | No Woman, No Cry | Bob Marley & The Wailers | Jamaica | 1974 | NA | |
| 85 | Bohemian Like You | The Dandy Warhols | United States | 2000 | 10 | |
| 86 | Come Together | The Beatles | United Kingdom | 1969 | NA | |
| 87 | Yellow | Coldplay | United Kingdom | 2000 | 5 | |
| 88 | Gimme Shelter | The Rolling Stones | United Kingdom | 1969 | NA | |
| 89 | Bulls on Parade | Rage Against the Machine | United States | 1996 | 46 | |
| 90 | Sex on Fire | Kings of Leon | United States | 2008 | 1 | |
| 91 | Back in Black | AC/DC | Australia | 1980 | NA | |
| 92 | Skinny Love | Bon Iver | United States | 2007 | 21 (2008) | |
| 93 | Unfinished Sympathy | Massive Attack | United Kingdom | 1991 | NA | 64 (1991), 34 (1998) |
| 94 | Float On | Modest Mouse | United States | 2004 | 11 | |
| 95 | Superstition | Stevie Wonder | United States | 1972 | NA | |
| 96 | One More Time | Daft Punk | France | 2000 | 61 (2001) | |
| 97 | Beds Are Burning | Midnight Oil | Australia | 1987 | NA | |
| 98 | Kashmir | Led Zeppelin | United Kingdom | 1975 | NA | 63 (1998) |
| 99 | Wolf Like Me | TV on the Radio | United States | 2006 | 63 | |
| 100 | Take Me Out | Franz Ferdinand | United Kingdom | 2004 | 1 | |

## Artists with multiple entries

| # | Artist | Tracks |
| 5 | Dave Grohl | 1, 9, 40, 45, 74 |
| 4 | Jeff Buckley | 3, 7, 56, 69 |
| 4 | Radiohead | 5, 13, 15, 28 |
| 4 | John Lennon | 11, 24, 44, 86 |
| 3 | Nirvana | 1, 40, 74 |
| 3 | The Smashing Pumpkins | 24, 44, 86 |
| 3 | The Beatles | 35, 51, 78 |
| 2 | Rage Against the Machine | 2, 89 |
| 2 | Peter Hook | 4, 32 |
| 2 | Stephen Morris | 4, 32 |
| 2 | Bernard Sumner | 4, 32 |
| 2 | Led Zeppelin | 10, 98 |
| 2 | Pink Floyd | 16, 53 |
| 2 | Metallica | 19, 31 |
| 2 | Pearl Jam | 21, 27 |
| 2 | Massive Attack | 22, 93 |
| 2 | Michael Jackson | 26, 41 |
| 2 | Tool | 37, 57 |
| 2 | Daft Punk | 58, 96 |
| 2 | AC/DC | 63, 91 |
| 2 | The Rolling Stones | 80, 88 |

## Countries represented

| Country | Count |
| United States | 46 |
| United Kingdom | 36 |
| Australia | 16 |
| France | 2 |
| Jamaica | 1 |

## Songs by decade

| Decade | Song Count |
| 1960s | 8 |
| 1970s | 11 |
| 1980s | 15 |
| 1990s | 44 |
| 2000s | 22 |

## Trivia

* News of Michael Jackson's death surfaced during the final week of voting. Triple J announcers pointed out that both "Thriller" and "Billie Jean" were already polling enough votes to feature in the top 100, but that the final week of voting pushed both songs further up the list.
* This is the first Hottest 100 of All Time where The Cure did not achieve more than one track. This is also the first time where The Cure did not have the most songs in a Hottest 100 Of All Time.
* This is the first Hottest 100 of All Time where R.E.M. did not achieve any tracks. In all other years, they had achieved at least two.
* Only one vote separated "No One Knows" by Queens of the Stone Age from "Hey Jude" by The Beatles.
* Radiohead swapped the number 5 and 13 positions they had held in the 1998 Of All Time countdown with "Creep" and "Paranoid Android".
* Franz Ferdinand are the second band behind Powderfinger to come 1st and 100th in a Hottest 100. "Take Me Out" is also the first song in the Hottest 100 to have reached both ends of the countdown.
* This is the first Hottest 100 of All Time countdown to not feature any songs from the year of the countdown.
* This countdown also is the first to not feature any Australian artists in the Top 10. The highest Australian entry was #17, a record low in any Hottest 100.
* With sixteen entries coming from Australian artists, the 2009 Of All Time list equals the record set in the 1990 Of All Time countdown for the fewest entries from Australian artists in a countdown.
* It was announced at the beginning of the countdown that #101 was "Heart Shaped Box" by Nirvana. This is the first known instance where the same artist held both the 1st and 101st positions in a Hottest 100.
* Only two songs in the entire Hottest 100 featured a female lead vocalist: Shara Nelson and Elizabeth Fraser, both of whom were guest vocalists on songs by Massive Attack ("Unfinished Sympathy" and "Teardrop" respectively). As such, there were no female artists or bands with permanent female vocalists who reached the countdown.
** Overall, six bands with songs on the countdown included female instrumentalists. These were The Dandy Warhols, New Order, Pixies, Pulp, The Smashing Pumpkins and The White Stripes, accounting for eight songs between them, the only other songs which featured contributions from a female musician were "Wolf Like Me" by TV on the Radio, which featured backing vocals from musician Katrina Ford, and "Gimme Shelter" by The Rolling Stones, which featured backing vocals from singer Merry Clayton.

