Billboard Top 50 Year-End Adult Alternative Airplay Songs for the Year of 2024

[@AAAChartsVideos]

Two songs that made #1 during the tracking period (at the end of the year) are not on this list; James Bay's Up All Night with the Lumineers and Noah Kahan, and Leon Bridges' Peaceful Place. As both hit #1 during the middle of their chart runs, I also see them barely missing 2025's lists as well. Both of them made this year's Mediabase year-end chart with them still starting and ending their chart year in November.

[@AAAChartsVideos]

Top 10 Artists (Billboard) 1 Hozier 2 Cage the Elephant 3 Black Pumas 4 The Black Keys 5 Teddy Swims 6 The Decemberists 7 Vampire Weekend 8 Pearl Jam 9 The Red Clay Strays 10 Bleachers Top 10 Artists (Mediabase) 1 Teddy Swims 2 Black Pumas 3 Cage the Elephant 4 Hozier 5 Noah Kahan 6 The Black Keys 7 The Decemberists 8 The Red Clay Strays 9 Michael Marcagi 10 Brigitte Calls Me Baby

[@maxrock2939]

Final results: 80% Grade: B Let’s finish this up so I give my final grade 1. Now that’s sweet - 8/10 2. Not that heartless- 8/10 3. Red or Blue your choice - 7/10 4. Folk music- 8/10 5. This gives me Jesus ad flashbacks - 5/10 6. 😩 - 7/10 7. Passengers 2.0 - 7/10 8. Okay now I’m enjoying this - 7/10 9. Black keys on autopilot - 7/10 10. Serving mother - 8/10 11. House of rising Sun 2.0 - 6/10 12. Rad - 7/10 13. This is now the biggest hit song of 2024 reaped what you sowed - 5/10 14. Mother - 8/10 15. 🧐 - 9/10 16. What now Brittany what now? - 8/10 17. Ah yes - 7/10 18. Solid 7/10 19. Definitely what would you expect from a vampire weekend song - 8/10 20. Okayish - 7/10 21. Mother - 8/10 22. Slow down Jack Antonoff - 6/10 23. 💭🤔- 7/10 24. It’s ok I guess - 6/10 25. Leg them run - 7/10 26. Should have Done more in the alt chart - 9/10 27. 🏳️‍⚧️ - 8/10 28. Not bad - 7/10 29. This is black puma song alright - 6/10 30. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm - 8/10 31. Alright - 7/10 32. ❤ - 7/10 33. Again push No One Noticed - 7/10 34. Boomers rock but this is acceptable - 7/10 35. This > his biggest hit song of 2024 - 7/10 36. nothing matters is better this is fine - 7/10 37. 🏳️‍⚧️ - 9/10 38. Impressively averagely good - 7/10 39. Average bk music - 7/10 40. Warn blanket- 8/10 41. ❤ - 7/10 42. Hmm impressive - 7/10 43. Boomers rock - 6/10 44. Fine enough - 7/10 45. Beautiful - 8/10 46. So why did it take so long - 8/10 47. F l o a t I n g - 8/10 48. Take me back - 7/10 49. 👍 - 7/10 50. Protect the children - 7/10

[@AAAChartsVideos]

This was the year of Hozier for AAA, as he handily took the #1 and had an additional song in the top 5 and another #1 that will impact the 2025 chart year more. In addition to several staples who continued to do well, we also saw newer acts such as the Red Clay Strays and Teddy Swims do well, while beabadoobee, Future Islands, Mavis Staples (as a lead) and Tyler Childers also made the top 10 for the first time. And then... we also have that new Beatles song. What were your favorite and least favorites of the year? It need not be from this top 50.

