Adult Alternative Airplay

Adult Alternative Airplay (also known as Triple A or Triple A Airplay, and formerly Adult Alternative Songs and Triple A Songs) is a record chart currently published by Billboard that ranks the most popular songs on adult album alternative radio stations. The 40-position^[1] chart is formulated based on each song's weekly radio spins, as measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems.^[2] The current number-one song on the chart is "Moody" by Royel Otis.^[3]

History

The earliest incarnation of the chart was first published on January 20, 1996,^[4] as a feature in Billboard sister publication Airplay Monitor. In 2006, Airplay Monitor ceased publication after Billboard parent company VNU Media's acquisition of rival radio trade magazine Radio & Records,^[5] which then subsequently incorporated Airplay Monitor's Nielsen-based Triple A chart.^[6][7]

Billboard itself began publishing the Triple A chart in the issue dated July 5, 2008, through their Billboard.biz website,^[8] appropriating the same airplay data as Radio & Records.^[6] Radio & Records closed in June 2009, leaving Billboard as the sole publisher of the chart.^[9] In February 2014, the chart's reporting panel was expanded from 23 to 32 stations, including non-commercial reporters for the first time.^[10]

Following a re-design of their website, Billboard officially incorporated the history of the Airplay Monitor/Nielsen chart from 1996 to 2008 into their Adult Alternative Songs chart. The Billboard website and its official chart archive now show the first Adult Alternative Songs chart as having been published on January 20, 1996, with "The World I Know" by Collective Soul as its first number one single.^[11] Radio And Records first charted their Adult Alternative chart in the September 22, 1995, issue. It was a 30 position chart, and "Til I Hear It from You" by the Gin Blossoms was the first number one.

All-time achievements

In 2021, for the 25th anniversary of the chart, Billboard compiled a ranking of the 50 best-performing songs and artists on the chart over the 25 years. "One Headlight" by The Wallflowers was ranked as the #1 song, while Dave Matthews Band was ranked as the #1 artist.^[12] Listed below are the top 10 songs and the top 10 artists.

Top 10 Greatest of All Time Adult Alternative Songs (1996–2021)

Rank	Single	Year released	Artist(s)	Peak and duration
1.	"One Headlight"	1997	The Wallflowers	#1 for 14 weeks
2.	"Clocks"	2002	Coldplay	#1 for 15 weeks
3.	"3AM"	1997	Matchbox 20	#1 for 14 weeks
4.	"Feel It Still"	2017	Portugal. The Man	#1 for 11 weeks
5.	"Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)"	2001	Train	#1 for 14 weeks
6.	"Babylon"	2000	David Gray	#1 for 2 weeks
7.	"It's Time"	2012	Imagine Dragons	#2 for 5 weeks
8.	"See The World"	2007	Gomez	#1 for 4 weeks
9.	"Rolling in the Deep"	2010	Adele	#1 for 14 weeks
10.	"Beautiful Day"	2000	U2	#1 for 16 weeks

Source:^[13]

Top 10 Greatest of All Time Adult Alternative Artists (1996–2021)

Rank	Artist
1.	Dave Matthews Band
2.	U2
3.	Coldplay
4.	Jack Johnson
5.	Sheryl Crow
6.	John Mayer
7.	Mumford & Sons
8.	Counting Crows
9.	Death Cab for Cutie
10.	Snow Patrol

Source:^[14]

Song records

Most weeks at number one

Number of weeks	Artist	Song	Year(s)	Source
16	U2	"Beautiful Day"	2000–01	[15]
15	Coldplay	"Clocks"	2003	[16]
	Kings of Leon	"Waste a Moment"	2016–17	[17]
14	The Wallflowers	"One Headlight"	1996–97	[18]
	Matchbox Twenty	"3AM"	1997–98	[19]
	Matchbox Twenty	"Bent"	2000	[19]
	Train	"Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)"	2001	[20]
	Adele	"Rolling in the Deep"	2011	[21]
13	Santana featuring Rob Thomas	"Smooth"	1999	[22]
	Jack Johnson	"Upside Down"	2006	[23]
	Pearl Jam	"Just Breathe"	2010	[24]
	Gotye featuring Kimbra	"Somebody That I Used to Know"	2012	[25]
12	Dave Matthews Band	"Funny the Way It Is"	2009	[26]
	Beck	"Dreams"	2015	[27]
11	KT Tunstall	"Hold On"	2007	[28]
	Coldplay	"Viva la Vida"	2008	[16]
	Jack Johnson	"You and Your Heart"	2010	[23]
	Mumford & Sons	"I Will Wait"	2012	[29]
	The Lumineers	"Ophelia"	2016	[30]
	Portugal. The Man	"Feel It Still"	2017	[31]
10	Sarah McLachlan	"Building a Mystery"	1997	[32]
	Jack Johnson	"Good People"	2005	[23]
	Death Cab For Cutie	"Soul Meets Body"	2005–06	[33]
	Jack Johnson	"If I Had Eyes"	2008	[23]
	David Gray	"Fugitive"	2009	[34]
	The Black Keys	"Fever"	2014	[35]
	George Ezra	"Budapest"	2014–15	[36]
	Mumford & Sons	"Guiding Light"	2018–19	[29]
	Hozier	"Too Sweet"	2024	[37]

