Billboard published its first-ever Mainstream Rock radio airplay chart in 1981. In those 40 years, one artist has shined brighter than any other on the ranking: Shinedown.
Brent Smith and company have been named the number-one act on Billboard's Greatest of All Time Mainstream Rock Artists, released in honor of the first chart's 40th anniversary.
If you know Shinedown's radio stats, then their status as the top Mainstream Rock artist of the last four decades shouldn't be a surprise. Sixteen of the band's singles have hit number one on the tally, an all-time record. What's more, every one of the 27 songs Shinedown charted on Mainstream Rock reached the top five.
Godsmack is the number-two Greatest of All Time Mainstream Rock Artist, followed by Three Days Grace at number three, Van Halen at number four and Disturbed at number five.
Additionally, Billboard has also unveiled the Greatest of All Time Mainstream Rock Songs chart, which ranks the highest performing individual singles in the ranking's 40 years. Number one is "Touch, Peel and Stand" by Days of the New, which ruled Mainstream Rock for a then-record of 16 weeks between 1997 and 1998.
The rest of the top five, in order, is Stone Temple Pilots' "Interstate Love Song," U2's "Mysterious Ways," Nickelback's "How You Remind Me," and Creed's "Higher."