Hot Rock & Alternative Songs

"Rock Songs" redirects here. For information about rock songs, see Rock music.

Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (formerly known as Rock Songs and Hot Rock Songs) is a record chart published by Billboard magazine. From its debut on June 20, 2009, through October 13, 2012, the chart ranked the airplay of songs across alternative, mainstream rock, and triple A radio stations in the United States.^[1] Beginning with the chart dated October 20, 2012, the chart has followed the methodology of the Billboard Hot 100 by incorporating digital download sales, streaming data, and radio airplay of rock songs over all formats.^[2] From that time until mid-2020, only the performance of core rock songs, including those with an "alternative bent", were tabulated and ranked for the chart. With the chart dated June 13, 2020, Billboard revamped the chart to permit a broader selection of songs considered alternative "hybrids" with other genres and renamed it to Hot Rock & Alternative Songs.^[3]

Number ones

Linkin Park spent 28 weeks atop the chart with three number-one songs. The band also holds the record for most songs to chart in a single week with 23

The Black Keys' "Lonely Boy" spent 14 weeks atop the chart in 2011, and was later ranked as the year-end number-one song

Gotye became the first solo artist to reach the number-one position, with the single "Somebody That I Used to Know" in 2012

Prince's single "Purple Rain" is the first posthumous number-one single

Panic! at the Disco's single "High Hopes" is the longest running number-one single

Billie Eilish has spent the most weeks atop the chart for a solo artist and is tied with Imagine Dragons with the most number-one songs by an artist with five each. Her 2024 single, Birds of a Feather, was the second song, after Panic! at the Disco's High Hopes, to reach a year or more at #1.

The first number-one track on the chart was Green Day's "Know Your Enemy". Since its introduction, 74 songs have reached the number-one position on chart. Imagine Dragons have had the most with five, combining for a total of 104 weeks at the summit. Panic! at the Disco's "High Hopes" spent a record 65 non-consecutive weeks atop the chart, and along with their song "Hey Look Ma, I Made It", the band claimed the number-one spot on the chart for the entirety of 2019.^[4]

Key

No.	nth single to top the chart
re	Return of a single to number one
†	Billboard year-end number-one song[a]

