Adult Album Alternative (AAA): Top 100+ Songs from 1996 to 2021

Adult Alternative, 1996-2021: Top 100+ Songs

In 1996, Billboard magazine lanched the adult album alternative (AAA) chart. The radio format is a spinoff of the album-oriented radio format rooted in music from the ‘60s and ‘70s. AAA includes some of that genre’s most noted acts (Eric Clapton, John Mellencamp, Tom Petty, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen), but expands to include a variety of genres generally broader than most other radio formats, encompassing alternative rock, alt country, folk, jazz, and blues. Here are the top 100+ AAA songs based on most weeks at #1. Songs with the same number of weeks on top are ranked based on most points in Dave’s Music Database. All songs spending five or weeks on top have been included on this list. Click here to see other genre-specific song lists. Click here to see other genre-specific song lists. 16 weeks: U2 “Beautiful Day” (2000) 15 weeks: Coldplay “Clocks” (2002) Kings of Leon “Waste a Moment” (2016) 14 weeks: Adele “Rolling in the Deep” (2010) The Wallflowers “One Headlight” (1996) Matchbox 20 “Bent” (2000) Matchbox 20 “3 A.M.” (1996) 13 weeks: Gotye with Kimbra “Somebody That I Used to Know” (2011) Santana with Rob Thomas “Smooth” (1999) Jack Johnson “Upside Down” (2006) Pearl Jam “Just Breathe” (2009) 12 weeks: Train “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)” (2001) Beck “Dreams” (2015) Dave Matthews Band “Funny the Way It Is” (2009) 11 weeks: Coldplay “Viva La Vida” (2008) Portugal, the Man “Feel It Still” (2017) Mumford & Sons “I Will Wait” (2012) The Lumineers “Ophelia” (2016) Jack Johnson “You and Your Heart” (2010) KT Tunstall “Hold On” (2007) 10 weeks: Sarah McLachlan “Building a Mystery” (1997) George Ezra “Budapest” (2013) The Black Keys “Fever” (2014) Death Cab for Cutie “Soul Meets Body” (2005) Jack Johnson “If I Had Eyes” (2007) Jack Johnson “Good People” (2005) David Gray “Fugitive” (2009) 9 weeks: U2 “Vertigo” (2004) Coldplay “Speed of Sound” (2005) Train “Calling All Angels” (2003) Hootie & the Blowfish “Old Man & Me (When I Get to Heaven)” (1996) The Black Keys “Go” (2019) Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats “You Worry Me” (2018) 8 weeks: Lorde “Royals” (2013) Green Day “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” (2004) Snow Patrol “Chasing Cars” (2006) The Lumineers “Ho Hey” (2012) Coldplay “Paradise” (2011) Milky Chance “Stolen Dance” (2013) R.E.M. “The Great Beyond” (1999) Michael Franti & Spearhead “The Sound of Sunshine” (2010) Counting Crows “Hanginaround” (1999) The Lumineers “Stubborn Love” (2012) The Head and the Heart “All We Ever Knew” (2016) Norah Jones “Sunrise” (2004) Tracy Chapman “Telling Stories (There Is Friction in the Space Between)” (2000) Death Cab for Cutie “You Are a Tourist” (2011) Death Cab for Cutie “Gold Rush” (2018) David Gray “You’re the World to Me” (2007) Serena Ryder “Stompa” (2013) Nathaniel Rateliff “And It’s Still Alright” (2020) 7 weeks: The Fray “You Found Me” (2008) The Black Keys “Lonely Boy” (2011) New Radicals “You Get What You Give” (1998) Sheryl Crow “Soak Up the Sun” (2002) Eric Clapton “My Father’s Eyes” (1998) U2 “Staring at the Sun” (1997) U2 “Window in the Skies” (2006) Coldplay “Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall” (2011) Kings of Leon “Radioactive” (2010) Dave Matthews Band “Stay (Wasting Time)” (1998) Vampire Weekend “Harmony Hall” (2019) U2 “You’re the Best Thing About Me” (2017) Dave Matthews Band “Where Are You Going?” (2002) Natalie Merchant “Kind and Generous” (1998) Dave Matthews Band “Everyday” (2001) Spoon “Hot Thoughts” (2017) Snow Patrol “Crack the Shutters” (2008) John Butler Trio “Better Than” (2007) Ray LaMontagne “Strong Enough” (2020) 6 weeks: Gnarls Barkley “Crazy” (2006) Sam Smith “Stay with Me” (2014) Phillip Phillips “Home” (2012) John Mayer “Waiting on the World to Change” (2006) Goo Goo Dolls “Slide” (1998) John Mellencamp “Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)” (1996) Arcade Fire “Everything Now” (2017) U2 “Electrical Storm” (2002) Sheryl Crow “A Change Would Do You Good” (1996) The Killers “Read My Mind” (2006) Jack Johnson “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing” (2005) Mumford & Sons “Guiding Light” (2018) Blues Traveler “Most Precarious” (1997) Norah Jones “Chasing Pirates” (2009) David Gray “The One I Love” (2005) Ray LaMontagne & the Pariah Dogs “Beg, Steal or Borrow” (2010) Pete Yorn “Life on a Chain” (2001) Kings of Leon “The Bandit” (2021) Caamp “Officer of Love” (2020) 5 weeks: The Verve Pipe “The Freshmen” (1996) Primitive Radio Gods “Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand” (1996) U2 “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own” (2004) Death Cab for Cutie “I Will Possess Your Heart” (2008) Coldplay “Adventure of a Lifetime” (2015) Rag ‘n’ Bone Man “Human” (2016) Gin Blossoms “Follow You Down” (1996) Mumford & Sons “Believe” (2015) Sheryl Crow “My Favorite Mistake” (1998) The Black Keys “Lo/Hi” (2019) Counting Crows “Accidentally in Love” (2004) Sarah McLachlan “Fallen” (2003) Collective Soul “Run” (1999) The Lumineers “Gloria” (2019) John Mellencamp with India.Arie “Peaceful World” (2001) R.E.M. “Supernatural Superserious” (2008) Shery Crow “Anything But Down” (1998) Dave Matthews Band “I Did It” (2001) John Mayer “Bigger Than My Body” (2003) The Avett Brothers “Ain’t No Man” (2016) Beck “Uneventful Days” (2019) Paolo Nutini “New Shoes” (2006) John Mayer “Who Says” (2009) Leon Bridges “Bad Bad News” (2019) My Morning Jacket “Feel You” (2020) Resources and Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “Other Genre/Category Song Lists" Dave’s Music Database (4/24/2020). “Adult Alternative, 1990-1996” Wikipedia.org “List of Billboard number-one adult alternative singles of the 2000s” Wikipedia.org “List of Billboard number-one adult alternative singles of the 2010s” Wikipedia.org “List of Billboard number-one adult alternative singles of the 2020s” First posted 12/10/2017; last updated 5/8/2021.

