will.i.am: One of the most irritating and omnipresent artists dominating the charts at the moment, will.i.am may be able to whip up a good beat but he can't sing and he CERTAINLY can't write any kind of prose with meaning. Worst lyric: "I met a girl/Down at the disco/She said hey, hey, hey yeah let's go" [Black Eyed Peas, 'My Humps'].

Chad Kroeger: Terrible hair, terrible tunes, terrible songwriting ability. Worst lyric: "Look at this photograph/Every time I do it makes me laugh/How did our eyes get so red/And what the hell is on Joey's head?" [Nickelback, 'Photograph'].

Anthony Kiedis: Yelpy purveyors of repetitive funk rock, the Red Hot Chili Peppers clearly haven't had an original, interesting idea since the late 90, and this is reflected in their ridiculous, meaningless nonsensical lyricism. Worst lyric: "Tick tock I want to rock you/Like the eighties/Cock blocking isn't allowed" [Red Hot Chili Peppers, 'The Adventures of Raindance Maggie'].

Lil Wayne: The rapper used to be one of the best in the game in the early 2000s, but an ill-advised "rock" album and a collaboration with Paris Hilton, amongst other things, have left many Wayne fans with a bad taste in their mouths. Wayne's penchant for ridiculous metaphors and double entendres don't always pay off, either - it's even lead to a hilarious Twitter parody account, Rap Like Lil Wayne (example: "stole a fat guy's wallet, call that Robin Thicke"). Worst lyric: "My love is a revolver/Do you wanna be my target?" ['Revolver'].

Alanis Morissette: Isn't it ironic that she wrote an ENTIRE SONG called 'Ironic' about things that definitely aren't ironic? "It's like rain on your wedding day/it's like a free ride and you've already paid"…the song clearly should have just been called 'Shit Luck'. Morissette deserves to be in the list just for this, although we admit 'You Oughta Know' IS a tune. Worst lyrics: "How 'bout getting off these antibiotics/How 'bout stopping eating when I'm full up/How 'bout them transparent dangling carrots/How 'bout that ever elusive kudo" ['Thank U'].

Sting: Google "worst lyricist ever" and the most mentioned artist by a mile is the former Police frontman. In fact, he was once voted the worst lyricist in history by readers of Blender. The reasons? Clunky metaphors, pretentiousness and sugary spiritual messages, and we're inclined to agree. Worst lyric: "He starts to shake and cough/Just like the old man in that book by Nabakov" - with Nabakov pronounced incorrectly [The Police, 'Don't Stand So Close To Me'].

2 Chainz: The US rapper isn't here for deep, meaningful statements, just fun, quotable lyrics that are so hilariously bad they're good. There's gross-out statements, ridiculous double entendres and many times where he simply repeats the same line again and again. TRU! Worst lyric: "Let's put this thing in action/Let's put this thing in action/2 Chainz/Gave your girl a chain reaction" [Robin Thicke, 'Give It 2 U'].

Fred Durst: What can we say? The Limp Bizkit frontman is the God of big, dumb, stupid knuckle-dragging American frat rock, the most of which sounds like it was written by a pissed of 12 year old. Worst lyric: "I did it all for the nookie, c’mon/The nookie, c’mon/So you can take that cookie/And stick it up your… yeah!" ['Nookie', Limp Bizkit].

Justin Hawkins: Insulting the frontman of doomed glam rockers The Darkness is a bit like kicking a stupid puppy that won't stop pooing everywhere - everyone knows they were awful, and we should probably all just move on. But we can't help ourselves when we remember just how terrible they were. We're still not sure if it was a cruel joke or not. Worst lyric: "Sleepin' in an empty bed/I can't get you off my head/And I won't have a life until you're dead/Yeah you heard what I said" [The Darkness, 'Growing On Me'].

