Zac Brown Band Earns Rare Crossover Chart Coronation
The group joins Bon Jovi as the only act to have topped Country Airplay and Mainstream Rock Songs. Zac Brown Band's "Heavy Is the Head" becomes its first No. 1 on the latter list, following its 11…
Zac Brown Band achieves a crossover feat previously managed by only one band: iconic New Jersey rockers Bon Jovi.
The former becomes just the second act to have topped Billboard‘s Country Airplay and Mainstream Rock Songs radio-based charts, as “Heavy Is the Head,” featuring fellow rock luminary Chris Cornell, crowns the latter list (dated May 9) with a 3-1 lift, tacking on Greatest Gainer kudos. The track is Zac Brown Band’s first Mainstream Rock Songs No. 1 (in its first visit to the ranking). The band has collected 11 Country Airplay No. 1s, including “Homegrown,” which became its latest No. 1 (for three weeks) beginning earlier this month.
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Only Bon Jovi had previously led Mainstream Rock Songs (which originated in 1981) and Country Airplay (1990). The group posted two Mainstream Rock Songs No. 1s: “Livin’ On a Prayer” (1987) and “Keep the Faith” (1992). (In between, lead singer Jon Bon Jovi added a solo Mainstream Rock Songs No. 1, “Blaze of Glory,” in 1990.) In 2006, the band topped Country Airplay for two weeks with “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” with Jennifer Nettles.
Wait… Zac Brown Band Is on the Mainstream Rock Songs Chart?
The pop/country “Homegrown” and crunchy “Heavy” have made for an impressive introduction to Zac Brown Band’s aptly titled album Jekyll + Hyde, out today (April 28).
“[Most fans] just know we’ve had some songs on country radio,” Brown said in 2013, after the group had begun collaborating with Dave Grohl and hard rockers Foo Fighters. “While we’ve got a great foothold in country music, that doesn’t encompass everything we do.”
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