Music. It is a powerful thing that brings people together, creates memories, and evokes emotions. It is the universal language that speaks to the soul. It forms the soundtrack of our lives.
It has now been five years since we last counted down the Top 200 artists in my iTunes library, featuring the songs I have listened to the most since 2007. It is time to do so again, seeing which performers still resonate and if any newer ones have joined the fray. So, without further ado, here are my most listened to artists, based on number of plays as of January 1, 2026.
Formed in 1990 after the demise of Mother Love Bone following the death of singer Andrew Wood, Pearl Jam checks in today at #7 as we continue with the top ten. The new group burst onto the Seattle grunge scene in 1991 and, by the second half of 1992, became a worldwide sensation.
#7: Pearl Jam
iTunes stats: 874 plays
Previous ranking: #8
The grunge godfathers move up one spot thanks to a nearly 34% increase in plays. Their 874 plays, an increase of 221, come from 42 tracks spread between twelve different albums. Go, my most listened to of their songs, benefited from being used as the walkup song for White Sox star Paul Konerko’s final seasons and its inclusion on my various victory playlists.
I’ve seen them in concert twice: at Soldier Field back in 1995 and Wrigley Field in 2018. The first show took place during the tour they put on without using Ticketmaster, which led to a lottery for tickets. Pearl Jam came out and performed an astounding 29 song set, including 2 encores. My favorite memory of the night was during the performance of Better Man, when my friend Joe, not understanding the meaning of the song, said that all of the girls sang it about him, that they couldn’t find a better man. Ironically, this was my last visit to old Soldier Field, which would be “renovated” in 2001 and 2002.
The second show, more than 20 years later, came a long time since I had last considered myself a Pearl Jam fan. The show, while entertaining, certainly dragged for long periods between songs that I knew as the last album that I owned came out prior to the 1995 show.