It took more than 20 years for a rock band to tie—not beat—Van Halen’s long-running reign of having the most #1 singles on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Songs airplay chart. Three Days Grace grabbed it’s 13th number one spot last week with “Mountain.” But does the band have a chance at holding power for as long as the almighty VH?
The Mainstream Rock Songs chart launched March 21, 1981. Less than a year later, Van Halen grabbed its first top spot with “(Oh) Pretty Woman”. The band would go on to see 13 songs peak at #1, and would hold the title as having the most from 1998 until March 28th this year.
Here’s when each of those 13 peaked:
“(Oh) Pretty Woman” – 03/13/82
“JUMP” – 01/21/1984
“Why Can’t This Be Love” – 04/05/1986
“Black and Blue” – 06/04/1988
“When It’s Love” – 07/23/1988
“Poundcake” – 06/15/1991
“Runaround” – 08/10/1991
“Won’t Get Fooled Again” – 02/20/1993
“Top of the World” – 10/26/1991
“Don’t Tell Me (What Love Can Do)” – 01/21/1995
“Humans Being” – 05/25/1995
“Me Wise Magic” – 10/26/1996
“Without You” – 03/07/1998
In case you were trying to do the math in your head, Van Halen held the lead on its own for 20 years and three weeks. That translates to about 1,046.4 weeks, or 7,325 days.