For the first time in three decades, a solo woman is No. 1 on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. Nita Strauss crowns the ranking dated Jan. 15 with “Dead Inside” (up 3-1), co-billed with Disturbed‘s David Draiman.
Strauss, who plays guitar on the song while Draiman handles vocals, is the first solo woman to top Mainstream Rock Airplay — which began in 1981 — in a lead role since Alannah Myles, whose “Black Velvet” reigned for two weeks in February-March 1990.
Multiple songs by woman-fronted bands have ruled Mainstream Rock Airplay in between Myles’ and Strauss’ triumphs, most recently Halestorm with “Back From the Dead” in November.
Strauss, who has toured with Alice Cooper for nearly a decade, claims her first No. 1 on any Billboard songs chart and with her first Mainstream Rock Airplay entry. She’s the first act to notch an initial Mainstream Rock Airplay No. 1 since All Good Things, which likewise led with its first entry, “For the Glory,” in August.
Concurrently, “Dead Inside” bullets at No. 8 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, after reaching No. 7, with a new weekly-best 2.7 million audience impressions, up 3%, according to MRC Data.
On the multi-metric Hot Hard Rock Songs survey, the track ranks at No. 9, after hitting No. 8, with 162,000 U.S. streams in addition to its radio reach.