## CD release

Triple J released a compilation disc including 36 of the tracks.
| CD 1 Nirvana – "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (#1) Radiohead – "Paranoid Android" (#5) Muse – "Knights of Cydonia" (#18) Hilltop Hoods – "The Nosebleed Section" (#17) Daft Punk – "Around the World" (#58) Joy Division – "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (#4) Oasis – "Wonderwall" (#12) Faith No More – "Epic" (#46) The Living End – "Prisoner of Society" (#34) The John Butler Trio – "Betterman" (#47) Pixies – "Where Is My Mind?" (#29) Massive Attack – "Teardrop" (#22) The Stone Roses – "Fools Gold (#76) Violent Femmes – "Blister in the Sun" (#64) The White Stripes – "Seven Nation Army" (#20) Powderfinger – "These Days" (#21) David Bowie – "Life on Mars?" (#79) Augie March – "One Crowded Hour" (#59) | CD 2 Rage Against the Machine – "Killing in the Name" (#2) Bloc Party – "Banquet" (#42) New Order – "Blue Monday" (#32) Queens of the Stone Age – "No One Knows" (#45) You Am I – "Berlin Chair" (#52) The Killers – "Mr. Brightside" (#38) The Shins – "New Slang" (#72) The Beach Boys – "God Only Knows" (#43) The Cure – "Close to Me" (#54) Franz Ferdinand– "Take Me Out" (#100) The Prodigy – "Breathe" (#70) Midnight Oil – "Beds Are Burning" (#97) Gotye – "Hearts a Mess" (#77) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – "Into My Arms" (#36) Silverchair – "Tomorrow" (#33) Pulp – "Common People" (#81) Hunters & Collectors – "Throw Your Arms Around Me" (#23) Jeff Buckley – "Hallelujah" (#3) |
DVD
* Radiohead – "Paranoid Android" (#5)
* Rage Against the Machine – "Killing in the Name" (#2)
* Muse – "Knights of Cydonia" (#18)
* Jeff Buckley – "Hallelujah" (#3)
* Joy Division – "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (#4)
* Oasis – "Wonderwall" (#12)
* Hilltop Hoods – "The Nosebleed Section" (#17)
* The White Stripes – "Seven Nation Army" (#20)
* Massive Attack – "Teardrop" (#22)
* Powderfinger – "My Happiness" (#27)
* Hunters & Collectors – "Throw Your Arms Around Me" (#23)
* New Order – "Blue Monday" (#32)
* The Killers – "Mr. Brightside" (#38)
* The Living End – "Prisoner of Society" (#34)
* Silverchair – "Tomorrow" (#33)
* Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – "Into My Arms" (#36)
* Bloc Party – "Banquet" (#42)
* Faith No More – "Epic" (#46)
* You Am I – "Berlin Chair" (#52)
* The John Butler Trio – "Betterman" (#47)
* The Cure – "Close to Me" (#54)
* Augie March – "One Crowded Hour" (#59)
* Violent Femmes – "Blister in the Sun" (#64)
* Blink-182 – "Dammit (Growing Up)" (#68)
* The Prodigy – "Breathe" (#70)
* The Stone Roses – "Fools Gold (#76)
* The Shins – "New Slang" (#72)
* Ben Folds Five – "Brick" (#67)
* Gotye – "Hearts a Mess" (#77)
* David Bowie – "Life on Mars?" (#79)
* Pulp – "Common People" (#81)
* The Dandy Warhols – "Bohemian Like You" (#85)
* System of a Down – "Chop Suey!" (#82)
* Modest Mouse – "Float On" (#94)
* Coldplay – "Yellow" (#87)
* TV On The Radio – "Wolf Like Me" (#99)
* Midnight Oil – "Beds Are Burning" (#97)
* Franz Ferdinand– "Take Me Out" (#100)
* Radiohead – "Fake Plastic Trees" (#28)