In 1996, Billboard magazine lanched the adult album alternative (AAA) chart. The radio format is a spinoff of the album-oriented radio stations focused on classic rock from the ‘60s and ‘70s. While artists like Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, and Bruce Springsteen are staples of classic rock, their current material was largely neglected by those stations. Alongside these heritage acts, AAA played mainstream-rock-oriented alternative acts like the Gin Blossoms, Goo Goo Dolls, Hootie & the Blowfish, Matchbox 20, Dave Matthews Band, and Alanis Morissette.
In 2017, the DMDB compiled a chart of the top 100 adult alternative songs based on the most weeks at #1, which has since been updated. The ranking includes all songs which spent at least 5 weeks atop the chart.
In 2020, the DMDB created a second top 100 list focused on songs from 1990 to 1996 which preceded the adult alternative chart, but which fit the format.
In 2021, in honor of the adult alternative chart’s 25th anniversary, Billboard published its list of the top 100 adult alternative songs based on chart performance. The list on this page combines those three lists, ranking the songs based on their overall Dave’s Music Database status.
Click here to see other genre-specific song lists.
1. R.E.M. “Losing My Religion” (1991)
2. Adele “Rolling in the Deep” (2010)
3. Gotye with Kimbra “Somebody That I Used to Know” (2011)
4. Oasis “Wonderwall” (1995)
5. Gnarls Barkley “Crazy” (2006)
6. U2 “One” (1992)
7. Santana with Rob Thomas “Smooth” (1999)
8. Jason Mraz “I’m Yours” (2008)
9. Coldplay “Viva La Vida” (2008)
10. Goo Goo Dolls “Iris” (1998)
11. Radiohead “Creep” (1993)
12. Lorde “Royals” (2013)
13. Pearl Jam “Jeremy” (1991)
14. Red Hot Chili Peppers “Under the Bridge” (1991)
15. Alanis Morissette “You Oughta Know” (1995)
16. Beck “Loser” (1993)
17. Green Day “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” (2004)
18. No Doubt “Don’t Speak” (1995)
19. Eric Clapton “Tears in Heaven” (1992)
20. U2 “Beautiful Day” (2000)
21. Seal “Kiss from a Rose” (1994)
22. Oasis “Live Forever” (1994)
23. Sam Smith “Stay with Me” (2014)
24. Alanis Morissette “Ironic” (1995)
25. Coldplay “Clocks” (2002)
26. Soundgarden “Black Hole Sun” (1994)
27. Snow Patrol “Chasing Cars” (2006)
28. Sheryl Crow “All I Wanna Do” (1994)
29. The Lumineers “Ho Hey” (2012)
30. Train “Hey, Soul Sister” (2009)
31. Kings of Leon “Use Somebody” (2008)
32. Pearl Jam “Alive” (1991)
33. R.E.M. “Everybody Hurts’ (1992)
34. Bruce Springsteen “Streets of Philadelphia” (1994)
35. Silverchair “Tomorrow” (1994)
36. Train “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)” (2001)
37. Oasis “Don’t Look Back in Anger” (1995)
38. Live “Lightning Crashes” (1994)
39. Stone Temple Pilots “Interstate Love Song” (1994)
40. Stone Temple Pilot “Plush” (1992)
41. Collective Soul “Shine” (1993)
42. Smashing Pumpkins “1979” (1995)
43. Green Day “Basket Case” (1994)
44. Oasis “Champagne Supernova” (1995)
45. Pearl Jam “Black” (1991)
46. Eric Clapton “Change the World” (1996)
47. Jewel “You Were Meant for Me” (1995)
48. Pearl Jam “Daughter” (1993)
49. U2 “Vertigo” (2004)
50. Green Day “Longview” (1994)
51. The Wallflowers “One Headlight” (1996)
52. Matchbox 20 “Bent” (2000)
53. Portugal, the Man “Feel It Still” (2017)
54. Pearl Jam “Better Man” (1994)
55. Weezer “Buddy Holly” (1994)
56. Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories “Stay (I Missed You)” (1994)
57. Alanis Morissette “You Learn” (1995)
58. Tracy Chapman “Give Me One Reason” (1995)
59. Smashing Pumpkins “Today” (1993)
60. Smashing Pumpkins “Disarm” (1993)
61. The Rembrandts “I’ll Be There for You” (1995)
62. Joan Osborne “One of Us” (1995)
63. Smashing Pumpkins “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” (1995)
64. Collective Soul “December” (1995)
65. Mumford & Sons “I Will Wait” (2012)
66. The Cranberries “Zombie” (1994)
67. Shawn Colvin “Sunny Came Home” (1996)
68. Sting “Fields of Gold” (1993)
69. Sarah McLachlan “Building a Mystery” (1997)
70. Green Day “When I Come Around” (1994)
71. Alanis Morissette “Head Over Feet” (1995)
72. Radiohead “Fake Plastic Trees” (1995)
