The Rolling Stones Mark 56th Anniversary of Billboard Chart Debut With Latest Hit
"Living in a Ghost Town" debuts on Hot Rock Songs.
The Rolling Stones debut a title on a Billboard chart for a seventh consecutive decade, as new single “Living in a Ghost Town” enters multiple lists dated May 2.
The song makes its chart entrance exactly 56 years after the band’s first appearance on a Billboard survey: “Not Fade Away,” the Stones’ first title on any tally, debuted at No. 98 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated May 2, 1964. Since then, The Stones have amassed the most top 10 albums (37) in the history of the Billboard 200 chart, including nine No. 1s. And on the Hot 100 songs chart, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers have notched 23 top 10s, including eight No. 1s.
Following its April 23 release, “Living in a Ghost Town” bows at No. 30 on the streaming-, sales- and airplay-based Hot Rock Songs chart. The track is the icons’ first original song since 2012 and first appearance on the ranking with a new song since “Doom and Gloom” also debuted and peaked at No. 30 that October.
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In its first day of availability, the song drew 113,000 U.S. streams and sold 3,000 downloads, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data (with the Hot Rock Songs streaming and sales tracking week having concluded April 23). It also earned 1.1 million rock radio airplay audience impressions in the week ending April 26 (with airplay on a Monday-Sunday tracking period for the chart).
The single debuts at No. 3 on Rock Digital Song Sales, marking the Stones’ best rank in the chart’s decade-long history, exceeding the No. 7 peak, in 2018, of “She’s a Rainbow” (originally released in 1967).
“Living in a Ghost Town” also bows at No. 44 on the all-rock-format Rock Airplay survey, marking the Stones’ first appearance since “Doom and Gloom” (No. 35, 2012). Much of the former’s radio support is via the adult alternative and mainstream rock formats.
The new song is expected to gain on next week’s charts, dated May 9, following its first full tracking week and could potentially hit No. 1 on Rock Digital Song Sales, per preliminary data.