Artist · chart history · #79 in alternative artist polls · #428 in indie & aaa artist polls
AFI
Band Ukiah United States Formed 1991 US rock band
AFI formed in 1991 in Ukiah, United States. AFI has 204 chart appearances on 136 radio countdowns from 48 stations on RockLists, spanning 2000–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Miss Murder”, which appears on 33 lists and was voted number one once. In total the artist has topped 1 countdown. The station that charted AFI most often is KROQ (Los Angeles, CA), with 25 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 2003.
AFI, short for A Fire Inside, started in Ukiah, California, in 1991, a hardcore punk band with Davey Havok screaming up front and Adam Carson on drums. Those two are the only founding members still in the band. Hunter Burgan arrived on bass in 1997 and Jade Puget on guitar and keyboards in 1998, and that foursome has been the lineup ever since.
At the turn of the century they went dark, embracing horror punk, and The Art of Drowning in 2000, with "The Days of the Phoenix", gave them their first real taste of commercial success. Then Sing the Sorrow in 2003 blew the doors open. The sound was post-hardcore and emo, huge, dramatic and theatrical, with sweeping choruses, and it climbed to number five on the Billboard 200, hanging around on that chart for 51 weeks. "Girls Not Grey" and "Silver and Cold" both reached number seven on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, and "The Leaving Song Pt. II" followed. It went platinum in 2006 and is their best seller, with more than 1.26 million copies sold by September 2009.
Decemberunderground in 2006 went straight to number one on the Billboard 200. "Miss Murder", with its sneering, bouncy verse and a chorus built for a thousand screaming voices, topped the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, went to 24 on the Hot 100 and turned up in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. "Love Like Winter" and "The Missing Frame" gave the album its brooding, glossy other side, and it went platinum in 2013.
They never settled down. Crash Love in 2009, with "Medicate", Burials in 2013 and the self-titled 2017 album known as The Blood Album, with "Snow Cats", each peaked higher on the Billboard 200, and the band has since leaned into alternative rock and gothic rock. The Missing Man EP came out in December 2018, Bodies on June 11, 2021, and Silver Bleeds the Black Sun... on October 3, 2025, bringing them to twelve studio albums. On rock radio's countdowns, "Miss Murder" still leads the pack.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by AFI on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miss Murder | 33 | #1 | 1 | 2006 | |
| 2 | Girls Not Grey | 29 | #7 | – | 2003 | |
| 3 | Medicate | 23 | #10 | – | 2009 | |
| 4 | Silver and Cold | 24 | #16 | – | 2004 | |
| 5 | Love Like Winter | 20 | #17 | – | 2006 | |
| 6 | The Leaving Song Pt. II | 16 | #8 | – | 2003 | |
| 7 | The Days of the Phoenix | 7 | #32 | – | 2001 | |
| 8 | The Missing Frame | 9 | #29 | – | 2007 | |
| 9 | Rabbits Are Roadkill on Route 37 | 6 | #30 | – | 2005 | |
| 10 | Beautiful Theives | 10 | #45 | – | 2010 | |
| 11 | The Leaving Song, Pt. 2 | 4 | #40 | – | 2003 | |
| 12 | The Leaving Song | 1 | #68 | – | 2003 | |
| 13 | 17 Crimes | 2 | #56 | – | 2013 | |
| 14 | Snow Cats | 2 | #63 | – | 2016 | |
| 15 | Get Dark | 2 | #52 | – | 2019 | |
| 16 | Head Like A Hole | 1 | #51 | – | 2004 | |
| 17 | Snow Cat | 2 | #73 | – | 2017 | |
| 18 | Hidden Knives | 1 | #79 | – | 2017 | |
| 19 | Leaving Song Pt. II | 2 | #96 | – | 2003 | |
| 20 | Bleed Black | 1 | #96 | – | 2004 | |
| 21 | Dancing through Sunday | 1 | #82 | – | 2003 | |
| 22 | Totalimmomrtal | 1 | #457 | – | – | |
| 23 | Rabbits Are Roadkill on rt. 37 | 1 | #459 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Year-end chart timeline
Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.
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