Rock
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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).
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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:
9, Foo Fighters
6, Cage the Elephant
6, Green Day
6, twenty one pilots
5, The Black Keys
5, Imagine Dragons
4, Linkin Park
4, Red Hot Chili Peppers
3, Weezer
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:
28, Foo Fighters
28, Red Hot Chili Peppers
24, Green Day
23, U2
21, Weezer
19, Pearl Jam
18, Linkin Park
18, The Offspring
17, Muse
17, The Smashing Pumpkins
“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.
Two music legends united in Austin on Thursday (Feb. 16), when Bruce Springsteen brought his tour to the city’s Moody Center.
Before Springsteen and the E Street Band launched into their 27-song set, Country Music Hall of Famer George Strait, clad in his signature jeans and cowboy hat, made an unexpected appearance as he strolled on stage to welcome Springsteen to Austin. The two superstars hugged, and The Boss stepped back as Strait made his introduction.
“Austin, Texas, it’s my honor tonight to introduce to you a band that really needs no introduction, right?” Strait said, eliciting applause from the crowd. “Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band!”
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As the attendees cheered, Strait and Springsteen embraced again. The country star then waved to the crowd and exited the stage. He did not perform during his appearance, though he does have history with the Moody Center, having helped open the venue with his show on April 30, 2022, alongside Willie Nelson and the Randy Rogers Band.
Springsteen has been selling out venues across the country on his current tour, and recently added 18 new cities to the trek, including stops in Chicago, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Toronto and San Francisco. The tour launched Feb. 1 with a show in Tampa, Fla., which marked Springsteen and the E Street Band’s first North American show in seven years.
Meanwhile, though Strait is known for being a torchbearer of traditional country music, with 44 No. 1 hits on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart, in addition to 17 total CMA Awards wins to his credit (including three CMA entertainer of the year trophies), the lifelong Texan is also known for tipping his hat to rock classics. He’s previously covered Tom Petty’s “You Wreck Me” (included on Petty’s 1994 album Wildflowers) in concert.
Watch Strait’s introduction below:
The Foo Fighters remembered late drummer Taylor Hawkins on what would have been his 51st birthday on Friday (Feb. 17). “Miss you so much,” read an Instagram post featuring a picture of Hawkins looking directly into the camera with a half-smile on his face and his drum kit in the background.
In late March 2022, the beloved Foos drummer was found dead in his Bogotá, Colombia, hotel room at age 50. Hawkins’ death was announced through a social media statement from the band’s accounts; to date no cause of death has been officially announced.
In a New Year’s Eve post the band posted a heartfelt message about the challenges of 2022 while providing a peek into their future. “As we say goodbye to the most difficult and tragic year that our band has ever known, we are reminded of how thankful we are for the people that we love and cherish most, and for the loved ones who are no longer with us,” the Foos began their statement on Twitter.
“Foo Fighters were formed 27 years ago to represent the healing power of music and a continuation of life. And for the past 27 years out fans have built a worldwide community, a devoted support system that has helped us all get through the darkest of times together. A place to share our joy and our pain, our hopes and fears, and to join in a chorus of life together through music. Without Taylor, we never would have become the band that we were – and without Taylor, we know that we’re going to be a different band going forward.”
In the months following Hawkins’ death, Foo Fighters staged a pair of all-star tribute concerts in memory of the late drummer. The shows, which took place in London and Los Angeles, featured appearances by Travis Barker, Paul McCartney, Miley Cyrus, Liam Gallagher, Lars Ulrich, and dozens more.
The band recently announced its first string of dates following a year-long silence in the wake of Hawkins’ death, including spots at a number of festivals including Boston Calling (May 26), Sonic Temple (May 28), Rock Am Ring (June 2), Rock Im Park (June 4), Bonnaroo (June 18), Harley-Davidson Homecoming (July 15), Fuji Rock (July 28-30), The Town (Sept. 9) and Sea.Hear.Now (Sept. 17). At press time the group had not yet announced who will play drums on those dates.
