Nine Inch Nails be part of rarified air on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart due to the debut of “As Alive as You Want Me to Be” on the tally dated Aug. 9.
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With the track’s No. 21 bow, the Trent Reznor-led band turns into certainly one of simply 4 acts with at the least one Various Airplay look in every of the a long time that the checklist has existed, courting to its September 1988 begin.
Along with the feat requiring substantial longevity — charting singles within the Eighties, ‘90s, 2000s, ‘10s and ‘20s — the pool of eligible acts is pretty miniscule as a result of the chart existed for round simply 15 months within the ‘80s.
9 Inch Nails scored a photograph end at first: The band debuted on Various Airplay in December 1989 with “Down In It,” which peaked at No. 16 in January 1990. All through the ‘90s, the act reached the rating 10 further instances, paced by the No. 8-peaking “Damage” in 1995.
A kind of 11 ‘90s entries, “Into the Void” debuted on the rating in 1999 but additionally counts as certainly one of 9 Inch Nails’ eight 2000s appearances, having hit No. 11 in January 2000. Probably the most affluent decade of the band’s Various Airplay profession, the 2000s introduced Reznor and co. all 4 of its whole No. 1s consecutively in 2005-07: “The Hand That Feeds,” “Solely,” “Each Day Is Precisely the Identical” and “Survivalism.”
Within the 2010s, 9 Inch Nails appeared on Various Airplay twice, paced by the No. 7 hit “Got here Again Haunted” in 2013. Previous to “As Alive as You Want Me to Be,” the band’s final entry was “Much less Than” (No. 22, 2017).
The one different acts to string collectively the every-decade feat? Depeche Mode, Red Hot Chili Peppers and U2.
Depeche Mode notched two Various Airplay entries in 1989 (led by the No. 3-peaking “Private Jesus”) and returned to the rating in 2023 with the No. 9 hit “Ghosts Once more.” Pink Sizzling Chili Peppers, the chart’s all-time leaders for probably the most No. 1s (15), made the tally twice in 1989 (led by “Knock Me Down” at No. 6) and have 4 ‘20s appearances, together with two No. 1s in “Black Summer time” and “Tippa My Tongue.” As for U2, the Bono-led band logged seven entries in 1988-89, together with the No. 1 “Want.” Within the ‘20s, the quartet has charted twice, paced by “Atomic Metropolis” (No. 14, 2023).
A couple of honorable mentions: Along with the 4 acts whose longevity has benchmarks in all 5 a long time, three have had entries in each the ‘80s and ‘20s — a distinct type of endurance, albeit with gaps in a number of of the a long time in between. The Cure, which returned with the No. 14-peaking “A Fragile Factor” final 12 months, didn’t make Various Airplay within the 2010s (although frontman Robert Smith did so as soon as that decade as a featured act on Crystal Castles’ “Not in Love”). Iggy Pop, who charted for every week at No. 40 in 2023 with “Frenzy,” additionally had a ‘10s outage. Kate Bush missed the whole thing of the 2000s and 2010s earlier than “Operating Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” peaked at No. 2 in 2022, powered by its high-profile synch in Netflix’s Stranger Issues. The track’s stamina even predates the chart, because it was launched and initially grew to become successful in 1985.
Two extra acts might be part of 9 Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, Pink Sizzling Chili Peppers and U2 with appearances in all 5 a long time up to now in the event that they’re in a position to snag at the least one within the 5 years left within the ‘20s: Beastie Boys (unlikely, although, given the group’s 2012 disbandment following the demise of Adam Yauch) and Jane’s Addiction (which dissolved earlier this 12 months).
Again to 9 Inch Nails: “As Alive as You Want Me to Be” is the band’s highest charting track on Various Airplay in 12 years, with its No. 21 begin surpassing the No. 22 peak of “Much less Than”; “Got here Again Haunted” hit its No. 7 finest in July 2013.
The brand new single, launched July 17, additionally debuts at No. 29 on Mainstream Rock Airplay. On the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, it opens at No. 22 with 2 million radio viewers impressions within the week ending July 31, in line with Luminate.
“As Alive as You Want Me to Be” is from the soundtrack for the upcoming film Tron: Ares, premiering in theaters Oct. 10. The album, that includes all new 9 Inch Nails music, is due Sept. 19.