73. U2 “Mysterious Ways” (1991)
74. Soul Asylum “Runaway Train” (1992)
75. Jewel “Foolish Games” (1995)
76. The Verve Pipe “The Freshmen” (1996)
77. Primitive Radio Gods “Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand” (1996)
78. Goo Goo Dolls “Name” (1995)
79. The Black Keys “Lonely Boy” (2011)
80. Beck “Where It’s At” (1996)
81. Live “Selling the Drama” (1994)
82. The Black Crowes “Hard to Handle” (1990)
83. Counting Crows “Mr. Jones” (1993)
84. U2 “Night and Day” (1990)
85. The Fray “You Found Me” (2008)
86. Matchbox 20 “3 A.M.” (1996)
87. KT Tunstall “Black Horse & the Cherry Tree” (2004)
88. Lenny Kravitz “Are You Gonna Go My Way?” (1993)
89. Lorde “Team” (2013)
90. Eric Clapton “Layla” (Unplugged version, 1992)
91. John Mayer “Waiting on the World to Change” (2006)
92. Fastball “The Way” (1998)
93. U2 “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own” (2004)
94. Bonnie Raitt “Something to Talk About” (1991)
95. Phillip Phillips “Home” (2012)
96. Coldplay “Paradise” (2011)
97. Hootie & the Blowfish “Only Wanna Be with You” (1994)
98. Dave Matthews Band “Crash into Me” (1996)
99. X Ambassadors “Renegades” (2015)
100. R.E.M. “Man on the Moon” (1992)
101. Imagine Dragons “It’s Time” (2011)
102. Alanis Morissette “Hand in My Pocket” (1995)
103. Crowded House “Weather with You” (1991)
104. The Cranberries “Linger” (1993)
105. Smashing Pumpkins “Tonight Tonight” (1995)
106. Coldplay “Speed of Sound” (2005)
107. David Gray “Babylon” (1998)
108. New Radicals “You Get What You Give” (1998)
109. INXS “Suicide Blonde” (1990)
110. Sheryl Crow “Soak Up the Sun” (2002)
111. Blues Traveler “Run Around” (1994)
112. Florence + the Machine “Dog Days Are Over” (2008)
113. R.E.M. “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” (1994)
114. Spin Doctors “Two Princes” (1991)
115. Milky Chance “Stolen Dance” (2013)
116. Sting “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You” (1993)
117. Bonnie Raitt “I Can’t Make You Love Me” (1991)
118. Hootie & the Blowfish “Let Her Cry” (1994)
119. Goo Goo Dolls “Slide” (1998)
120. Bonnie Raitt “Love Sneakin’ Up on You” (1994)
121. Seal “Crazy” (1990)
122. Hootie & the Blowfish “Hold My Hand” (1994)
123. Elle King “Ex’s and Oh’s” (2014)
124. The Black Keys “Fever” (2014)
125. Jack Johnson “Upside Down” (2006)
126. R.E.M. “Drive” (1992)
127. Sting “All This Time” (1990)
128. John Mayer “No Such Thing” (2001)
129. R.E.M. “Shiny Happy People” (1991)
130. Sheryl Crow “Everyday Is a Winding Road” (1996)
131. Death Cab for Cutie “Soul Meets Body” (2005)
132. Train “Calling All Angels” (2003)
133. George Ezra “Budapest” (2013)
134. Sarah McLachlan “I Will Remember You” (1995)
135. Sting with Cheb Mami “Desert Rose” (1999)
136. U2 “Electrical Storm” (2002)
137. Sheryl Crow “If It Makes You Happy” (1996)
138. Radiohead “High and Dry” (1995)
139. Beck “Dreams” (2015)
140. John Mellencamp & Me’Shell Ndegeocello “Wild Night” (1994)
141. Eric Clapton “My Father’s Eyes” (1998)
142. U2 “Even Better Than the Real Thing” (1991)
143. U2 “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” (1995)
144. Sheryl Crow “My Favorite Mistake” (1998)
145. The Cranberries “Dreams” (1992)
146. Collective Soul “The World I Know” (1995)
147. Paula Cole “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” (1996)
148. Melissa Etheridge “I’m the Only One” (1993)
149. The Black Keys “Lo/Hi” (2019)
150. Gin Blossoms “‘Til I Hear It from You” (1995)
151. U2 “Staring at the Sun” (1997)
152. Bruce Springsteen “Human Touch” (1992)
153. Bruce Springsteen “Secret Garden” (1995)
154. Pearl Jam “Just Breathe” (2009)
155. Hootie & the Blowfish “Old Man & Me (When I Get to Heaven)” (1996)
156. Sheryl Crow “Strong Enough” (1993)
157. Matchbox 20 “Push” (1996)
158. Death Cab for Cutie “I Will Possess Your Heart” (2008)
159. Gin Blossoms “Follow You Down” (1996)
160. Kings of Leon “Radioactive” (2010)
161. Jewel “Who Will Save Your Soul?” (1995)
162. Beck “Up All Night” (2017)
163. U2 “You’re the Best Thing About Me” (2017)
164. Jack Johnson “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing” (2005)
165. Rag ‘n’ Bone Man “Human” (2016)
