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Twenty One Pilots’ ‘Heathens’ Ties for Longest Reign Atop Hot Rock Songs

The 'Suicide Squad' soundtrack smash spends a 27th week at No. 1. Plus, moves for Imagine Dragons and The New Pornographers.

Twenty One Pilots‘ “Heathens” ties for the most weeks spent at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Hot Rock Songs chart, ruling for a 27th frame on the list dated Feb. 25.

The Suicide Squad soundtrack hit ties Walk the Moon‘s “Shut Up and Dance” (2015) for the longest rule since the chart launched in June 2009. (The tally blends songs’ streaming, airplay and sales data.)

Meanwhile, the duo of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun has spent a record 59 total weeks atop Hot Rock Songs, previously with “Stressed Out” (23 weeks) and “Ride” (nine), and has led (with all three tracks) for a record 41 consecutive frames dating to the May 21, 2016-dated chart. Since the first week that “Stressed” spent at No. 1 (Jan. 9, 2016), Twenty One Pilots have led each week except May 14, when Prince and the Revolution’s “Purple Rain” dominated following his April 21 death.

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“Heathens” was nominated for best rock song at the 2017 Grammy Awards (Feb. 12), although David Bowie’s “Blackstar” won in the category.

Believe It: Below “Heathens” on Hot Rock Songs, Imagine Dragons dart 8-2 with “Believer.” Its leap is largely spurred by the single’s first full tracking week since its Feb. 1 release, as it tops Rock Digital Song Sales and Alternative Digital Song Sales with 49,000 downloads sold (in the week ending Feb. 9), according to Nielsen Music; it sold 16,000 downloads in the week ending Feb. 2.

 

“Believer” also jumps 27-19 on the genre-encompassing Rock Airplay chart (4 million in audience) and 30-16 on Alternative Songs, while debuting at No. 43 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking the band’s best unaccompanied start, topping the No. 53 bow of “I Bet My Life” (Nov. 15, 2014); Imagine Dragons debuted at No. 32 on the Hot 100 last July with “Sucker for Pain” (like Twenty One Pilots’ “Heathens,” from Suicide Squad), on which the band shares lead billing with Lil Wayne and Wiz Khalifa (all joined by a trio of featured artists).

The No. 2 Hot Rock Songs rank for “Believer” is the band’s best since “Demons” peaked at the spot for 11 weeks (Nov. 2, 2013-Jan. 11, 2014). Imagine Dragons have ruled the chart with “Radioactive,” for five weeks in 2013.

That’s the ‘Ticket’: Canadian indie-rock behemoths The New Pornographers make their maiden appearance on a Billboard airplay chart, as “High Ticket Attractions,” the lead single from the band’s seventh studio album Whiteout Conditions (due April 7), starts at No. 25 on Adult Alternative Songs. The group first hit a Billboard chart in 2003 with Electric Version, which reached No. 196 on the Billboard 200 in May 2003.