This list consists of albums or songs considered the worst examples of popular music, based on reviews, polls and sentiment from music critics, musicians and the public.

Albums

1960s–1970s

1980s–1990s

2000s–2020s

Songs

The following songs have been named by critics, broadcasters, composers, and listeners as the "worst ever". Examples of sources include VH1's "50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever" and Blender magazine's "Run for Your Life! It's the 50 Worst Songs Ever!".

1950s–1960s

1970s–1980s

1990s–2000s

2010s–2020s

Others

In 1953, following the success of Harry Kari's "Yes, Sir...," Tony Burrello and Tom Murray, bitter that their more serious music was struggling to find an audience without success, decided to launch Horrible Records to intentionally record the worst music possible. The label recorded one single, "There's a New Sound" by Burrello, b-sided by "Fish", sung by former silent film actress Leona Anderson. In 1997, artists Komar and Melamid and composer Dave Soldier released "The Most Unwanted Song," designed after surveying 500 people to determine the most annoying lyrical and musical elements. These elements included bagpipes, cowboy music, an opera singer rapping and a children's choir that urged listeners to go shopping at Walmart. As described by the online service UbuWeb, "The most unwanted music is over 25 minutes long, veers wildly between loud and quiet sections, between fast and slow tempos... with each dichotomy presented in abrupt transition." The conceptual artists also recorded "The Most Wanted Song", a love song designed based on survey results to feature the most popular subject and instrumentation. Both tracks include, as an in-joke, references to philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. Classical music media has run fewer "worst-ever" lists than have been produced for pop music, either for composers or individual pieces. There have been articles on the worst recorded versions (including those of Florence Foster Jenkins) and the worst classical album covers. The worst song to appear in a film is annually awarded the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song. This "award" was given from the ceremony's inception in 1980 until 1999 and resurfaced in 2002. It parodies the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Some publications have compiled lists of the "worst" music videos ever. Album cover artwork has also been subject to "all-time worst" lists. Individual tastes can vary widely such that very little consensus can be achieved. For example, the winning song in a CNN email poll received less than five percent of the total votes cast.