Len's 'Steal My Sunshine' Ranked No. 18 Among Best Summer Songs by Rolling Stone

"Steal My Sunshine," the 1999 alt-pop hit by Canadian duo Len, has been ranked No. 18 on Rolling Stone's list of the best summer songs.

The song was Len's one and only big hit, originally appearing on the soundtrack for the movie Go starring William Fichtner and Katie Holmes. This led to heavy rotation on the radio, which led Len's label to push up the release of their album You Can't Stop the Bum Rush to May - just in time for summer - and have "Steal My Sunshine" as the lead single.

"Everyone was gung-ho about the new No Doubt, but Len is what really grabbed me," San Francisco DJ Aaron Axelson told Billboardat the time. "Not only is it fresh and connected with a hip movie; the song is a great balancer in a sea of Kid Rock and Korn."

The song sounds like it could have only come out in 1999, with its nasally vocals and ska beats that captured the decade's optimism post-Cold War and pre-9/11. One Redditor called it "one of the most '90s sounding songs ever made," comparing it to Third Eye Blind's "Semi-Charmed Life." It also opens with that instantly recognizable sample from Andrea True Connection's "More, More, More."

In 2016, Stereogumdeemed "Steal My Sunshine" as "the song of every summer, past, present, and future." But back in 1999, LA radio station KROQ gave it the "song of the summer" distinction - a coveted honor.

"A week later we're in a cab driving down Sunset, and from the time we went from North Hollywood to Santa Monica, we heard the song maybe five times going past us in a car," Len's Marc Costanzo told Stereogum. "And right there, we knew something was going on. I mean, we didn't know it was gonna be that big or last for 20 years, but it was pretty obvious something was going down."

"Steal My Sunshine" never went to No. 1, but peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 9, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 2:11 PM.