Most weeks on the chart

Number of weeks	Artist	Song	Year(s)	Source
52	Kings of Leon	"Use Somebody"	2009–10	[17]
51	John Mayer	"No Such Thing"	2001–02	[38]
48	James Morrison	"Nothing Ever Hurt Like You"	2008–09	[39]
47	Imagine Dragons	"It's Time"	2012–13	[40]
46	Coldplay	"Clocks"	2002–03	[16]
	The Head and the Heart	"Lost in My Mind"	2011–12	[41]
44	David Gray	"Babylon"	2000–01	[34]
43	Los Lonely Boys	"Heaven"	2003–04	[42]
42	Fitz and the Tantrums	"Out of My League"	2013–14	[43]
41	One eskimO	"Kandi"	2009–10	[44]

Highest debut

Debut Position	Artist	Song	Debut Date	Source
No. 1	U2	"Get On Your Boots"	February 7, 2009	[45]
No. 2	Hootie & the Blowfish	"Old Man & Me (When I Get to Heaven)"	April 20, 1996	[46]
	Coldplay	"Speed of Sound"	May 7, 2005	[47]
No. 3	The Rolling Stones	"Anybody Seen My Baby?"	September 20, 1997	[48]
No. 4	Gin Blossoms	"Follow You Down"	February 10, 1996	[49]
	Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers	"Walls"	August 3, 1996	[50]
	Coldplay	"Adventure of a Lifetime"	November 28, 2015	[51]
No. 5	Natalie Merchant	"Kind & Generous"	May 16, 1998	[52]
	Coldplay	"Violet Hill"	May 17, 2008	[53]
	Mumford & Sons	"Believe"	March 28, 2015	[54]

Artist records

Most number-one singles

Number of singles	Artist	Source
14	U2	[55]
13	Coldplay	[55]
11	Dave Matthews[a]	[55]
	Jack Johnson	[55]
9	The Black Keys	[55]
8	Death Cab for Cutie	[55]
	John Mayer	[55]
	The Lumineers	[55]
7	Cage the Elephant	[56]
	Counting Crows	[56]
	Hozier	[56]
	Nathaniel Rateliff[b]	[56]
	R.E.M.	[56]
	Sheryl Crow	[56]

Most cumulative weeks at number one

Number of weeks	Artist	Source
72	U2	[15]
69	Coldplay	[16]
62	Jack Johnson	[23]
51	Dave Matthews[a]	[26]
48	The Black Keys	[35]
46	The Lumineers	[30]
45	Death Cab For Cutie	[33]
33	Nathaniel Rateliff[b]	[57]
31	Mumford & Sons	[29]
	R.E.M.	[58]

Most top 10 singles

Number of singles	Artist	Source
28	U2	[15]
26	Dave Matthews[a]	[26]
25	Coldplay	[16]
19	Jack Johnson	[23]
	John Mayer	[38]
16	Counting Crows	[59]
15	Beck	[27]
	The Black Keys	[35]
14	Mumford & Sons	[29]
	Sheryl Crow	[60]

Most chart entries

Number of entries	Artist	Source
36	Dave Matthews[a]	[26]
33	U2	[15]
30	Coldplay	[16]
27	Jack Johnson	[23]
25	John Mayer	[38]
	Sheryl Crow	[60]
20	Beck	[27]
	The Black Keys	[35]
19	Counting Crows	[59]
18	Death Cab For Cutie	[33]
	R.E.M.	[58]

Notes

1. Solo and with Dave Matthews Band
2. Solo and with The Night Sweats

See also

• List of Radio & Records number-one adult alternative singles of the 1990s
• List of Billboard number-one adult alternative singles of the 2000s
• List of Billboard number-one adult alternative singles of the 2010s
• List of Billboard number-one adult alternative singles of the 2020s