Muse hits No. 1 on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart (dated May 7) for the first time with “Won’t Stand Down.”
Previously, the Matt Bellamy-fronted band logged its best Mainstream Rock Airplay peak with “Reapers,” which reached No. 2 in April 2016, becoming the act’s second of four top 10s. Muse first appeared on the list with “Uprising,” which hit No. 28 in 2010.
Muse boasts five No. 1s among 17 top 10s on Alternative Airplay, dating to the group’s first charted title, “Time Is Running Out,” which rose to No. 9 in 2004. “Down” reached No. 3 on the tally in March.
On the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, “Down” holds at No. 4, after hitting No. 3 in March, with 4 million audience impressions, according to Luminate.
“Down” also lifts 9-8 on the multi-metric Hot Hard Rock Songs chart, following its No. 3 high upon its debut in January. In addition to its radio audience, the song earned 308,000 official U.S. streams in the April 22-28 tracking week.
The track is the lead single from Will of the People, Muse’s ninth studio album, due Aug. 26. Follow-up single “Compliance” is receiving early airplay on alternative stations.
Elsewhere on Mainstream Rock Airplay, Five Finger Death Punch‘s “Afterlife” ascends 11-9, giving the Ivan Moody-led band its 27th top 10.
That pulls the group into sole possession of the fourth-most top 10s in the history of the survey, which began in 1981. The group now sits just two top 10s from the all-time leaders, Foo Fighters, with 29.
Most Top 10s, Mainstream Rock Airplay
- 29, Foo Fighters
- 28, Shinedown
- 28, Tom Petty (solo and with the Heartbreakers)
- 27, Five Finger Death Punch
- 26, Godsmack
- 26, Van Halen
- 24, Aerosmith
- 24, Metallica
- 24, Seether
“Afterlife” is Five Finger Death Punch’s first Mainstream Rock Airplay top 10 since “Darkness Settles In,” which reigned for five weeks beginning in July 2021. Each of the band’s entries has reached the top 10 since mid-2013. The act is also currently riding a streak of seven straight No. 1s ahead of “Afterlife.”
On Rock & Alternative Airplay, “Afterlife” pushes 26-23 with 1.5 million audience impressions, up 16%. It also places at No. 7 on Hot Hard Rock Songs, a week after reaching No. 2. Along with its radio play, the song drew 1 million streams and sold 800 April 22-28.
“Afterlife” is the title-track lead single from the band’s forthcoming ninth LP.