Number-one songs with artist, date, time spent, and references

No.	Artist	Title	Reached number one	Weeks at number one	Ref.
1	Green Day	"Know Your Enemy"	June 20, 2009	1	[7]
2	Linkin Park	"New Divide"	June 27, 2009	12	[8]
3	Alice in Chains	"Check My Brain"	September 19, 2009	8	[9]
4	Foo Fighters	"Wheels"	November 14, 2009	2	[10]
5	Breaking Benjamin	"I Will Not Bow"	November 28, 2009	2	[11]
6	Three Days Grace	"Break"	December 12, 2009	12	[12]
7	Alice in Chains	"Your Decision"	March 6, 2010	6	[13]
8	Stone Temple Pilots	"Between the Lines"	April 17, 2010	7	[14]
9	Three Days Grace	"The Good Life"	June 5, 2010	6	[15]
10	Shinedown	"The Crow & the Butterfly"	July 17, 2010	1	[16]
11	The Dirty Heads featuring Rome Ramirez	"Lay Me Down"	July 24, 2010	1	[17]
re	Shinedown	"The Crow & the Butterfly"	July 31, 2010	3	[16]
12	Linkin Park	"The Catalyst"	August 21, 2010	5	[18]
13	Disturbed	"Another Way to Die"	September 25, 2010	1	[19]
14	Stone Sour	"Say You'll Haunt Me"	October 2, 2010	8	[20]
15	The Black Keys	"Tighten Up"	November 27, 2010	2	[21]
re	Stone Sour	"Say You'll Haunt Me"	December 11, 2010	1	[20]
re	The Black Keys	"Tighten Up"	December 18, 2010	10	[21]
16	Cage the Elephant	"Shake Me Down"	February 26, 2011	2	[22]
17	Foo Fighters	"Rope"†[23]	March 12, 2011	20	[24]
18		"Walk"	July 30, 2011	1	[25]
19	Red Hot Chili Peppers	"The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie"	August 6, 2011	8	[26]
re	Foo Fighters	"Walk"	October 1, 2011	7	[25]
20	Bush	"The Sound of Winter"	November 19, 2011	5	[27]
21	The Black Keys	"Lonely Boy"†[28]	December 24, 2011	14	[29]
22	Gotye featuring Kimbra	"Somebody That I Used to Know"	March 31, 2012	4	[30]
23	Fun featuring Janelle Monáe	"We Are Young"	April 28, 2012	1	[31]
re	Gotye featuring Kimbra	"Somebody That I Used to Know"	May 5, 2012	3	[30]
24	Linkin Park	"Burn It Down"	May 26, 2012	10	[32]
25	Green Day	"Oh Love"	August 4, 2012	1	[33]
re	Linkin Park	"Burn It Down"	August 11, 2012	1	[32]
re	Green Day	"Oh Love"	August 18, 2012	6	[33]
26	The Lumineers	"Ho Hey"	September 29, 2012	2	[34]
27	Mumford and Sons	"I Will Wait"	October 13, 2012	1	[35]
28	Fun	"Some Nights"	October 20, 2012	8	[36]
re	The Lumineers	"Ho Hey"	December 15, 2012	16	[34]
29	Imagine Dragons	"Radioactive"†[37]	April 6, 2013	23	[38]
30	Lorde	"Royals"	September 14, 2013	19	[39]
31	Passenger	"Let Her Go"	January 25, 2014	5	[40]
32	Bastille	"Pompeii"†[41]	March 1, 2014	12	[42]
33	Paramore	"Ain't It Fun"	May 24, 2014	1	[43]
34	Coldplay	"A Sky Full of Stars"	May 31, 2014	1	[44]
re	Paramore	"Ain't It Fun"	June 7, 2014	10	[43]
re	Coldplay	"A Sky Full of Stars"	August 16, 2014	2	[44]
35	Tove Lo	"Habits"	August 30, 2014	6	[45]
re	Coldplay	"A Sky Full of Stars"	October 11, 2014	3	[44]
36	Hozier	"Take Me to Church"	November 1, 2014	23	[46]
37	Walk the Moon	"Shut Up and Dance"†[47]	April 11, 2015	27	[48]
38	X Ambassadors	"Renegades"	October 17, 2015	2	[49]
39	Elle King	"Ex's & Oh's"	October 31, 2015	10	[50]
40	Twenty One Pilots	"Stressed Out"†[51]	January 9, 2016	18	[52]
41	Prince	"Purple Rain"	May 14, 2016	1	[53]
re	Twenty One Pilots	"Stressed Out"†	May 21, 2016	5	[52]
42		"Ride"	June 25, 2016	9	[54]
43		"Heathens"	August 27, 2016	30	[55]
44	Imagine Dragons	"Believer"†[56]	March 25, 2017	29	[57]
45	Portugal. The Man	"Feel It Still"	October 14, 2017	5	[58]
46	Imagine Dragons	"Thunder"†[59]	November 18, 2017	21	[60]
47		"Whatever It Takes"	April 3, 2018	17	[61]
re		"Thunder"	July 31, 2018	3	[60]
48		"Natural"	August 21, 2018	11	[62]
49	Panic! at the Disco	"High Hopes"†[63]	November 10, 2018	34	[64]
50		"Hey Look Ma, I Made It"	July 6, 2019	11	[65]
re		"High Hopes"†	September 21, 2019	31	[64]
51	Twenty One Pilots	"Level of Concern"	April 25, 2020	7	[66]
52	Powfu featuring Beabadoobee	"Death Bed"	June 13, 2020	6	[67]
53	Juice Wrld and Marshmello	"Come & Go"	July 25, 2020	2	[68]
54	Taylor Swift	"Cardigan"	August 8, 2020	1	[69]
55	Billie Eilish	"My Future"	August 15, 2020	1	[70]
re	Juice Wrld and Marshmello	"Come & Go"	August 22, 2020	2	[68]
56	24kGoldn featuring Iann Dior	"Mood"†[71]	September 5, 2020	16	[72]
57	Taylor Swift	"Willow"	December 26, 2020	1	[73]
re	24kGoldn featuring Iann Dior	"Mood"†	January 2, 2021	19	[72]
58	The Kid Laroi	"Without You"	May 15, 2021	3	[74]
59	Olivia Rodrigo	"Brutal"	June 5, 2021	1	[75]
re	The Kid Laroi	"Without You"	June 12, 2021	9	[74]
60	Billie Eilish	"Happier Than Ever"	August 14, 2021	4	[76]
61	Glass Animals	"Heat Waves" †[77]	September 11, 2021	4	[78]
62	Coldplay and BTS	"My Universe"	October 9, 2021	2	[79]
re	Glass Animals	"Heat Waves" †	October 23, 2021	1	[78]
re	Coldplay and BTS	"My Universe"	October 30, 2021	1	[79]
re	Glass Animals	"Heat Waves" †	November 6, 2021	32	[78]
63	Kate Bush	"Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)"	June 18, 2022	11	[80]
64	Steve Lacy	"Bad Habit"	September 3, 2022	22	[81]
65	Zach Bryan	"Something in the Orange" †[82]	February 4, 2023	6	[83]
66	Stephen Sanchez	"Until I Found You"	March 18, 2023	3	[84]
re	Zach Bryan	"Something in the Orange" †	April 8, 2023	14	[83]
67	Jelly Roll	"Need a Favor"	July 15, 2023	4	[85]
68	Billie Eilish	"What Was I Made For?"	August 12, 2023	2	[86]
69	Olivia Rodrigo	"Bad Idea Right?"	August 26, 2023	1	[87]
re	Jelly Roll	"Need a Favor"	September 2, 2023	1	[85]
70	Zach Bryan featuring Kacey Musgraves	"I Remember Everything" †[88]	September 9, 2023	30	[89]
71	Hozier	"Too Sweet"	April 6, 2024	8	[90]
72	Billie Eilish	"Lunch"	June 1, 2024	1	[91]
73	Zach Bryan	"Pink Skies"	June 8, 2024	1	[92]
re	Hozier	"Too Sweet"	June 15, 2024	9	[90]
74	Billie Eilish	"Birds of a Feather"	August 17, 2024	53	[93]

Statistics

By artist

Artists by most number-one songs

Artist	Number-one songs	Ref.
Imagine Dragons	5	[94]
Billie Eilish	5	[95]
Twenty One Pilots	4	[96]
Foo Fighters	3	[97]
Linkin Park	3	[98]
Zach Bryan	3	[99]

Artists by most weeks at number one

Artist	Weeks at number-one	Ref.
Imagine Dragons	104	[38][57][60][61][62]
Panic! at the Disco	76	[64][65]
Twenty One Pilots	71	[52][54][55][66]
Billie Eilish	61	[95]
Zach Bryan	51	[83][89][92]

Songs by total number of weeks at number one

Number-one songs by amount of time spent at number one

Song	Weeks at number-one	Ref.
"High Hopes"	65	[64]
"Birds of a Feather"	53	[95]
"Heat Waves"	37	[78]
"Mood"	35	[72]
"Heathens"	30	[55]
"I Remember Everything"	30	[89]