A pair of familiar faces rank at Nos. 1 and 2 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart dated April 24, and it’s Imagine Dragons who triumph, with “Follow You” rising 2-1.
The song reigns in its sixth week on the list, becoming the Dan Reynolds-led band’s sixth ruler. It also wraps the group’s quickest coronation, usurping the seven-week ascents for “Believer” in 2017 and “Natural” in 2018.
Imagine Dragons last led Alternative Airplay with “Natural.” Since then, “Bad Liar” hit No. 8 in April 2019 and Reynolds charted as featured on Yungblud’s “Original Me” (No. 20, January 2020).
Concurrently, “Follow You” lifts 4-3 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 5.1 million audience impressions, up 15%, according to MRC Data. Along with its Alternative Airplay rule, the song pushes 16-14 on Adult Alternative Airplay. It also enters the Adult Pop Airplay chart’s top 20 (21-17).
Imagine Dragons rule Alternative Airplay over fellow format stalwarts Twenty One Pilots, whose “Shy Away” rockets 11-2 in its second week on the ranking. Imagine Dragons have notched their six No. 1s since 2013, while Twenty One Pilots have earned seven in 2015-20.
Both acts have ranked at Nos. 1 and 2 simultaneously before; Imagine Dragons’ “Believer” led Twenty One Pilots’ “Heavydirtysoul” on April 15, 2017, while Twenty One Pilots’ “Jumpsuit” one-upped Imagine Dragons’ “Natural” on Sept. 1, 2018.
“Follow You” is the lead single from Imagine Dragons’ forthcoming fifth studio album.
