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Every Billboard Mainstream Rock No. 1, 1981–1999: Album Rock Radio

Billboard began ranking rock radio airplay in March 1981 as Top Tracks, later Album Rock Tracks and now Mainstream Rock. It is the best record of what classic and album rock stations played through the MTV era and into the grunge years. 287 songs hit number one by the end of 1999.

Van Halen topped the chart 13 times, the most in this period. The longest single run belongs to Days of the New: “Touch, Peel and Stand” spent 16 weeks at No. 1. Jump to a year: 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989 · 1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999.

1981

First week at #1	Song	Artist	Weeks	Listen
March 21	I Can't Stand It	Eric Clapton	2	♪
April 4	You Better You Bet	The Who	5	♪
May 9	The Waiting	Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers	6	♪
June 20	A Life of Illusion	Joe Walsh	1	♪
June 27	The Voice	The Moody Blues	4	♪
July 25	Urgent	Foreigner	4	♪
August 22	Burnin' for You	Blue Öyster Cult	2	♪
September 5	Start Me Up	The Rolling Stones	13	♪
December 5	Waiting for a Girl Like You	Foreigner	1	♪
December 12	Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic	The Police	2	♪
December 26	Harden My Heart	Quarterflash	3	♪

1982

First week at #1	Song	Artist	Weeks	Listen
January 16	Centerfold	The J. Geils Band	3	♪
February 6	I Love Rock and Roll	Joan Jett	5	♪
March 13	(Oh) Pretty Woman	Van Halen	2	♪
March 27	Don't Let Him Know	Prism	1	♪
April 3	867-5309/Jenny	Tommy Tutone	3	♪
April 24	Heat of the Moment	Asia	6	♪
May 29	No One Like You	Scorpions	1	♪
June 5	Stone Cold	Rainbow	1	♪
June 19	Hurts So Good	John Cougar	1	♪
June 26	Caught Up in You	.38 Special	1	♪
July 3	Eye of the Tiger	Survivor	5	♪
August 7	Think I'm in Love	Eddie Money	3	♪
August 28	Everybody Wants You	Billy Squier	6	♪
October 9	New World Man	Rush	2	♪
October 16	Dirty Laundry	Don Henley	3	♪
November 13	Shock the Monkey	Peter Gabriel	2	♪
November 27	Down Under	Men at Work	5	♪
December 11	You Got Lucky	Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers	3	♪

1983

First week at #1	Song	Artist	Weeks	Listen
January 22	Hungry Like the Wolf	Duran Duran	3	♪
February 12	Twilight Zone	Golden Earring	1	♪
February 19	Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)	Journey	4	♪
March 19	Photograph	Def Leppard	6	♪
April 30	She's a Beauty	The Tubes	5	♪
June 4	Rock of Ages	Def Leppard	1	♪
June 11	Every Breath You Take	The Police	9	♪
August 13	Other Arms	Robert Plant	1	♪
August 20	Don't Cry	Asia	1	♪
August 27	King of Pain	The Police	5	♪
September 24	How Can I Refuse?	Heart	1	♪
October 8	Suddenly Last Summer	The Motels	2	♪
October 22	Love Is a Battlefield	Pat Benatar	4	♪
November 5	Heart and Soul	Huey Lewis and the News	1	♪
November 26	Owner of a Lonely Heart	Yes	4	♪
December 24	If I'd Been the One	.38 Special	4	♪

1984

First week at #1	Song	Artist	Weeks	Listen
January 21	Jump	Van Halen	8	♪
March 17	Got a Hold on Me	Christine McVie	2	♪
March 31	A Fine, Fine Day	Tony Carey	1	♪
April 7	Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)	Phil Collins	1	♪
April 14	You Might Think	The Cars	3	♪
May 5	Oh Sherrie	Steve Perry	2	♪
May 19	Run Runaway	Slade	2	♪
June 2	Magic	The Cars	1	♪
June 9	Dancing in the Dark	Bruce Springsteen	6	♪
July 21	No Way Out	Jefferson Starship	1	♪
July 28	The Warrior	Scandal	2	♪
August 4	Rock Me Tonite	Billy Squier	2	♪
August 25	Missing You	John Waite	2	♪
September 8	Are We Ourselves?	The Fixx	2	♪
September 22	On the Dark Side	John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band	5	♪
October 27	I Can't Hold Back	Survivor	3	♪
November 17	Run to You	Bryan Adams	4	♪
December 15	The Boys of Summer	Don Henley	4	♪

