Twenty One Pilots are taking the music industry by storm. Not only are they consistently in the top ten of the Billboard 200 chart week after week, but they’re straight up accomplishing things that no band has before – especially when it comes to their singles.
The rock act is making history on the charts this week with their songs “Ride” and “Heathens,” becoming the first band to reach number one on the Pop Songs chart and Alternative Songs chart simultaneously. Unlike the Hot 100 chart which is measured by radio play audience, sales data and streaming activity, the Pop and Alternative Songs charts are measured strictly by radio play. Basically, Twenty One Pilots are selling a ton of records, and they’re being played a lot on the radio.
Now, this isn’t the first time that a band has ruled the Pop and Alternative charts at the same time, but it’s never been done by two different songs. Green Day took number one on both eleven years ago with “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” while Goo Goo Dolls did it all the way back in 1998 with their hit, “Iris.”
What is even more remarkable about Twenty One Pilots’ chart position is that their two songs aren’t even from the same album. While “Ride” (the Pop Songs number one) is the latest single from their 2015 album, Blurryface, the Alternative Songs cut “Heathens” was released this past June from the Suicide Squad soundtrack, and its popularity skyrocketed in an instant.
Twenty One Pilots are celebrating the success of Blurryface in another way, too, as the album just surpassed one million total copies sold late last month. Suffice to say, it’s a good time to be a fan of the band.