[@AAAChartsVideos]

Mediabase Adult Alternative 1 Hozier - Too Sweet 2 Teddy Swims - Lose Control 3 Michael Marcagi - Scared to Start 4 Noah Kahan & Hozier - Northern Attitude 5 Cage the Elephant - Neon Pill 6 Mumford & Sons & Pharrell Williams - Good People 7 The Black Keys - Beautiful People (Stay High) 8 Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats - Heartless 9 Mt. Joy - Highway Queen 10 Pearl Jam - Wreckage 11 The Red Clay Strays - Wondering Why 12 The Decemberists f/ James Mercer - Burial Ground 13 Maggie Rogers - Don't Forget Me 14 Future Islands - The Tower 15 U2 - Atomic City 16 The Last Dinner Party - Sinner 17 Kacey Musgraves - Cardinal 18 Black Pumas - Ice Cream (Pay Phone) 19 Good Neighbours - Home 20 Brittany Howard - What Now 21 Mitski - My Love Mine All Mine 22 Norah Jones - Running 23 Vampire Weekend - Capricorn 24 boygenius - Cool About It 25 Ray LaMontagne - Step into Your Power 26 The Black Crowes - Wanting and Waiting 27 Kings of Leon - Mustang 28 beabadoobee - Take a Bite 29 Cage the Elephant - Rainbow 30 Teddy Swims - The Door 31 Black Pumas - More Than a Love Song 32 Pete Yorn - Someday, Someday 33 Bleachers - Modern Girl 34 MGMT - Mother Nature 35 Lake Street Dive - Good Together 36 Myles Smith - Stargazing 37 The Revivalists - Good Old Days 38 Clairo - Sexy to Someone 39 The Heavy Heavy - Happiness 40 Brigitte Calls Me Baby - Impressively Average 41 Noah Kahan - Dial Drunk 42 The Black Keys - On the Game 43 Michael Kiwanuka - Floating Parade 44 Bakar - Alive! 45 James Bay, The Lumineers & Noah Kahan - Up All Night 46 The Marías - Run Your Mouth 47 The Avett Brothers - Love of a Girl 48 Tyler Childers - In Your Love 49 Stephen Sanchez - High 50 Leon Bridges - Peaceful Place

[@AAAChartsVideos]