1985

First week at #1	Song	Artist	Weeks	Listen
January 19	I Want to Know What Love Is	Foreigner	1	♪
January 26	The Old Man Down the Road	John Fogerty	3	♪
February 16	Somebody	Bryan Adams	2	♪
March 2	Just Another Night	Mick Jagger	2	♪
March 16	Radioactive	The Firm	1	♪
March 23	All She Wants to Do Is Dance	Don Henley	2	♪
April 6	Forever Man	Eric Clapton	2	♪
April 20	Don't You (Forget About Me)	Simple Minds	3	♪
May 11	Trapped	Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band	3	♪
June 1	Little by Little	Robert Plant	2	♪
June 15	Tough All Over	John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band	2	♪
June 29	If You Love Somebody Set Them Free	Sting	3	♪
July 20	The Power of Love	Huey Lewis and the News	2	♪
August 3	Money for Nothing †	Dire Straits	3	♪
August 24	Fortress Around Your Heart	Sting	2	♪
September 7	Lonely Ol' Night	John Cougar Mellencamp	5	♪
October 12	We Built This City	Starship	1	♪
October 19	You Belong to the City	Glenn Frey	3	♪
November 9	Sleeping Bag	ZZ Top	2	♪
November 23	Tonight She Comes	The Cars	3	♪
December 14	Talk to Me	Stevie Nicks	2	♪
December 28	Silent Running †	Mike + The Mechanics	5	♪

1986

First week at #1	Song	Artist	Weeks	Listen
February 1	Kyrie	Mr. Mister	1	♪
February 8	Stages	ZZ Top	2	♪
February 22	All the King's Horses	The Firm	4	♪
March 22	Addicted to Love	Robert Palmer	2	♪
April 5	Why Can't This Be Love	Van Halen	3	♪
April 26	Stick Around	Julian Lennon	3	♪
May 17	Like a Rock	Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band	2	♪
May 31	Sledgehammer	Peter Gabriel	2	♪
June 14	Invisible Touch	Genesis	3	♪
July 5	Secret Separation	The Fixx	2	♪
July 19	Higher Love	Steve Winwood	4	♪
August 16	Missionary Man	Eurythmics	1	♪
August 23	Throwing It All Away	Genesis	3	♪
September 13	In Your Eyes	Peter Gabriel	1	♪
September 20	Take Me Home Tonight	Eddie Money	2	♪
October 4	Emotion in Motion	Ric Ocasek	1	♪
October 11	Amanda	Boston	3	♪
November 1	Hip to Be Square	Huey Lewis and the News	1	♪
November 8	Don't Get Me Wrong	The Pretenders	3	♪
November 29	I Want to Make the World Turn Around	Steve Miller Band	6	♪

1987

First week at #1	Song	Artist	Weeks	Listen
January 10	It's in the Way That You Use It	Eric Clapton	1	♪
January 17	My Baby	The Pretenders	2	♪
January 31	Livin' on a Prayer	Bon Jovi	2	♪
February 14	Midnight Blue †	Lou Gramm	5	♪
March 21	I'm No Angel	Gregg Allman Band	1	♪
March 28	Come as You Are	Peter Wolf	1	♪
April 4	With or Without You	U2	5	♪
May 9	Jammin' Me	Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers	4	♪
June 6	Shakedown	Bob Seger	4	♪
July 4	Don't Mean Nothing	Richard Marx	1	♪
July 11	Give to Live	Sammy Hagar	3	♪
August 1	Touch of Grey	Grateful Dead	3	♪
August 22	Paper in Fire	John Cougar Mellencamp	5	♪
September 26	Learning to Fly	Pink Floyd	3	♪
October 17	Brilliant Disguise	Bruce Springsteen	1	♪
October 24	Love Will Find a Way	Yes	3	♪
November 14	Cherry Bomb	John Cougar Mellencamp	1	♪
November 21	Tunnel of Love	Bruce Springsteen	4	♪
December 19	Say You Will	Foreigner	4	♪

1988

First week at #1	Song	Artist	Weeks	Listen
January 16	On the Turning Away	Pink Floyd	1	♪
January 23	Just Like Paradise	David Lee Roth	4	♪
February 20	Heaven Knows	Robert Plant	6	♪
April 2	I Wish I Had a Girl	Henry Lee Summer	1	♪
April 9	Tall Cool One	Robert Plant	4	♪
May 7	Only a Memory	The Smithereens	1	♪
May 14	The Valley Road	Bruce Hornsby and the Range	3	♪
June 4	Black and Blue	Van Halen	3	♪
June 25	Roll with It	Steve Winwood	4	♪
July 23	When It's Love	Van Halen	1	♪
July 30	Simply Irresistible	Robert Palmer	3	♪
August 20	Hate to Lose Your Lovin'	Little Feat	4	♪
September 17	Don't You Know What the Night Can Do?	Steve Winwood	2	♪
October 1	I'm Not Your Man	Tommy Conwell & The Young Rumblers	1	♪
October 8	Desire	U2	5	♪
November 12	It's Money That Matters	Randy Newman	2	♪
November 26	Orange Crush	R.E.M.	2	♪
December 10	Angel of Harlem	U2	6	♪

