The song is the band’s fifth number 1 and the first original leader since 2008.
Weezer expands its range from no. 1s on BillboardThe Alternative Airplay chart in a third decade, as “Hero” jumps 3-1 on the August 22 list.
“Hero” marks the Rivers Cuomo-led act his fifth no. 1. It is also the first leader of the band to have had a hand in writing since 2008’s 11-week ruler “Pork and Beans”; since then, the other No. 1 of the group has been a cover of Toto’s “Africa” which reigned three August in August 2018.
Weezer first topped the list with “Beverly Hills” in 2005 and returned to the top in 2006 with “Perfect Situation”.
Weezer succeeds Green Day as the only action that Alternative Airplay No. 1s scored in the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s, after leading the Billie Joe Armstrong-fronted trio with “Oh Yeah!” in April. Green Day, however, stretches its dominance further back than Weezer, after also topping the map in the 1990s. Both bands first reached Alternative Airplay in 1994; in the 1990s, Weezer landed three top 10s, reaching a No. 2 high with “Buddy Holly.”
“Hero” is the second single from Weezer’s upcoming album Van Weezer. “The End of the Game” reached November 2 last November.
At the same time, “Hero” hits No. 1 on the all-rock format, audience-based Rock Airplay chart. It is the second leader of the four-part series, which followed “Africa” for a week in August 2018. It reigns with 5.9 million audience impressions, up 5%, according to Nielsen Music / MRC Data.
“Hero” holds on no. 23 in the Airstream of Mainstream Rock Songs, after hitting no. 21 struck.
Van Weezer is now expected in May 2021, a year after its initial scheduled premiere.
