Rock In The Year 2116

2116. One hundred years from now. Will citizens of planet Earth still be listening to The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Bon Jovi, Nirvana, The Killers, White Stripes and Radiohead? Just how durable are the rock and pop artists of today, or of the past sixty or so years of rock and roll? I am guessing that The Beatles and Rolling Stones will still be on playlists in the far flung future. Their timeless appeal through great lyrics, songwriting and musicianship may see them through. But Peter Frampton or LL Cool J or Rob Zombie.... I don't think so. 

I heard a portion of a podcast over at The Classic Metal Show that inspired me to think and write about this topic. The guys at The Classic Metal Show were kicking around names of bands and songs they thought might still be popular in one hundred years. I think they had a few good guesses, but it's a really tough call. 

For one thing, how will people even listen to music in a century? Probably not on CDs anymore, or any physical medium for that matter. Hm, will vinyl still be a thing.... will there be such purists that far down the line? I know radio is as good as dead now. 

Will we (the future we) own home stereos? I am one of only a small number of my friends and acquaintances who actually have an audio system: CD player, amplifier, and speakers (and high-end headphones). Everyone else listens to music over their smartphone or laptop, wearing earbuds. Yeah, great fidelity there. I know a large portion of the world's populace is fine with that method, but I can't enjoy that highly compressed sound for very long. I suppose some enthusiasts connect their digital device to their compatible home theatre system and listen to their favourite streaming music service and playlists that way. 

So how will it be done in 2116? Stick a wireless device into a port behind the ear? Broadcasting implants? Speakers everywhere we go, with access to The Cloud, and our voice commands select the music we want?

Okay, I got a little off track there but I think how we get our music can affect what we hear. Force-fed playlists via satellite. Or more choice with delivery systems like Spotify. And there's iTunes. But back to the songs of the future... well, not what will come in the future, but what tunes of today will endure and remain a staple many decades from now.

Artists I believe will remain in the hearts and minds of future Earthlings will be the ones that had huge emotional impact on the world during the peak of their careers. So there are The Beatles and Stones. Led Zeppelin. Michael Jackson. Madonna. The Eagles. Journey. Queen. The Who. Oh, and Elvis, for sure! And maybe one or two AC/DC songs. There's more.

There is a strange category nowadays, the songs that are played at sports events. You know, stuff like Eye of the Tiger, We Will Rock You, Thunderstruck, Welcome to the Jungle, and Sweet Caroline (for the Boston Red Sox). I think at least a few of these will be played at venues in years to come, even though they aren't necessarily all great songs. 

Narrowing down to one genre for a moment, when I look at the top metal songs of all time, I wonder how a future headbanger would react to them. Master of Puppets, Angel of Death, Ace of Spades, Black Sabbath, Number of the Beast. Still powerful today, but in ten decades? Maybe. Hard to say. I'd like to think that Heaven and Hell (by Sabbath), Holy Wars (Megadeth), and Electric Eye (Judas Priest) would be considered hallowed classics by metal-heads long from now. But that might not happen. 

So. not in any particular order, here are some of the pop/rock songs that I think could remain in the public consciousness until the year 2116:

Jailhouse Rock - Elvis (how could The King not have a place on a future playlist?)
Satisfaction - Rolling Stones
Hey Jude, Let it Be, Yesterday - Beatles
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
Hotel California - Eagles
Don't Stop Believing - Journey
Eruption/You Really Got Me - Van Halen (Eruption will still inspire guitarists in 2116)
Baba O'Riley - The Who 
Closer to the Heart - Rush
Rock and Roll All Night - Kiss (anthemic party tunes will always be important to humanity)
Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd
War Pigs - Black Sabbath
Tiny Dancer, Rocket Man - Elton John
You've Got Another Thing Comin' - Judas Priest (and maybe their anthem Breaking the Law)
We Will Rock You, We Are the Champions - Queen (at sports events only, I predict)
Sweet Child o' Mine - GNR
Enter Sandman, Seek and Destroy - Metallica (sports events only?)
Back in Black - AC/DC (and possibly Hells Bells and You Shook Me All Night Long)
Rock You Like a Hurricane - Scorpions (an adult entertainment club standard... nudge nudge)
Pour Some Sugar On Me - Def Leppard (not a great song, but same as the Scorpions above)
Girls, Girls, Girls - Motley Crue (will only survive for the adult clubs... same as above)
Cherry Pie - Warrant (shamelessly shlocky hair-metal but... same as the three preceding tunes)
Vogue, Like a Prayer - Madonna
Billie Jean - Michael Jackson