Audacy celebrated the end of another trip around the sun by saying goodbye to 2021 like we do every year… with an Obligatory Countdown! This year, we highlighted the greatest Alternative songs of all time, hosted by Kevan Kenney -- PLUS, we're spotlighting a selection of awesome artists to watch in 2022.
Listen to your favorite music now on Audacy and check out our all-new exclusive Alt stations curated for fans, by fans like Alt Now, Alt New Arrivals, and more!
Here's the FULL Top 100:
1) Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit!
2) The Killers - Mr. Brightside
3) The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
4) Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence
5) Blink-182 - All The Small Things
6) Linkin Park - In The End
7) Radiohead – Creep
8) Sublime – Santeria
9) No Doubt - Just A Girl
10) Green Day - Basket Case
11) Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge
12) Jimmy Eat World - The Middle
13) Foo Fighters – Everlong
14) Oasis – Wonderwall
15) Lit - My Own Worst Enemy
16) Nirvana - Come As You Are
17) Green Day - Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
18) Offspring - Self Esteem
19) Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks
20) Paramore - Misery Business
21) Gotye Ft. Kimbra - Somebody That I Used To Know
22) Linkin Park – Numb
23) Fall Out Boy - Sugar, We're Goin' Down
24) The Cure - Just Like Heaven
25) Red Hot Chili Peppers - Can't Stop
26) Panic! At The Disco - I Write Sins Not Tragedies
27) Kings Of Leon - Sex On Fire
28) MGMT – Kids
29) My Chemical Romance - Welcome To The Black Parade
30) Weezer - Island In The Sun
31) Smashing Pumpkins – 1979
32) The Neighbourhood - Sweater Weather
33) The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony
34) Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dani California
35) Incubus – Drive
36) Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc
37) Blink-182 - I Miss You
38) The Killers - Somebody Told Me
39) The Cranberries – Zombie
40) M83 - Midnight City
41) Pearl Jam – Black
42) Linkin Park - What I've Done
43) Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know?
44) Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
45) Nirvana - Heart-Shaped Box
46) Green Day - When I Come Around
47) Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun
48) Twenty One Pilots - Stressed Out
49) Blink-182 - What's My Age Again?
50) Hozier - Take Me To Church
51) Red Hot Chili Peppers – Otherside
52) The Smiths - How Soon Is Now?
53) Foo Fighters - My Hero
54) The Lumineers - Ho Hey
55) Third Eye Blind - Semi-Charmed Life
56) Nirvana – Lithium
57) Coldplay - Viva La Vida
58) Green Day - Brain Stew
59) Pearl Jam – Jeremy
60) MGMT - Electric Feel
61) Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody
62) Blind Melon - No Rain
63) Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication
64) Nirvana - In Bloom
65) Marcy Playground - Sex & Candy
66) Sublime - What I Got
67) Weezer - Say It Ain't So
68) Jet - Are You Gonna Be My Girl
69) AWOLNATION – Sail
70) Red Hot Chili Peppers - Scar Tissue
71) Blink-182 – Dammit
72) Evanescence - Bring Me To Life
73) Stone Temple Pilots – Plush
74) Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue
75) No Doubt - Don't Speak
76) Alien Ant Farm - Smooth Criminal
77) Third Eye Blind – Jumper
78) Offspring - The Kids Aren't Alright
79) Imagine Dragons – Radioactive
80) Fall Out Boy - Dance, Dance
81) Florence + The Machine - Dog Days Are Over
82) Nine Inch Nails – Closer
83) Weezer - Buddy Holly
84) 311 – Amber
85) Foo Fighters - Best Of You
86) Fun. ft. Janelle Monae - We Are Young
87) Smashing Pumpkins – Today
88) Sum 41 - Fat Lip
89) Blur - Song 2
90) Portugal. The Man - Feel It Still
91) The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated
92) Beastie Boys – Intergalactic
93) LovelyTheBand – Broken
94) Beck – Loser
95) Muse – Uprising
96) Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta
97) Modest Mouse - Float On
98) Alice In Chains - Man In The Box
99) Eve 6 - Inside Out
100) Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man
Related
Audacy's 2022 Artists To Watch
We're looking forward to an amazing year filled with new releases, live music, and much more from quite a few artists in the Alternative realm. That means a new album from Avril Lavigne, and a full-length feature film from her beau MOD SUN, as well as seasonal treats from Weezer, two new Jack White releases, and more.
We've also got our eyes on a few newcomers to your Alt playlists. Get to know our 2022 Artists To Watch below -- and be sure to tune in to our Obligatory Top 100 Alternative Songs of ALL TIME countdown starting December 26!
Wolf Alice
GRAMMY, Mercury Prize, and Brit Award nominees; Coachella and Lollapalooza alums; U.K. foursome Wolf Alice formed in 2010 as an acoustic duo featuring singer Ellie Rowsell and guitarist Joff Oddie -- and since 2012 include bassist Theo Ellis and drummer Joel Amey -- channeling their restless energy into a forward motion. The band's latest, Visions Of A Life, arrived in September 2021 via Dirty Hit/RCA. Follow Wolf Alice on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and their official site.
BoyWithUke
What do we know about BoyWithUke? If you quickly scan TikTok you can figure out he is a musical artist who writes and produces all of his own music, creating songs in his dorm room on GarageBand while hiding his face from the public with his now signature glowing mask. Take a deeper look and you’ll see he frequently posts “minute long songs,” many times written in response to requests from fans. His biggest hit to date was written after a fan commented “make a song about toxic friends plzzzx,” and the response was the song “Toxic” which appeared in late-November 2021 as our Alt Pick of the Week. The song describes how it feels when you realize all your friends are terrible people (people you’d probably be better off without) but the thought of being alone makes you feel even worse. Follow BoyWithUke on TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Soundcloud, and YouTube.
TURNSTILE
From the moment they hit the ground a decade ago, TURNSTILE has never stopped moving forward—and they’re sure as hell not about to look back. The Baltimore band, comprised of singer Brendan Yates, guitarists Brady Ebert and Pat McCrory, bassist Franz Lyons, and drummer Daniel Fang, immediately distinguished themselves from the pack with their infectious, aggressive punk fusion; their welcoming, satisfying live shows; and most importantly, their willingness to experiment, as seen by the steady evolution from their early demos to 2018’s Roadrunner ambitious debut Time & Space, the latter of which earned renown from The New York Times, NPR, The FADER, and others. The only constant in the TURNSTILE universe, aside from love, is progression. Listen to "Mystery" now and follow Turnstile on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and their official site.
Sam Fender
You don’t need to be intimately acquainted with his backstory to realize or December 2021 Alt Pick Sam Fender’s own life isn’t short of material to draw from. Press play on Seventeen Going Under and in the surging double-header of the title track and "Getting Started" you can hear the beats of his own story. Follow Sam Fender on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and his official site.
Wet Leg
British indie duo Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers founded Wet Leg in 2019 on the Isle of Wight releasing four singles since, with their debut "Chaise Longue" already appearing in our 2021 list of juicy picks. Follow Wet Leg on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and their official site.
Listen to more of your favorite music on Audacy's Alt New Arrivals, '80s Underground, New Wave Mix Tape, '90s and Chill, and ALT Roots exclusive stations -- plus check out our talent-hosted Kevan Kenney's Music Discovery, Megan Holiday's My So Called '90s Playlist, and Scott Lowe on the Go's Post Modern Music Box!
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