166. Coldplay “Adventure of a Lifetime” (2015)
167. Paula Cole “I Don’t Want to Wait” (1996)
168. Alice Merton “No Roots” (2016)
169. The Lumineers “Ophelia” (2016)
170. Dave Matthews Band “Stay (Wasting Time)” (1998)
171. Hootie & the Blowfish “Time” (1994)
172. Arcade Fire “Everything Now” (2017)
173. The Killers “Read My Mind” (2006)
174. Jack Johnson “If I Had Eyes” (2007)
175. R.E.M. “The Great Beyond” (1999)
176. Kings of Leon “Waste a Moment” (2016)
177. Mumford & Sons “Believe” (2015)
178. John Mellencamp “Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)” (1996)
179. Coldplay “Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall” (2011)
180. U2 “Window in the Skies” (2006)
181. Jack Johnson “You and Your Heart” (2010)
182. Duncan Sheik “Barely Breathing” (1996)
183. Sheryl Crow “A Change Would Do You Good” (1996)
184. Vampire Weekend “Harmony Hall” (2019)
185. Jack Johnson “Flake” (2001)
186. The Lumineers “Stubborn Love” (2012)
187. Counting Crows “Accidentally in Love” (2004)
188. The Wallflowers “6th Avenue Heartache” (1996)
189. The Black Keys “Go” (2019)
190. O.A.R. “Shattered (Turn the Car Around)” (2008)
191. Mumford & Sons “Guiding Light” (2018)
192. Counting Crows “Hanginaround” (1999)
193. Collective Soul “Run” (1999)
194. Michael Franti & Spearhead “The Sound of Sunshine” (2010)
195. Sarah McLachlan “Fallen” (2003)
196. Dave Matthews Band “Funny the Way It Is” (2009)
197. Dave Matthews Band “Where Are You Going?” (2002)
198. Blues Traveler “Most Precarious” (1997)
199. The Lumineers “Gloria” (2019)
200. Paolo Nutini “New Shoes” (2006)
201. Natalie Merchant “Kind and Generous” (1998)
202. Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats “You Worry Me” (2018)
203. Beck “Uneventful Days” (2019)
204. John Mellencamp with India.Arie “Peaceful World” (2001)
205. Of Monsters and Men “Mountain Sound” (2011)
206. Dave Matthews Band “Everyday” (2001)
207. Norah Jones “Sunrise” (2004)
208. The Head and the Heart “All We Ever Knew” (2016)
209. Jack Johnson “Good People” (2005)
210. The Revivalists “Wish I Knew You” (2016)
211. R.E.M. “Supernatural Superserious” (2008)
212. Bruce Hornsby “Gonna Be Some Changes Made” (2004)
213. David Gray “The One I Love” (2005)
214. Dave Matthews Band “I Did It” (2001)
215. Sheryl Crow “Anything But Down” (1998)
216. Fitz & the Tantrums “Out of My League” (2013)
217. John Mayer “Bigger Than My Body” (2003)
218. Spoon “Hot Thoughts” (2017)
219. K.T. Tunstall “Hold On” (2007)
220. Snow Patrol “Just Say Yes” (2009)
221. John Mayer “Who Says” (2009)
222. Tracy Chapman “Telling Stories (There Is Friction in the Space Between)” (2000)
223. The Avett Brothers “Ain’t No Man” (2016)
224. The Lumineers “Life in the City” (2019)
225. David Gray “You’re the World to Me” (2007)
226. The Strokes “Bad Decisions” (2020)
227. The Head and the Heart “Lost in My Mind” (2011)
228. Snow Patrol “Crack the Shutters” (2008)
229. David Gray “Fugitive” (2009)
230. Death Cab for Cutie “You Are a Tourist” (2011)
231. White Reaper “Might Be Right” (2019)
232. One Eskimo “Kandi” (2009)
233. Death Cab for Cutie “Gold Rush” (2018)
234. Bakar “Hell N Back” (2019)
235. Ray LaMontagne & the Pariah Dogs “Beg, Steal or Borrow” (2010)
236. Family of the Year “Hero” (2012)
237. Norah Jones “Chasing Pirates” (2009)
238. Nathaniel Rateliff “And It’s Still Alright” (2020)
239. Serena Ryder “Stompa” (2013)
240. Norah Jones “Thinking About You” (2006)
241. Pete Yorn “Life on a Chain” (2001)
242. Dave Matthews Band “You and Me” (2009)
243. Leon Bridges “Bad Bad News” (2018)
244. Kings of Leon “The Bandit” (2021)
245. Ray LaMontagne “Strong Enough” (2020)
246. George Ezra “Blame It on Me” (2014)
247. Gomez “See the World” (2006)
248. Caamp “Officer of Love” (2020)
249. Snow Patrol “Shut Your Eyes” (2006)
250. John Butler Trio “Better Than” (2007)
251. Milky Chance with Jack Johnson “Don’t Let Me Down” (2020)
252. Dave Matthews Band “Oh” (2003)
253. My Morning Jacket “Feel You” (2020)
254. James Morrison “Nothing Ever Hurt Like You” (2008)
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First posted 2/26/2021; last updated 5/9/2021. | 