Check out the Foos post below.
Depeche Mode expanded its upcoming world tour on Thursday (Feb. 16) by adding a new run of fall dates across North America.
“29 new shows just announced. On sale next week,” the duo announced on Instagram, directing fans to their official website for more information.
The new leg of shows will kick off Sept. 21 in Mexico City after Dave Gahan and Martin Gore wrap up their summer run in Europe. From there, the bandmates will head stateside and hit major cities including Dallas, Miami, Boston, New York City, Denver, Las Vegas, San Francisco as well as Canadian markets such as Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver. The tour closes then closes out Dec. 10 and 15 with dual shows in Los Angeles at the Kia Forum and Crypto.com Arena.
Tickets can be purchased by the general public starting next Friday, Feb. 24, at 10 a.m. local time. A special fan presale will take place a few days prior on Tuesday, Feb. 21.
Depeche Mode’s announcement extends their global trek to 75 dates in support of the group’s upcoming 15th album, Memento Mori, which is set to be released March 24 via Columbia Records. Preceded by lead single “Ghosts Again,” the studio set is the English electronic act’s first full-length since 2017’s Spirit. In the interim, founding member and original keyboardist Andy Fletcher passed away last May, leaving Gahan and Gore as a duo for the first time.
Check out all the dates on Depeche Mode’s newly announced second North American leg below.
Red Hot Chili Peppers tie Foo Fighters for the most top 10s in the history of Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart, as “The Drummer” lifts 13-10 on the Feb. 18-dated ranking.
The song becomes the Chili Peppers’ 28th top 10.
The band previously had sole possession of the record before Foo Fighters tied it at 25 in 2020 and surpassed it in 2021, eventually rattling off two more through 2022 to put themselves at 28.
The Chili Peppers caught back up on the strength of “Black Summer,” a four-week No. 1 last year, followed by one-week ruler “Tippa My Tongue” last year and now “The Drummer.”
Most Top 10s, Alternative Airplay
28, Foo Fighters
28, Red Hot Chili Peppers
24, Green Day
23, U2
21, Weezer
19, Pearl Jam
18, The Offspring
17, Linkin Park
17, Muse
17, The Smashing Pumpkins
The Anthony Kiedis-fronted Chili Peppers first reached the Alternative Airplay top 10 in 1989 with “Knock Me Down.” The group is currently the only act in the chart’s 34-year history to have appeared on the survey in each decade of the list’s existence, from the ’80s through the ’20s.
Concurrently, “The Drummer” jumps 28-21 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 1.6 million audience impressions, up 21%, according to Luminate.
The song is the second single from Return of the Dream Canteen, the band’s 13th studio album. It debuted at No. 1 on the Top Rock & Alternative Albums charted dated Oct. 29, 2022, and has earned 130,000 equivalent album units through Feb. 9.
Paramore‘s sixth studio album, This Is Why, arrived last week Friday, and the goodies from the new set continue to roll in. The band released a brand new music video for “Running Out of Time” on Thursday (Feb. 16), and things get a little trippy for the trio.
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The visual kicks off with lead singer Hayley Williams attempting to create magic in a music studio, vacantly strumming a guitar and trying to come up with lyrics to no avail — inspiration does not come to her easily. After looking to where bandmates Taylor York and Zac Farro would take their place in the studio, the drum kit and guitar become 10 feet tall and walk with a human gait, prompting Willams to seek refuge in a guitar case, which then pops her into an alternate dimension.
Things go topsy turvy when Williams, dolled up in a vintage corset and pink satin pants, falls into an alternate universe filled with horse-shaped bushes, larger than life flowers and gigantic mushrooms. York and Farro are there dressed in monochromatic orange and purple ensembles, but there’s one major problem — their arms appear to be over four feet tall in length.
“Intentions only get you so far/ (It was on my list, I swear I meant to get to it)/ A harsh reality to discover, ah/ I’m always runnin’ out of time/ (She’s always runnin’ out of time)/ I’m always runnin’ out of time,” Williams sings on the track’s punchy chorus.