1989

First week at #1	Song	Artist	Weeks	Listen
January 21	Got It Made	Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young	2	♪
February 4	The Love in Your Eyes	Eddie Money	1	♪
February 11	Stand	R.E.M.	1	♪
February 18	Driven Out	The Fixx	4	♪
March 18	Working on It	Chris Rea	1	♪
March 25	I'll Be You	The Replacements	3	♪
April 15	Now You're in Heaven	Julian Lennon	1	♪
April 22	I Won't Back Down	Tom Petty	5	♪
May 27	The Doctor	The Doobie Brothers	3	♪
June 17	Rooms on Fire	Stevie Nicks	1	♪
June 24	Runnin' Down a Dream	Tom Petty	1	♪
July 1	The End of the Innocence	Don Henley	4	♪
July 29	Crossfire	Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble	3	♪
August 19	Let the Day Begin	The Call	1	♪
August 26	Free Fallin' †	Tom Petty	1	♪
September 2	Mixed Emotions	The Rolling Stones	5	♪
October 7	Love in an Elevator	Aerosmith	2	♪
October 21	Rock and a Hard Place	The Rolling Stones	5	♪
November 25	Pretending	Eric Clapton	5	♪
December 30	Show Don't Tell	Rush	2	♪

1990

First week at #1	Song	Artist	Weeks	Listen
January 13	Downtown Train	Rod Stewart	2	♪
January 27	Bad Love	Eric Clapton	3	♪
February 17	Black Velvet	Alannah Myles	2	♪
February 24	What It Takes †	Aerosmith	1	♪
March 10	Almost Hear You Sigh	The Rolling Stones	1	♪
March 17	Blue Sky Mine	Midnight Oil	1	♪
March 24	Hurting Kind	Robert Plant	6	♪
May 5	Coming of Age	Damn Yankees	1	♪
May 12	Texas Twister	Little Feat	1	♪
May 19	Doubleback	ZZ Top	5	♪
June 23	Cradle of Love	Billy Idol	2	♪
July 7	Holy Water	Bad Company	2	♪
July 21	Across the River	Bruce Hornsby and the Range	1	♪
July 28	The Other Side	Aerosmith	2	♪
August 11	Good Clean Fun	Allman Brothers Band	1	♪
August 18	Brickyard Road	Johnny Van Zant	3	♪
September 8	Blaze of Glory	Jon Bon Jovi	1	♪
September 15	Suicide Blonde	INXS	4	♪
October 13	Concrete and Steel	ZZ Top	4	♪
November 10	Hard to Handle	The Black Crowes	2	♪
November 24	One and Only Man	Steve Winwood	2	♪
December 8	My Head's in Mississippi	ZZ Top	6	♪

1991

First week at #1	Song	Artist	Weeks	Listen
January 19	All This Time	Sting	7	♪
March 9	She Talks to Angels	The Black Crowes	1	♪
March 16	Highwire	The Rolling Stones	3	♪
April 6	Silent Lucidity †	Queensrÿche	1	♪
April 13	Losing My Religion	R.E.M.	3	♪
May 4	Lift Me Up	Yes	6	♪
June 15	Poundcake	Van Halen	2	♪
June 29	Learning to Fly	Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers	6	♪
August 10	Runaround	Van Halen	4	♪
September 7	Out in the Cold	Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers	2	♪
September 21	Dreamline	Rush	4	♪
October 19	Get a Leg Up	John Mellencamp	3	♪
October 26	Top of the World	Van Halen	4	♪
December 7	Heavy Fuel	Dire Straits	1	♪
December 14	Mysterious Ways †	U2	12	♪

1992

First week at #1	Song	Artist	Weeks	Listen
March 7	Again Tonight	John Mellencamp	2	♪
March 21	Human Touch	Bruce Springsteen	3	♪
April 11	Let's Get Rocked	Def Leppard	1	♪
April 18	One	U2	2	♪
May 2	Remedy	The Black Crowes	11	♪
July 18	Sting Me	The Black Crowes	2	♪
August 1	Even Better Than the Real Thing	U2	3	♪
August 22	Thorn in My Pride	The Black Crowes	4	♪
September 19	How About That	Bad Company	6	♪
October 31	Digging in the Dirt	Peter Gabriel	1	♪
November 7	Rest in Peace	Extreme	2	♪
November 21	Keep the Faith	Bon Jovi	1	♪
November 28	Hotel Illness	The Black Crowes	6	♪

