Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody is regularly considered one of the biggest and best pieces of music ever made, and every year, when the Dutch radio station NPO Radio 2 counts down the top 2000 songs of all time, the 1970s classic is practically a shoo-in to nab to coveted number one spot. 

But, 2020 has been anything but predictable, and this year has seen Queen bumped from number one to number two by the song Roller Coaster by Dutch singer Danny Vera. The track was released in 2019, and achieved a very respectable fourth place in the 2019 top 2000. However, after the events of the last 12 months, many had expected the song to perform even better in 2020. 

Danny Vera’s Roller Coaster in the Top 2000

Radio 2 revealed the top 10 tracks live on air on December 7, with station manager Peter de Vries saying: “Roller Coaster is emerging as the soundtrack of our time. It is fantastic that Danny Vera, a homegrown artist, is able to touch the voters' hearts.”

Watch the moment Vera heard his song had been selected as the top song of 2020 by the Netherlands:

Top 10 of the Top 200

1. Roller Coaster, Danny Vera 
2. Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen
3. Hotel California, Eagles
4. Piano Man, Billy Joel
5. Stairway to Heaven, Led Zeppelin
6. Black - Pearl Jam
7. Evening, Baldwin de Groot
8. Fix You, Coldplay
9. Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd
10. Heroes, David Bowie

Every year, the Top 2000 is put together based on votes by listeners, and has been a staple of Dutch radio since its inception in 1999. Since then, Bohemian Rhapsody has claimed the number one spot an impressive 17 times. 

Interested to hear if any of your favourites made it into the Top 2000? The complete list will be revealed on December 17, and you can listen live to the countdown from Christmas day right through to New Year’s Eve - something to keep you occupied during the strange Christmas / New Year’s limbo!

Thumb: Escha Tanihatu via dannyvera.com.