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Cover of 21 by Adele
Cover: 21

Song · Adele

“Rolling in the Deep” by Adele

From the album 21 (2011)

“Rolling in the Deep” by Adele appears on 52 radio countdowns from 35 stations between 2010 and 2026. It was first released in 2011 on the album 21. Its best result is #1 on the WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013), and it was voted number one on eight countdowns in total. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #27 alternative song of 2011, #3,330 alternative song of all time and #77 of the '10s.

52countdowns
35stations
#1best position
8#1 finishes
21top 10 finishes
2010–2026years charted

Watch

Adele - Rolling in the Deep (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (Adele). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Rolling in the Deep" kicks the door open on Adele's second album, 21, and it was the lead single too, written with producer Paul Epworth. She described it as a dark, bluesy gospel disco number, and that's about right: a stomping acoustic strum, a pounding beat and a voice that could knock a wall down. Epworth played guitars, bass and percussion and sang backup, Leo Taylor drummed, Neil Cowley added piano, and Tom Elmhirst mixed it.

The song is a scorned lover's reckoning, delivered with a fury that turned Adele into a global superstar. It gave her a first US number one, held the top of the Hot 100 for seven weeks, pulled in airplay from a startling spread of radio formats, and won the Grammys for Record of the Year and Song of the Year in 2012.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2010 67 WFPK Louisville, KY WFPK Top 100 Songs of 2010 100
2010 27 103.1 The River Kalispell-Flathead Valley, MT 103.1 The River Top 103 of 2010 102
2010 12 WTMD Baltimore, MD WTMD Top 89 Songs of 2010 89
2010 65 WFIV 105.3 Knoxville, TN WFIV Top 105 of 2010 105
2011 17 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 30 Songs of 2011 30
2011 2 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2011 91
2011 28 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 101 Songs of 2011 101
2011 5 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 101 Songs of 2011 101
2011 6 CD101 Columbus, OH CD101 Top 102 Songs of 2011 102
2011 71 CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON 102.1 The Edge Top 102 Songs of 2011 102
2011 1 KFOG San Francisco Bay Area, CA KFOG Foghead Favorites of 2011 50
2011 15 X96 Salt Lake City, UT X96 Top 50 Songs of 2011 49
2011 1 107.1 The Peak Westchester County, NY WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2011 107
2011 56 KJEE 92.9 Santa Barbara, CA KJEE Top 92 Songs of 2011 92
2011 84 99 Rock Lebanon-Hanover-White River Junction, NH-VT 99Rock WFRD Top 99 of 2011 98
2011 1 WFUV New York, NY WFUV Top 90 Songs of 2011 90
2011 26 88.3 The Sting Cleveland, OH 88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 88 Songs of 2011 88
2011 3 WXPN Philadelphia, PA WXPN Year in Review: Top 100 Songs of 2011 100
2011 3 ALT 104.5 Philadelphia, PA Radio 104.5 Top 50.5 Songs of 2011 51
2011 1 106.1 The Corner Charlottesville, VA 106.1 The Corner Top 107 of 2011 105
2011 1 93XRT Chicago, IL WXRT Listener Poll: Top 25 Songs of 2011 25
2011 32 Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 2011 40
2011 2 103.1 The River Kalispell-Flathead Valley, MT 103.1 The River Top 103 of 2011 103
2011 2 WRNR 103.1 Annapolis, MD WRNR Top 103.1 Songs of 2011 104
2011 4 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2011 103
2011 11 KSLG Eureka (Humboldt County), CA KSLG Top 94 Slugtracks of 2011 94
2011 3 90.5 WERG Erie, PA WERG Top 90 of 2011 90
2011 1 WTMD Baltimore, MD WTMD Top 89 Songs of 2011 89
2011 1 Exit 97.7 Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY WEXT Top 97 of 2011 97
2011 2 Lightning 100 Nashville, TN Lightning 100 Best of 2011 50
2011 6 92.3 WTTS Indianapolis-Bloomington, IN WTTS Top 50 Songs of 2011 50

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2011 1019 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2012 138 WYEP WYEP Top 500 Songs Countdown 500
2013 756 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2013 1 WXPN WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013) 885
2014 778 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 46 WXPN WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014) 885
2018 475 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs 892
2018 105 WTMD WTMD Listeners' Top 897 Songs, 2003-2018 896
2019 12 102.7 WEQX WEQX Top 102.7 of the 2010's Decade 103
2020 97 Triple J Triple J Hottest 100 of the 2010s (2020) 100
2020 178 WXPN WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time 2020
2023 630 WYEP WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 1229
2023 231 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time 909
2024 44 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years 1049
2024 48 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century 1055
2024 435 KEXP The Best Opening Tracks of All Time 738
2024 7 WXPN WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024) 885
2025 41 The Current 893 Essential Songs of The Current: 2005 to Now 893
2025 20 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century 909
2025 6 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the 21st Century (So Far) 714
2026 287 KXT KXT 917 Song Countdown 917
2026 124 WYEP WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time 1180

Also listed as: Rolling In The Deep; Rolling In the Deep; Rolling in the deep; Rolllin In The Deep; Rolling in The Deep; Rollin' In the Deep.

Charting alongside it in 2011

Best songs of 2011 →
  1. 1Pumped up KicksFoster The People
  2. 2RopeFoo Fighters
  3. 3The Adventures of Rain Dance MaggieRed Hot Chili Peppers
  4. 4WalkFoo Fighters
  5. 5You are a TouristDeath Cab for Cutie
  6. 7Howlin' for YouThe Black Keys

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