After a series of unusual shenanigans unfold, the band reconvenes and runs on a track in space trying to reach the studio once again, only for there to be a twist at the end of the video.
Williams explained in an interview with Zane Lowe that the groovy track was partly inspired by her relationship with Taylor Swift. After taking a trip to the superstar’s abode and realizing she keeps thank you, birthday and holiday gifts for her friends and family months in advance, Williams was struck with the realization that her life was not together.
“I was like, ‘I can barely remember to send someone a card or flowers.’ There are still Christmas gifts at my house that I have not sent to my friends just sitting there in the back of my closet,” the 34-year-old revealed. “Two of the people I was supposed to give a gift to, I was like, ‘Sorry, I forgot to put [the gifts] in my suitcase so you still don’t get a gift.’ I wish that I was the person that felt like I had all my s–t together and I was like, ‘Oh, I had some extra time, so I’m just popping by with some flowers.’ That kind of a thing, that is my idealized self.”
In an interview with Genius, the Grammy-winning vocalist also shared “my sense of anxiety around time management has gotten worse since the pandemic.” She added, “How does a person who is self-aware enough, but also politically and culturally aware, socially aware, how do you even pick what thing to focus on and maybe devote your life to in some respect, when everything is an emergency? It does feel like there’s not enough time in the day, in the month, in the year, to fix everything.”
Watch Paramore’s video for “Running Out of Time” above.
After it won the Grammy Award for song of the year Feb. 5, Bonnie Raitt’s “Just Like That” reaches Billboard’s charts for the first time, debuting on multiple lists dated Feb. 18.
The song even reaches No. 1 on one of the surveys, bowing atop Rock Digital Song Sales with 9,000 downloads sold in the Feb. 3-9 tracking week, a 9,947% increase over a negligible amount the previous period, according to Luminate.
It’s Raitt’s first No. 1 on the chart, which began in 2010. Previously, she reached a No. 3 best in 2020 via her co-bill with John Prine, “Angel From Montgomery,” following Prine’s death.
“That” also debuts at No. 6 on the all-format Digital Song Sales ranking, her first top 10.
Elsewhere, the track is No. 26 on the multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. In addition to its sales, “That” earned 1.4 million official U.S. streams, a 2,955% boost from 45,000 the previous week.
Raitt’s album of the same name, released in 2022, returns to the Top Rock & Alternative Albums chart at No. 46 with 7,000 equivalent album units earned, up 1,121%. It premiered at No. 6 in May 2022.
The set also re-appears on Americana/Folk Albums at No. 9, after debuting at No. 1 in May 2022.
In all, Raitt’s song catalog jumped 109% in streams, to 5.8 million Feb. 3-9 vs. 2.8 million the previous week. Removing “That” from the equation, it’s still a 62% leap to 4.4 million from 2.7 million.
Meanwhile, one of her classic returns to a Billboard chart: “Something to Talk About,” which debuts at No. 18 on Rock Digital Song Sales (1,000 sold, up 679%). It became a No. 5 hit in 1991 on the Billboard Hot 100, to date her top-performing song on the survey.
The self-written “That” won song of the year honors at the 65th Grammy Awards, marking Raitt’s second big-four category victory, after Nick of Time took album of the year honors in 1990. “That” is also now being promoted to adult alternative radio as the new single from her latest set, after “Made Up Mind” hit No. 17 on Adult Alternative Airplay last April.
Music history is littered with tales of shoulda, coulda, woulda. But after Rihanna soared to new heights during her instant-classic Super Bowl LVII halftime show one of the least likely headlines to emerge in the wake of her performance linked the singer to the last band on Earth you’d imagine.
“True story. There is a version of a @Hoobastank song featuring @rihanna when she was a ‘newer’ artist,” tweeted the California nu-metal band’s singer, Doug Robb on Tuesday. “Displaying a total lack of foresight, we didn’t use that version of the song for the album. We also didn’t think ‘The Reason’ was a single though either so… Oops.”
