The last rock song to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart was Nickelback’s “How You Remind Me.”
It was released in August 2001 and peaked at #1 on December 21, 2001.
Since then, there hasn’t been a rock song to reach #1.
Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” reached #1 in 2008 but isn’t classified as a rock song and doesn’t sound like one.
The fact that Nickleback was the last rock band to reach #1 is a real punch in the face for rock fans. No shade on Nickleback, but the last standard bearer of rock music—at least to date—is often criticized for being objectively boring and lacking genuine substance. It’s panned for reflecting elements of more successful bands while being overly commercial and inauthentic.
A million Nickleback jokes have been told, and a million more will likely be told, yet the band is the last to reach the top of the charts with a rock song.
Bah.
This isn’t to say that rock music is dead. Many rock bands are performing today, and many are hitting the charts, but none are even close to reaching #1.
It makes no sense to me.
While I love many kinds of music and like many of the songs hitting #1 today, I adore the beauty, simplicity, and clarity of a guitar, a bass, a drum, and a lead singer.
The less production that goes into a song, the better.
Apparently, not everyone agrees with me anymore.