Adult Album Alternative (AAA) Acts: Top 100

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In 1996, Billboard magazine lanched the adult album alternative (AAA) chart. The radio format is a spinoff of the album-oriented radio format rooted in music from the ‘60s and ‘70s. AAA includes some of that genre’s most noted acts (Eric Clapton, John Mellencamp, Tom Petty, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen), but expands to include a variety of genres generally broader than most other radio formats, encompassing alternative rock, alt country, folk, jazz, and blues.

As of December 9, 2017, here are the top 100 AAA acts.

1. U2
2. Dave Matthews (solo and with band)
3. Coldplay
4. Jack Johnson
5. Sheryl Crow
6. John Mayer
7. R.E.M.
8. Counting Crows
9. The Wallflowers
10. Train

11. Tom Petty (solo & with Heartbreakers & Mudcrutch)
12. David Gray
13. Ryan Adams
14. Eric Clapton
15. Beck
16. Death Cab for Cutie
17. Snow Patrol
18. Mumford & Sons
19. Adele
20. Red Hot Chili Peppers

21. Bruce Springsteen
22. Sting
23. Matchbox 20
24. Norah Jones
25. Ben Harper
26. Kings of Leon
27. John Mellencamp
28. Sarah McLachlan
29. Ray LaMontagne
30. Green Day

31. Chris Isaak
32. Goo Goo Dolls
33. Collective Soul
34. Keane
35. Wilco
36. Imagine Dragons
37. Barenaked Ladies
38. The Head and the Heart
39. Lenny Kravitz
40. The Black Keys

41. Tracy Chapman
42. The Fray
43. Melissa Etheridge
44. The Avett Brothers
45. Pearl Jam
46. Florence + the Machine
47. Guster
48. Jason Mraz
49. Cage the Elephant
50. Michael Franti

51. Bonnie Raitt
52. The Rolling Stones
53. Matt Nathanson
54. Pete Yorn
55. Alanis Morissette
56. Indigo Girls
57. The Lumineers
58. Blues Traveler
59. KT Tunstall
60. The Decemberists

61. Mark Knopfler
62. Tori Amos
63. Shawn Colvin
64. Spoon
65. Jonny Lang
66. Amos Lee
67. Phish
68. The Killers
69. Shawn Mullins
70. Brandi Carlile

71. Van Morrison
72. Robert Plant
73. Dawes
74. Arcade Fire
Foo Fighters
76. Neil Young
77. Of Monsters and Men
78. Grace Potter
79. John Hiatt
80. Alabama Shakes

81. Lorde
82. Pretenders
83. Hozier
84. Mat Kearney
85. Natalie Merchant
86. Phillip Phillips
87. Santana
88. Paul Simon
89. Fitz & the Tantrums
90. Jewel

91. Michael Kiwanuka
92. Ingrid Michaelson
93. Brett Dennen
94. Paolo Nutini
95. Jackson Browne
96. John Bulter Trio
97. Old 97’s
98. Feist
99. Vance Joy
100. One Republic

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