Billboard Magazine

Billboard’s All-Time Top Alternative Songs PEAK PEAK WEEKS RANK TITLE Artist DATE. POS. AT #1 15 IT’S BEEN AWHILE Staind 4/28/01 1 16 16 SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT Nirvana 11/23/91 1 1 The band’s inﬂuence on the format lived on long past the death of frontman Kurt Cobain in 1994. Mining its vault, Nirvana notched three of its seven top 10s and two of its ﬁve No. 1s following his death, including the four-week leader “You Know You’re Right” in 2002. 17 BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS Green Day 12/11/04 1 16 18 FEEL GOOD INC. Gorillaz 8/27/05 1 8 19 SO ALIVE Love and Rockets 6/24/89 1 5 20 MYSTERIOUS WAYS U2 11/30/91 1 9 21 REGRET New Order 5/1/93 1 6 22 TIGHTEN UP The Black Keys 11/6/10 1 10 Muse 23 BLURRY Puddle of Mudd 1/26/02 1 9 24 6/25/11 1 5 PEAK PEAK WEEKS PUMPED UP KICKS Foster the People RANK TITLE Artist DATE. POS. AT #1 25 IN THE END Linkin Park 12/22/01 1 5 1 UPRISING Muse 9/26/09 1 17 The song sports the Alternative chart’s third-lengthiest domination, having led for 17 26 1901 Phoenix 2/20/10 1 2 frames in 2009-10. This year, the band set the record for the longest reign with a 19-week 27 command for “Madness” (No. 3) that concluded in February. In between is Foo Fighters’ LAY ME DOWN The Dirty Heads Featuring Rome 5/15/10 1 11 “The Pretender” (18 weeks, 2007). 28 FASCINATION STREET The Cure 5/6/89 1 7 2 SAVIOR Rise Against 11/28/09 3 — 29 GOOD Better Than Ezra 4/29/95 1 5 Despite scoring the chart’s runner-up slot, the 30 6/26/99 1 16 song is one of just seven on the tally that didn’t SCAR TISSUE Red Hot Chili Peppers reach No. 1, having peaked at No. 3. How does it 31 ZOMBIE The Cranberries 10/29/94 1 6 rank so high? It spent a record 65 weeks on the chart, including 58 in the top 10 (also a record) 32 KRYPTONITE 3 Doors Down 5/20/00 1 11 from Aug. 22, 2009, through Sept. 25, 2010. 33 PARALYZER Finger Eleven 8/25/07 1 1 3 MADNESS Muse 10/13/12 1 19 34 SEX ON FIRE Kings of Leon 12/20/08 1 8 4 THE PRETENDER Foo Fighters 9/1/07 1 18 35 WHAT IT’S LIKE Everlast 12/26/98 1 9 5 RADIOACTIVE Imagine Dragons 3/2/13 1 13 36 1979 The Smashing Pumpkins 3/2/96 1 1 6 HEMORRHAGE (IN MY HANDS) Fuel 11/4/00 1 12 37 ALL MY LIFE Foo Fighters 11/23/02 1 10 7 CUTS YOU UP Peter Murphy 2/10/90 1 7 38 KISS THEM FOR ME Siouxsie & The Banshees 7/6/91 1 5 The U.K.-born singer claims the top-ranking title of the ’90s. British acts, in fact, recorded the biggest hits of almost every decade of 39 PEPPER Butthole Surfers 7/6/96 1 3 the Alternative chart’s existence: Muse’s “Uprising” (No. 1) is the top song of the 2010s, while Love and Rockets’ “So Alive” (No. 19) 40 NUMB Linkin Park 11/22/03 1 12 is the highest-placing ’80s track. Chicago’s Rise Against prevents an A major contributor to the genre’s rap/rock movement English clean sweep with the top hit of the ’00s (“Savior,” No. 2). of the early 2000s, the song topped Alternative for 12 weeks in 2003-04 and reached No. 5 on Mainstream Top 8 DRIVE Incubus 3/3/01 1 8 40. Reimagined with Jay Z, the song returned to reach No. 12 on the latter airplay survey a year later. 9 SEX AND CANDY Marcy Playground 12/27/97 1 15 41 INSIDE OUT Eve 6 8/8/98 1 4 10 WHEN I COME AROUND Green Day 1/7/95 1 7 42 BY THE WAY Red Hot Chili Peppers 6/29/02 1 14 11 HOW YOU REMIND ME Nickelback 9/22/01 1 13 The format cornerstones hold the records for the most Alternative 12 MY OWN WORST ENEMY Lit 4/10/99 1 11 No. 1s (12, ahead of Linkin Park’s 11), the most weeks at No. 1 (85, trailed by Foo Fighters’ 74) and the most top 10s (24, one in front 13 LIGHTNING CRASHES Live 2/25/95 1 9 of U2’s 23). This song marks Red Hot Chili Peppers’ longest stay at No. 1, with each of their leaders ruling for multiple weeks. 14 WONDERWALL Oasis 12/30/95 1 10 MUSE: GAVIN BOND; RISE AGAINST: ANDRE BADENHORST; MURPHY: THOMAS TADEUS BAK; NIRVANA: CHRIS CUFFARO; LINKIN PARK: JAMES MINCHIN; RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS: CLARA BALZARY MINCHIN; RED HOT JAMES LINKIN PARK: CHRIS CUFFARO; NIRVANA: BAK; THOMAS TADEUS MURPHY: ANDRE BADENHORST; BOND; RISE AGAINST: MUSE: GAVIN 32 BILLBOARD | SEPTEMBER 14, 2013.

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