The accompanying video mashed up a clip of Rihanna’s halftime extravaganza with ‘Stank’s hit “Crawling in the Dark.” After a fan asked, Hobbs said the unreleased version was for the song “Inside of You,” the second single from the group’s third album, Every Man for Himself. When another wondered if it would be kosher to release it now as a bonus track, Robb said, “not sure.”
Robb also did an interview with ALT98.7FM radio host Ted Stryker elaborating on the story. He said during the sessions for Every Man, their label Island/Def Jam — Rihanna was signed to Def Jam at the time — approached them asking if they’d be up for including one of their new acts on a song. “Which is pretty common… we’re like, ‘cool, sure, like, what song?’,” he said they asked.
They landed on “Inside of You,” which the band sent to RihRih’s camp back in 2005. “They chopped it up and rearranged some parts because it wasn’t written as a duet or anything, so they had to extend some part and they sent it back and they basically put this pre-chorus where Rihanna wrote some new lyrics and sang a melody,” he said. The group listened to it and because they were so used to hearing it the way they originally wrote it, “nobody really loved it.”
Robb said they ran into Rihanna a few times during that album cycle and she was always, “super cool and so there was never any hard feelings.” And, believe it or not, Robb said they don’t regret saying no to the feature. “I don’t think anybody loved it at the time,” he said, admitting that he hasn’t listened to it in years, but that the subject comes up every once in a while and they all have a laugh about it.
“‘Dude, can you believe we nixed Rihanna on one of our songs?’,” Robb said the band’s members ask each other.
Check out Robb’s tweets below.
True story. There is a version of a @Hoobastank song featuring @rihanna when she was a “newer” artist. Displaying a total lack of foresight, we didn’t use that version of the song for the album. We also didn’t think The Reason was a single though either so…🤦🏻Oops 🤷🏻 pic.twitter.com/NjIAj4IMGM— Doug Robb (@HoobaDoug) February 14, 2023
Dave Davies learned the hard way this week what happens when there’s a glitch in the Matrix. After The Kinks announced the upcoming release of a 60th anniversary celebration of the legendary British band with a two-part anthology called The Journey, Twitter apparently flagged the band’s name as “sensitive content.”
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That sent guitarist Dave Davies down a Twitterhole, unleashing a flurry of tweets in which he told chief Twit, Elon Musk, that he’s tired of waiting for him to get it right. “Dear @elonmusk would @twiiter please stop putting warnings on everything from ‘the Kinks’. We are just trying to promote our Kinks music,” Davies tweeted on Wednesday. The tweet linked to a previous one in which Davies invited fans to check out the band’s TikTok promo for the set, which featured a message at the bottom that read, “We put a warning on this Tweet because it might have sensitive content.”
A short time later, Davies gave Musk a bit of a lesson on his group’s background, tweeting, “The Kinks are a brand name. We have been called the Kinks since 1963.” When another user told Davies that Twitter had apparently reviewed the matter and removed the sensitive content warning, apologizing for helping them “catch that mistake,” Davies was not impressed.
“That’s impossible,” he wrote. “The word robot should be banned. We got robots running our lives. At least I’m a Kink and not a f–in robot.” He also had a bit of fun in the end, responding to a fan’s plea to Musk to “Give the People What They Want!” — a play on the title of the band’s 1981 album — quipping, “give the people what Elon Musk wants.”
The Twit Snit came just hours after The Kinks announced the March 24 release of The Journey — Part 1, a 2CD, 2LP collection that will kick off a two-year celebration of their 60th anniversary. Part one of the anthology — curated by the band according to themes including “Songs about becoming a man, the search for adventure, finding an identity and a girl” — will feature such beloved hits as “You Really Got Me,” “All Day and All of the Night,” “Tired of Waiting For You” and “Waterloo Sunset.”
Check out Davies’ tweets below.
