Two acts earn new No. 1s on Billboard’s rock-, alternative- and hard rock-based digital song sales charts dated Jan. 27, one for the first time and the other for a seventh.
Michael Marcagi’s “Scared To Start” tops the Alternative Digital Song Sales ranking, while Disturbed’s “Don’t Tell Me,” featuring Ann Wilson, rules Hard Rock Digital Song Sales.
“Scared To Start” bows with 3,000 downloads sold in the U.S. in the Jan. 12-18 tracking week, according to Luminate. It’s Marcagi’s first No. 1 on a Billboard chart, with his first song to appear as a solo artist.
Concurrently, the Warner Records-signed Marcagi opens at No. 2 on Rock Digital Song Sales. On the multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs list, the track debuts at No. 21; in addition to its download count, it earned 2.6 million official U.S. streams.
“Scared To Start” isn’t Marcagi’s first brush with Billboard charts. He previously fronted the band The Heavy Hours, which nabbed a pair of Adult Alternative Airplay entries with “Don’t Walk Away” (No. 21 peak, November 2020) and “Wildfire” (No. 33, September 2021).
His burgeoning solo career has been spurred by success on TikTok, with “Scared To Start” and additional song “The Other Side” (released in December 2023) racking up impressive metrics on the user-generated content platform.
Meanwhile, Disturbed’s “Don’t Tell Me” re-enters Hard Rock Digital Song Sales at No. 1, a new peak, thanks to 1,000 downloads, up 937%. The song debuted at No. 2 on the Dec. 3, 2022, survey; it returns thanks to the release of its official video Jan. 12.
Disturbed now boasts seven Hard Rock Digital Song Sales No. 1s, dating to the chart’s 2011 inception. The David Draiman-led rockers first reigned with “Hell” in October 2011, and prior to “Don’t Tell Me,” most recently ruled with “Unstoppable” in October 2022.
Seven No. 1s gives the band sole possession of the fourth-most in the tally’s history; Five Finger Death Punch leads all acts with 16.
Most No. 1s, Hard Rock Digital Song Sales:
16, Five Finger Death Punch
9, Linkin Park
8, Bring Me the Horizon
7, Disturbed
6, Breaking Benjamin
6, Falling in Reverse
6, Foo Fighters
Concurrently, “Don’t Tell Me” breaks into the top 10 of the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, jumping 13-10. It’s Disturbed’s 27th top 10, tying the band with Metallica for the sixth-most top 10s in the history of the 33-year-old ranking. Foo Fighters and Shinedown lead with 31 top 10s apiece.
Most Top 10s, Mainstream Rock Airplay:
31, Foo Fighters
31, Shinedown
29, Five Finger Death Punch
28, Godsmack
28, Tom Petty (solo and with the Heartbreakers)
27, Disturbed
27, Metallica
26, Papa Roach
26, Van Halen
The new ranking marks featured act Ann Wilson’s first on the chart as a soloist since “The Best Man in the World” peaked at No. 5 in January 1987. Heart, with Wilson as lead singer, boasts 10 top 10s, through “Black on Black II,” which peaked at No. 4 in November 1993.
“Don’t Tell Me” is the fourth single from Divisive, Disturbed’s eighth studio album, following “Hey You,” “Bad Man” and “Unstoppable.” The set debuted at No. 1 on the Hard Rock Albums chart in December 2022 and has earned 138,000 equivalent album units to date.