Billboard Adult Alternative 1 Hozier - Too Sweet 2 Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats - Heartless 3 Cage the Elephant - Neon Pill 4 Noah Kahan & Hozier - Northern Attitude 5 Mumford & Sons & Pharrell Williams - Good People 6 Pearl Jam - Wreckage 7 Michael Marcagi - Scared to Start 8 The Decemberists f/ James Mercer - Burial Ground 9 The Black Keys - Beautiful People (Stay High) 10 Maggie Rogers - Don't Forget Me 11 U2 - Atomic City 12 Mt. Joy - Highway Queen 13 Teddy Swims - Lose Control 14 Kacey Musgraves - Cardinal 15 Mitski - My Love Mine All Mine 16 Brittany Howard - What Now 17 Future Islands - The Tower 18 Black Pumas - Ice Cream (Pay Phone) 19 Vampire Weekend - Capricorn 20 Ray LaMontagne - Step into Your Power 21 beabadoobee - Take a Bite 22 Bleachers - Modern Girl 23 The Red Clay Strays - Wondering Why 24 Good Neighbours - Home 25 Norah Jones - Running 26 MGMT - Mother Nature 27 boygenius - Cool About It 28 Kings of Leon - Mustang 29 Black Pumas - More Than a Love Song 30 Pete Yorn - Someday, Someday 31 Cage the Elephant - Rainbow 32 Lake Street Dive - Good Together 33 The Marías - Run Your Mouth 34 The Black Crowes - Wanting and Waiting 35 Teddy Swims - The Door 36 The Last Dinner Party - Sinner 37 Clairo - Sexy to Someone 38 Brigitte Calls Me Baby - Impressively Average 39 The Black Keys - On the Game 40 The Heavy Heavy - Happiness 41 The Avett Brothers - Love of a Girl 42 Stephen Sanchez - High 43 The Rolling Stones - Angry 44 Bakar - Alive! 45 joe p - Don't Wanna Love U 46 The Beatles - Now and Then 47 Michael Kiwanuka - Floating Parade 48 The Revivalists - Good Old Days 49 Tyler Childers - In Your Love 50 Gary Clark Jr. f/ Stevie Wonder - What About the Children 51 and below are mockups by myself. 51 Zach Bryan f/ Kacey Musgraves - I Remember Everything 52 Myles Smith - Stargazing 53 Mavis Staples - Worthy 54 Waxahatchee - Bored 55 The Killers - Your Side of Town 56 The Decemberists - Oh No! 57 Real Estate - Water Underground 58 St. Vincent - Broken Man 59 Guster - Keep Going 60 Foo Fighters - The Glass 61 James Bay, The Lumineers & Noah Kahan - Up All Night 62 Green Day - The American Dream is Killing Me 63 Vampire Weekend - Classical 64 Orville Peck & Beck - Death Valley High 65 Coldplay - FeelsLikeImFallinginLove 66 The Red Clay Strays - Wanna Be Loved 67 Leon Bridges - Peaceful Place 68 Bleachers - Tiny Moves 69 Kings of Leon - Nowhere to Run 70 Foo Fighters - Under You 71 Brigitte Calls Me Baby - We Were Never Alive 72 Fontaines D.C. - Starburster 73 Ilsey - No California 74 Rainbow Kitten Surprise - Superstar 75 Cannons - Loving You 76 Aaron Frazer - Payback 77 Iron & Wine & Fiona Apple - All in Good Time 78 Shakey Graves f/ Sierra Ferrell - Ready or Not 79 Jack White - That's How I'm Feeling 80 Wilco - Evicted 81 Sleater-Kinney - Say It Like You Mean It 82 Cassandra Lewis - So Bad 83 J Mascis - Can't Believe We're Here 84 Jenny Lewis - Cherry Baby 85 Suki Waterhouse - Supersad 86 The Last Dinner Party - The Feminine Urge 87 Dehd - Dog Days 88 Waxahatchee f/ MJ Lenderman - Right Back to It 89 Wilco - Meant to Be 90 Hozier - Nobody's Soldier 91 Slow Pulp - Doubt 92 Billie Eilish - Lunch 93 The Rolling Stones - Mess It Up 94 Pearl Jam - Dark Matter 95 JD McPherson - Sunshine Getaway 96 Inhaler - Just to Keep You Satisfied 97 Devon Gilfillian - Love You Anyway 98 Amos Lee - Hold on Tight 99 Peter Gabriel - Road to Joy 100 Fontaines D.C. - Favourite 101 Charley Crockett - Solitary Road 102 The National f/ Rosanne Cash - Crumble 103 the moss - The Place That Makes Me Happy 104 Glass Animals - Creatures in Heaven 105 Jonah Kagen - God Needs the Devil 106 Thee Sacred Souls - Live for You 107 The Record Company - Roll with It 108 Pete Yorn - Real Good Love 109 Middle Kids - Dramamine 110 The Black Crowes f/ Lainey Wilson - Wilted Rose 111 Margaret Glaspy - Get Back 112 Dehd - Mood Ring 113 X Ambassadors - No Strings 114 Blur - Barbaric 115 Wilco - Annihilation 116 Hippo Campus - Paranoid 117 Lo Moon - Water 118 Black Pumas - Mrs. Postman 119 Charley Crockett - $10 Cowboy 120 The Killers - Bright Lights 121 Chris Stapleton - White Horse 122 MJ Lenderman - She's Leaving You 123 Noah Kahan - Dial Drunk 124 Brigitte Calls Me Baby - Eddie My Love 125 Brittany Howard - Prove It to You 126 Nada Surf - In Front of Me Now 127 The Avett Brothers - Orion's Belt 128 Maya Hawke - Missing Out 129 Jaime Wyatt - World Worth Keeping 130 Dave Matthews Band - Break Free 131 KALEO - Lonely Cowboy 132 Michigander - Giving Up 133 Phosphorescent - Revelator 134 Lucius f/ Adam Granduciel - Old Tape 135 bby - Kinky 136 The Record Company - Talk to Me 137 bby - Hotline 138 blink-182 - One More Time 139 Catfish and the Bottlemen - Showtime 140 Laufey - From the Start 141 Death Cab for Cutie - An Arrow in the Wall 142 beabadoobee - Beaches 143 joe p - Violet 144 Jade Bird f/ Mura Masa - Burn the Hard Drive 145 Hozier - Francesca 146 Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - When We Were Close 147 Lake Street Dive - Dance with a Stranger 148 Michael Franti & Spearhead - Hands Up to the Sky 149 Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats - Call Me (Whatever You Like) 150 Sierra Ferrell - Fox Hunt 151 Bully - Days Move Slow 152 Khruangbin - A Love International 153 NEEDTOBREATHE - How Wonderful We Are 154 The Last Dinner Party - Nothing Matters 155 Lana Del Rey - Say Yes to Heaven 156 JJ Grey & Mofro - Wonderland 157 Beyoncé - Texas Hold 'Em 158 Karen O & Danger Mouse - Super Breath 159 Jana Mila - Somebody New 160 The Secret Sisters f/ Ray LaMontagne - All the Ways 161 Johnny Blue Skies - Mint Tea 162 Jaime Wyatt - Feel Good 163 Bahamas - I'm Still 164 Kacey Musgraves - The Architect 165 Sting - I Wrote Your Name (Upon My Heart) 166 Beck & Phoenix - Odyssey 167 Michael Marcagi - The Other Side 168 Imagine Dragons - Eyes Closed 169 Blondshell f/ Bully - Docket 170 Phish - Evolve 171 Judah & the Lion - Long Dark Night 172 Old 97's - Where the Road Goes 173 Genesis Owusu - Tied Up! 174 Jon Batiste - Calling Your Name 175 Bon Iver - S P E Y S I D E 176 Briscoe - The Well 177 Orla Gartland - Little Chaos 178 Briston Maroney - Body 179 Middle Kids - Highlands 180 U2 - Picture of You (X+W) 181 Billy Strings - Gild the Lily 182 Franz Ferdinand - Audacious 183 Mitski - Bug Like an Angel 184 Soccer Mommy - Driver 185 Jamila Woods f/ duendita - Tiny Garden 186 Chicano Batman - Fly

