How The "Worst Song Ever" Hit 1 Billion Streams
How "We Built This City" Became the Worst Song Ever While Earning a Billion Streams
In April 2004, Blender magazine crowned Starship’s "We Built This City" the worst song ever recorded. Despite this harsh verdict, the track achieved massive commercial success, topping charts worldwide and accumulating over a billion streams. The story reveals how a single editorial ranking transformed a chart-topping hit into a cultural meme.
The Song’s Origins and Production The track originated as a slow, mournful demo written by Bernie Toppen and Martin Paige about Los Angeles live music venues closing. After facing multiple rejections, producer Dennis Lambert and Peter Wolf reworked the material, adding a massive chorus and studio programming to create a radio-ready anthem. MTV executive Les Garland later replaced the original Los Angeles setting with a spoken interlude referencing the Golden Gate Bridge. Starship’s guitarist Craig Chaiko later noted the inherent irony, as the lyrics complained about live music dying while the recording relied heavily on synthesizers.
The Rise of the Worst Song Verdict The song’s reputation shifted dramatically in April 2004 when Blender magazine’s editor Craig Marx ranked it number one on a list of the worst songs ever made. Marx argued the track mocked industry excess while sounding like the commercial machine it criticized. VH1 amplified the ranking with a two-hour television special, and Rolling Stone later echoed the sentiment in a 2011 reader poll. Blender further cemented the joke in 2006 by broadcasting a writer’s reaction after listening to the track 324 times in twenty-four hours. This cycle of repetition turned a single editorial opinion into a lasting cultural label.
Key Facts
- "We Built This City" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 16, 1985, and also topped charts in Australia and Canada.
- The song earned a Grammy nomination for best rock vocal performance by a duo or group, losing to Dire Straits’s "Money for Nothing."
- Grace Slick became the oldest woman to sing lead vocals on a chart-topping single at age 46, a record she later broke at 47.
- The track has accumulated over 750 million streams on Spotify and 140 million views on YouTube, approaching one billion total plays.
- Starship originally operated as Jefferson Airplane before founding guitarist Paul Canner sued and retired the "Jefferson" name in early 1985.
Frequently Asked Questions Q: Why did Blender magazine rank "We Built This City" as the worst song ever recorded? A: Editor Craig Marx cited the song’s inherent irony, noting that it claimed to criticize music industry excess while sounding exactly like the commercial machine it pretended to attack.
Q: How did the song’s reputation become so widely accepted despite its massive commercial success? A: The initial magazine ranking was amplified by a VH1 television special, followed by a Rolling Stone reader poll and repeated media stunts. This cycle of repetition turned a single editorial opinion into a lasting cultural label.
Conclusion The label of worst song ever stems from a single 2004 editorial ranking rather than audience preference. Decades of chart success, licensing deals, and live performances prove the track remains a defining piece of 1980s rock history.