Linkin Park’s ‘Lost’ Is First Song to Debut at No. 1 on Rock & Alternative Airplay in Over a Decade

For the first time in over a decade, there’s a No. 1 debut on Billboard’s Rock & Alternative Airplay chart.

Linkin Park’s “Lost,” recorded during the sessions for the band’s 2003 album, Meteora, and released Feb. 11, bows at No. 1 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay list dated Feb. 25.

In the Feb. 10-16 tracking week, “Lost” earned 10.1 million audience impressions, according to Luminate. That’s the best weekly impression count for any song since Lana Del Rey’s “Doin’ Time” earned 10.5 million in its sixth and final week at No. 1 (Oct. 12, 2019).

The last song to debut with a higher audience total than “Lost”? “Jumpsuit” by Twenty One Pilots (10.2 million, July 21, 2018; it opened at No. 4 that week).

“Lost” is one of just four songs to bound in at No. 1 on Rock & Alternative Airplay dating to the chart’s June 2009 inception – and Linkin Park is the first act to achieve the feat twice. The band’s “The Catalyst” began atop the Aug. 21, 2010, survey, followed by Foo Fighters’ “Rope” (March 12, 2011) and Green Day’s “Oh Love” (Aug. 4, 2012).

Linkin Park lands its fourth Rock & Alternative Airplay No. 1, after “New Divide” ruled for 12 weeks in 2009, followed by “The Catalyst” (five weeks, 2010) and “Burn It Down” (11 weeks, 2012). In between “Burn” and “Lost,” the band appeared on the chart nine times, led by the No. 7-peaking “Lost in the Echo” in 2012, but had not made the list since 2017, following the death of frontman Chester Bennington that July. (“Lost” is the first song in the chart’s archives to hit No. 1 after the passing of its vocalist.)

Linkin Park ties Red Hot Chili Peppers for the seventh-most Rock & Alternative Airplay No. 1s. Foo Fighters lead all acts with nine.

Most No. 1s, Rock & Alternative Airplay:

Concurrently, “Lost” starts at No. 4 on Alternative Airplay, the best premiere for any song since Linkin Park’s own “The Catalyst” soared in at No. 3 in 2010. It’s the band’s 18th top 10 and first since its Steve Aoki co-bill “A Light That Never Comes,” which reached No. 7 in 2013.

The band’s 18 top 10s tie it for seventh-best in the chart’s 34-year history. Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers rule with 28 apiece.

Most Top 10s, Alternative Airplay:

“Lost” also begins at No. 6 on Mainstream Rock Airplay, also Linkin Park’s 18th top 10 and, in this case, its first since “Until It’s Gone” ruled for a week in 2014.

While Linkin Park makes its first appearance on a Billboard airplay tally in more than five years, Bennington’s voice has been heard on charted entries following his passing via the release of music from Grey Daze, his pre-Linkin Park band. That act’s “Sickness” hit No. 2 on Mainstream Rock Airplay in May 2020, followed by a No. 29 peak for “B12” that September.

More chart appearances for “Lost” are set for other Billboard charts dated Feb. 25 (all to refresh on Billboard.com Wednesday, Feb. 22). “Lost” is a taste of the 20th-anniversary reissue of Meteora, due April 7. The album debuted as Linkin Park’s first of six No. 1s on the Billboard 200, ruling for two weeks in April 2003.

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