[@SpectrumMD21]

Am I the only one who felt like the format had a very underwhelming year? I mean, I'm happy to see songs like "The Door", "What Now", "Sinner", and especially "Heartless" make the year-end. However, a lot of what impacted here that made my own year more interesting, often didn't come close to hitting the year-end (hi, Brittany Howard's "Prove It To You" and Bleachers' "Tiny Moves" for the most notable examples that DID chart). In a year where we could've had major curveball breakouts like Orla Gartland...who charted late and honestly could've done more, Amythyst Kiah, Ginger Root, or the return of Elbow (and I did have a whole list ready that I already showed the Discord server that was chalk-full of admittedly niche examples), we got stuck with a bunch of...fine enough...songs, and the five or so expected entries that are at least regular-bad. I know it often comes down to not having enough promo budget or momentum / greater inertia to push (or they're outright not interested beyond the impact date or they pick the wrong songs to push), but it doesn't change how...disappointingly okay...the year was as a whole, just kind of there; perhaps closer to 2017 for me. Not a bad year, but certainly further away from the highs of say, most years so far this decade. Seriously, go back and check out the last couple of year-end lists where the quality is just STACKED TO THE BRIM!

[@AAAChartsVideos]

Disagree, but I'm someone who tends to look beyond the top 50 of this year-end so that may play a part in it. Though I'm worried how much a certain station may influence crossovers from alternative to be bigger, lol. I seriously think why PITU underperformed is because the commercial, more traditional AAAs didn't like the house-influenced sound of the song.

[@maxrock2939]

Ranking the aaa year end no.1 of the 2020s from 💩 to 💎 1. Boygenius - Not Strong Enough - (9/10) 2. Bakar - Hell n Back - (8/10) 3. Hozier - Too Sweet (7/10) 4. Kings Of Leon - The Bandit (7/10) 5. The Black Keys - Wild Child (6/10)

[@maxrock2939]

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