The 200 Greatest Songs By 21st Century Women+

This list is part of Turning the Tables, an ongoing project from NPR Music dedicated to recasting the popular music canon in more inclusive – and accurate – ways. This year, our list, selected by a panel of more than 70 women and non-binary writers, tackles history in the making, celebrating artists whose work is changing this century's sense of what popular music can be. The songs are by artists whose major musical contributions came after Jan. 1, 2000, and have shifted attitudes, defied categories and pushed sound in new directions since then.

Our list includes songs performed by women and non-binary artists. The use of the term "Women⁺" is part of our engagement in a movement to recognize a wide spectrum of gender identities coming to greater light in the 21st century.

Spoiler alert: "Love Song,"' 2007 breakthrough single, was never about a person. Rather, "Love Song" was simply Bareilles' poppy response to a label (not to mention the music industry at large) that kept asking for a radio-friendly love song to kick off her music career. Frustrated by the creative confinement, Bareilles put pen to paper