Lenny Kravitz: A talented musician he may be, but Kravitz has never been able to shake off the impression he is trying and failing to be a modern day Jimi Hendrix. His songwriting skills also leave much to be desired - cloying, cringey and faux-philosophical, under the illusion they're meaningful when they're about as deep as a puddle. Worst lyric: "Black velveteen knows all the night spots in France/Black velveteen's c*nt smells like strawberry kittens" ['Black Velveteen'].

Scott Stapp: Everyone knows grunge-lite cock rockers Creed are very, very terrible. But the worst aspect of their awfulness was probably frontman Stapp's attempt at deep, meaningful lyrics which just came out dumb as heck. Scott Stapp? More like Scott STOPP! Sorry. Worst lyric: "Hurray for a child/That makes it through/If there's anyway/Because the answer lies in you/What's this life for/I see your soul, it's kinda grey/You see my heart, you look away" [Creed, 'What's This Life For?'].

Insane Clown Posse: Ah, ICP. Forever the laughing stock of the music industry, and for multiple good reasons. You don't expect introspective, chin-stroking works of art from a duo whose hits include 'Chicken Huntin'', 'Piggy Pie', 'Boogie Woogie Wu' and 'Nuttin' But A Bitch Thang' - and when Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope DID try to go all philosophical on track 'Miracles', it was a disaster. Worst lyric: "I see miracles all around me/Stop and look around, it's all astounding/Water, fire, air and dirt/Fuckin' magnets, how do they work?" [Insane Clown Posse, 'Miracles'].

Shania Twain: We feel a little mean for this one [mainly because 'Man, I Feel Like A Woman' is a massive tune] but it's undeniable the country pop chanteuse's strength is not her songwriting, um, ability. Reading Twain's lyrics is a little like reading the poems you write in Year 6 in which you strive to rhyme every single word, not realising you're writing a load of bollocks. Worst lyric: "My panty line shows/Got a run in my hose/My hair went flat/Man, I hate that/Just when I thought things couldn't get worse/I realized I forgot my purse/With all this stress I must confess, this could be worse than PMS" ['Honey I'm Home'].

Jon Bon Jovi: Packed full of cheesy, tired cliches and try-hard, faux-meaningful observations, Bon Jovi's lyrics are even worse than their music. We can't quite understand why ANYONE likes them. Worst lyric: "I walk these streets, a loaded six string on my back/I play for keeps, cause I might not make it back/I been everywhere, still I'm standing tall/I've seen a million faces and I've rocked them all" [Jon Bon Jovi, 'Wanted Dead or Alive'].

Gavin Rossdale: UK alt rockers Bush were big in the 90s, especially in the USA where they sold over 10 million records at their peak. They enjoyed less success on their home turf, possibly because no one could get past their ridiculous lyrics, penned by Rossdale. They sound like the musings of someone who's hit their head on the pavement. Worst lyric: "I'm never alone/I'm alone all the time/Are you at one/Or do you lie/We live in a wheel/Where everyone steals/But when we rise it's like strawberry fields" [Bush, 'Glycerine'].

Liam Gallagher: An incredible frontman he may be - but file this one under "stick to your day job". Yep, we think Liam should definitely leave the songwriting to his far more capable brother Noel than put pen to paper himself. When he was allowed to write lyrics in the days of Oasis, it was almost always nonsensical dirge. If you don't agree, Liam does, telling Mojo in 2011: "I'm not good with words. I just say the first thing that comes into my head". No shit. Worst song lyric: 'Shake my tree, where%u2019s the apple for me/Tickle my feet with the enemy' [Beady Eye, 'Second Bite Of the Apple'].

Pitbull: We're still confused as to why this angry testicle became famous. In between constant declarations of "MR WORLDWIDE!" and how rich and successful he is, we're fairly certain he's just speaking gobbledegook. He makes us feel like an old, confused person and we don't like it. Worst lyric: "Your man just left/I’m the plumber tonight/Let me check your pipes/Oh, you’re the healthy type" ['Hotel Room Service'].