That’s impossible. The word robot should be banned. We got robots running our lives. At least I’m a Kink and not a fukin robot. https://t.co/d9vKKG13TK— Dave Davies (@davedavieskinks) February 15, 2023
Former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley launched an atypical bid for the White House in a pretty typical fashion on Wednesday (Feb. 15). The Republican taking on her former boss, one-term president Donald Trump, revved up the crowd at her Charleston, South Carolina announcement this morning by walking on to one of the most beloved underdog fight anthems of all-time: Survivor‘s 1982 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “Eye of the Tiger.”
“Stop using my f—ing song!,” the hit’s co-writer, Survivor keyboardist Frankie Sullivan, tells Billboard about his reaction to finding out about the latest politician’s attempt to co-opt the track he wrote for Sylvester Stallone’s classic underdog film, Rocky III. “This morning I get up and I’m doing my thing, writing and i turn on my phone and it explodes and I’m like, ‘What happened is my mom okay?’ That song belongs with the Rocky franchise and they don’t ask because they’d get a no. Absolutely.”
Haley, 51, who has leaned into her story of being a woman and person of color — she is the child of Indian immigrants — and who rose to the highest office in the South is the first member of the GOP to officially announce a bid to take on twice-impeached Trump, whose third bid for the White House has so far failed to catch fire. At press time, a spokesperson for Haley had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment.
Back in 2016, Republican Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign had to pay a $25,000 settlement over claims they used “Eye of the Tiger” at a rally with Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who made headlines for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Sullivan says he is really protective of the song, but unlike the suit he filed against the former Arkansas Governor, he’s not currently planning to launch a legal fight with Haley.
“I don’t care who it is, I don’t think it’s appropriate, especially with ‘Tiger,’ since it’s such a special song,” he says of the track that he notes hit No. 1 in 39 countries and has become shorthand for a hard workout or, to quote the indelible lyrics, “rising up to the challenge.”
“I have no idea why any politician would play that as a walk on,” he adds, laughing, “I would say you have to have balls… but in this situation that doesn’t apply.” Teetotaler Sullivan says he doesn’t know much about Haley — and tries not to mix politics and entertainment because that would be “the dirtiest martini anyone ever drank” — but thinks her use of “Tiger” is a “sick way to promote the song. I wish they would just stop this nonsense!”
He recalled that when Trump played “Tiger” at campaign rallies he had his lawyer call the Apprentice star’s team and the usage stopped without incident. But, to be honest, he’s tired of playing this game and though he isn’t on the phone with his lawyer, it’s enough already. “I’m amused, but is this s–t really still going on?” he wonders.
Though Haley is expected to distance herself from the disgraced president facing a raft of lawsuits for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election — as well as his alleged corrupt business practices and allegations of sexual assault — by choosing the beloved theme song from the Rocky threequel she definitely tore a page from Trump’s populist soundtrack playbook.
During his first White House run, Trump fell afoul of more than a dozen major rock and pop acts by using their music during his rallies to pump up the crowd. In November, the estate of Isaac Hayes threatened legal action against the former reality star within an hour of Trump’s third announcement to stop him from using “Hold On I’m Coming” at his events; Hayes, who died in 2008 at age 65, co-wrote the 1966 Sam & Dave hit with David Porter.
On his way out of office after being defeated by Pres. Joe Biden, the Village People also called out “bully” ex-president Trump for playing their gay anthem “Y.M.C.A.” one more time against their wishes at his sparsely attended farewell event on Jan. 20, 2021.
For years Trump ignored pleas from a long list of famous acts to cease and desist from using their music during his rallies and political events and in addition to the costumed disco act, the legacy manager for Laura Branigan took issue with Trump playing her hit “Gloria” at his final official appearance as well. Over the five years of his campaigns and presidency, artists ranging from Adele to Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, R.E.M., Aerosmith, Panic! at the Disco, Guns N’ Roses, The Rolling Stones, Rihanna and the estates of Leonard Cohen, Tom Petty and Prince have vociferously objected to Trump playing their music at his rallies.
Check out a tweet with footage of the Survivor walk-on below.