Ayron Jones is back atop Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart with “Blood in the Water,” which reaches No. 1 on the Sept. 16-dated survey.
The song is Jones’ second No. 1, following the four-week leader “Mercy” beginning in June 2021.
In between “Mercy” and “Blood in the Water,” Jones reached Mainstream Rock Airplay with three titles, paced by the No. 2-peaking “Supercharged” in November 2021.
Jones is the second soloist to top Mainstream Rock Airplay in 2023 following Jelly Roll, whose “Need a Favor” led in July. It’s the continuation of a slight uptick in songs by solo artists ruling Mainstream Rock Airplay in recent years; in 2022, Ozzy Osbourne, Jelly Roll and Nita Strauss topped the ranking, while Jones was the lone soloist in 2021, and both Corey Taylor and Chris Cornell led in 2020. 2019 saw Osbourne rule, but that followed a five-year respite back to 2014, when Slash’s “World on Fire,” featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, reigned.
Concurrently, “Blood in the Water” leaps 11-5 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay tally with 2.5 million audience impressions Sept. 1-7, according to Luminate. It becomes Jones’ top-charting song there, eclipsing the No. 8 peak of “Supercharged.”
“Blood in the Water” is the second single from Jones’ album Chronicles of the Kid, released in June. Lead track “Filthy” reached No. 18 on Mainstream Rock Airplay in November 2022. The LP has earned 7,000 equivalent album units to date. It’s Jones’ second set, following 2021’s Child of the State, with both released via Big Machine/John Varvatos.
All Billboard charts will update Tuesday, Sept. 12, on Billboard.com.