1993

First week at #1	Song	Artist	Weeks	Listen
January 9	Stand Up (Kick Love into Motion)	Def Leppard	5	♪
February 13	Don't Tear Me Up	Mick Jagger	1	♪
February 20	Won't Get Fooled Again	Van Halen	1	♪
February 27	Pride and Joy	Coverdale and Page	6	♪
April 10	Livin' on the Edge	Aerosmith	9	♪
June 12	Are You Gonna Go My Way	Lenny Kravitz	2	♪
June 26	Plush †	Stone Temple Pilots	1	♪
July 3	Big Gun	AC/DC	2	♪
July 17	Cryin'	Aerosmith	6	♪
August 28	What If I Came Knocking	John Mellencamp	2	♪
September 11	Peace Pipe	Cry of Love	4	♪
October 9	No Rain	Blind Melon	2	♪
October 23	Stick It Out	Rush	4	♪
November 20	Mary Jane's Last Dance	Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers	2	♪
December 4	Daughter	Pearl Jam	8	♪

1994

First week at #1	Song	Artist	Weeks	Listen
January 29	Pincushion	ZZ Top	4	♪
February 26	Deuces Are Wild	Aerosmith	4	♪
March 26	No Excuses	Alice in Chains	2	♪
April 9	Keep Talking	Pink Floyd	6	♪
May 21	Shine †	Collective Soul	8	♪
July 16	Black Hole Sun	Soundgarden	7	♪
September 3	Vasoline	Stone Temple Pilots	2	♪
September 17	Interstate Love Song	Stone Temple Pilots	15	♪
December 31	You Don't Know How It Feels	Tom Petty	1	♪

1995

First week at #1	Song	Artist	Weeks	Listen
January 7	Better Man	Pearl Jam	8	♪
January 21	Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)	Van Halen	3	♪
March 25	Lightning Crashes	Live	10	♪
June 3	December †	Collective Soul	9	♪
August 5	Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me	U2	1	♪
August 12	And Fools Shine On	Brother Cane	6	♪
September 23	Tomorrow	Silverchair	3	♪
October 14	Hard as a Rock	AC/DC	3	♪
November 4	Name	Goo Goo Dolls	5	♪
December 9	My Friends	Red Hot Chili Peppers	4	♪

1996

First week at #1	Song	Artist	Weeks	Listen
January 6	Cumbersome	Seven Mary Three	4	♪
February 3	The World I Know	Collective Soul	4	♪
March 2	1979	The Smashing Pumpkins	2	♪
March 16	Santa Monica	Everclear	3	♪
April 6	In the Meantime	Spacehog	4	♪
May 4	Big Bang Baby	Stone Temple Pilots	1	♪
May 11	Where the River Flows	Collective Soul	2	♪
May 25	Humans Being	Van Halen	2	♪
June 8	Until It Sleeps	Metallica	8	♪
July 27	Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart	Stone Temple Pilots	4	♪
August 31	Burden in My Hand	Soundgarden	5	♪
October 5	Test for Echo	Rush	3	♪
October 26	Me Wise Magic	Van Halen	6	♪
December 7	Hero of the Day	Metallica	3	♪
December 28	Blow Up the Outside World	Soundgarden	4	♪

1997

First week at #1	Song	Artist	Weeks	Listen
January 18	Lady Picture Show	Stone Temple Pilots	1	♪
February 1	One Headlight	The Wallflowers	5	♪
March 8	Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)	Aerosmith	5	♪
April 12	Precious Declaration	Collective Soul	4	♪
May 10	Gone Away	The Offspring	2	♪
May 24	Little White Lie	Sammy Hagar	5	♪
June 28	If You Could Only See †	Tonic	5	♪
August 2	Listen	Collective Soul	5	♪
September 6	Pink	Aerosmith	4	♪
October 4	Touch, Peel and Stand	Days of the New	16	♪

1998

First week at #1	Song	Artist	Weeks	Listen
January 24	Given to Fly	Pearl Jam	6	♪
March 7	Without You	Van Halen	6	♪
April 18	Blue on Black †	Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band	6	♪
May 9	Most High	Jimmy Page & Robert Plant	2	♪
June 6	I Lie in the Bed I Make	Brother Cane	4	♪
July 11	The Down Town	Days of the New	10	♪
September 19	What's This Life For	Creed	6	♪
October 31	Psycho Circus	Kiss	1	♪
November 7	Fly Away	Lenny Kravitz	3	♪
November 28	Turn the Page	Metallica	11	♪

1999

First week at #1	Song	Artist	Weeks	Listen
February 13	What It's Like	Everlast	1	♪
February 20	Heavy	Collective Soul	15	♪
June 5	Lit Up	Buckcherry	3	♪
June 26	Promises	Def Leppard	3	♪
July 17	Scar Tissue	Red Hot Chili Peppers	10	♪
September 25	Higher	Creed	14	♪

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Chart data: Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart (originally Top Tracks and Album Rock Tracks), as compiled on Wikipedia. “Weeks” counts all weeks at number one, including returns. † marks a Billboard year-end number one. Hey DJ 4U is not affiliated with Billboard. Previews are short clips supplied by Apple. How we handle the data.