Artist · chart history · #48 in alternative artist polls · #485 in indie & aaa artist polls

Bad Religion

Band Los Angeles United States Formed 1980

Bad Religion formed in 1980 in Los Angeles, United States. Bad Religion has 178 chart appearances on 101 radio countdowns from 30 stations on RockLists, spanning 1994–2024. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Sorrow”, which appears on 29 lists and was voted number one once. In total the artist has topped 1 countdown. The station that charted Bad Religion most often is CD101 (Columbus, OH), with 46 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 2002.

178appearances

101countdowns

22songs charted

30stations

1#1 finishes

1994–2024years

Bad Religion started in Los Angeles in 1980 with Greg Graffin singing, Brett Gurewitz on guitar, Jay Bentley on bass and Jay Ziskrout on drums, and in all the shuffling that followed, Graffin is the one who never left. The formula was set early and it has hardly needed fixing: fast, tight punk rock with real tunes, 3-part vocal harmonies stacked on top like a choir that got into a fistfight, and lyrics that take on religion, politics, society, the media and science with a vocabulary most punk bands would need a dictionary for.

Through the '80s and early '90s they released their records on Gurewitz's own label, Epitaph, and built a big underground following and a pile of good reviews with Suffer in 1988, Against the Grain in 1990, which carried the first version of "21st Century Digital Boy", and Recipe for Hate in 1993, home to "American Jesus" and "Struck a Nerve". Atlantic signed them in 1993 and reissued Recipe for Hate, and Stranger Than Fiction followed in 1994 with "Infected", the title track and a re-recorded "21st Century (Digital Boy)", going gold in the US and Canada. Just before it came out, Gurewitz left to run Epitaph full-time and Brian Baker took his place.

By then the '90s punk revival they had helped start was in full swing, with Green Day, the Offspring, NOFX and Rancid all working from their template, and bands across emo, screamo, post-hardcore, skate punk and pop punk have pointed back to them since. Their own sales slowly faded through The Gray Race, No Substance and The New America, and Atlantic dropped them in 2001. So they went home to Epitaph, Gurewitz rejoined, and The Process of Belief in 2002 came out swinging, with "Sorrow" and "The Defense".

The second wind has lasted: "Los Angeles Is Burning" from The Empire Strikes First, "New Dark Ages" and "Honest Goodbye" from New Maps of Hell, and "The Devil in Stitches" from The Dissent of Man kept them on the radio, and True North in 2013 became their first album to crack the top 20 of the Billboard 200. Age of Unreason arrived on May 3, 2019, and with more than five million albums sold they rank among punk's biggest sellers. On the countdowns, "Sorrow" still sits at the top of the heap.

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

Songs by Bad Religion on radio countdowns

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s	Peak year
1	Sorrow	1,615	29	#1	1	2002
2	21st Century Digital Boy	1,585	32	#26	–	1994
3	Infected	1,155	28	#39	–	1994
4	Los Angeles Is Burning	980	17	#21	–	2004
5	New Dark Ages	316	7	#23	–	2008
6	The Devil In Stitches	278	6	#24	–	2010
7	New America	276	12	#38	–	2000
8	Honest Goodbye	245	6	#42	–	2007
9	The Defense	223	4	#11	–	2002
10	Struck A Nerve	154	5	#82	–	1994
11	A Walk	141	4	#67	–	1996
12	American Jesus	100	2	#575	–	–
13	Broken	67	1	#76	–	2002
14	Cyanide	61	3	#60	–	2011
15	Big Black Dog	56	1	#40	–	2019
16	Shades of Truth	53	2	#59	–	1998
17	The Empire Strikes First	48	1	#57	–	2004
18	An Honest Goodbye	46	2	#59	–	2007
19	Punk Rock Song	38	1	#63	–	1996
20	Stranger than Fiction	24	3	#87	–	1994
21	You Are (The Government)	7	1	#691	–	–
22	F' You	1	1	#91	–	2013

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.

94 95 96 98 00 01 02 04 07 08 09 10 11 13 19

Every countdown appearance

Year	#	Song	Countdown
2024	691	You Are (The Government)	The Best Opening Tracks of All Time
2023	85	Sorrow	91X Top 91 Songs of The Last 40 Years
2023	280	21st Century Digital Boy	105.9 The X July 420 (2023)
2023	507	21st Century Digital Boy	The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s
2023	575	American Jesus	The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s
2023	742	Stranger than Fiction	The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s
2023	866	Infected	The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s
2022	45	Artist ranking	The End Top 100 Alternative Artists of All Time
2022	307	21st Century Digital Boy	105.9 The X July 420 (2022)
2022	850	21st Century Digital Boy	The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s
2021	260	21st Century Digital Boy	105.9 The X July 420 (2021)
2021	880	21st Century Digital Boy	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s
2020	297	21st Century Digital Boy	105.9 The X July 420 (2020)
2019	40	Big Black Dog	WBER Listener Countdown 2019
2014	365	Sorrow	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2014	401	21st Century Digital Boy	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2014	935	Los Angeles Is Burning	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2014	1665	New America	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2014	1812	Infected	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2013	91	F' You	91X Top 91 Songs of 2013
2013	363	Sorrow	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2013	402	21st Century Digital Boy	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2013	899	Los Angeles Is Burning	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2013	1609	New America	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2013	1761	Infected	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2011	60	Cyanide	WEQX Top 102.7 of 2011
2011	79	Cyanide	KSLG Top 94 Slugtracks of 2011
2011	356	Sorrow	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)
2011	403	21st Century Digital Boy	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)
2011	893	Los Angeles Is Burning	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)
2011	1564	New America	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)
2011	1689	Infected	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)
2010	24	The Devil In Stitches	KROQ Top 30 Songs of 2010
2010	25	The Devil In Stitches	91X Top 91 Songs of 2010
2010	28	The Devil In Stitches	KFMA Top 50 Songs of 2010
2010	32	The Devil In Stitches	KJEE Top 92 Songs of 2010
2010	33	The Devil In Stitches	KSLG Top 94 Slugtunez of 2010
2010	92	Cyanide	KJEE Top 92 Songs of 2010
2010	97	The Devil In Stitches	99Rock WFRD Top 99 of 2010
2010	356	Sorrow	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2010	404	21st Century Digital Boy	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2010	899	Los Angeles Is Burning	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2010	1496	New America	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2010	1625	Infected	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2009	65	New Dark Ages	91X Top 91 Songs of 2009
2009	363	Infected	Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009)
2009	375	Sorrow	Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009)
2009	426	21st Century Digital Boy	Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009)
2009	350	Sorrow	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2009	403	21st Century Digital Boy	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2009	867	Los Angeles Is Burning	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2009	1468	New America	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2009	1692	Infected	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2008	23	New Dark Ages	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2008
2008	23	New Dark Ages	91X Top 91 Songs of 2008
2008	105	An Honest Goodbye	Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2008
2008	36	New Dark Ages	KSLG Top 94 of 2008
2008	71	Sorrow	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008)
2008	119	Infected	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008)
2008	294	21st Century Digital Boy	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008)
2008	392	Struck A Nerve	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008)
2008	479	New Dark Ages	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008)
2008	346	Sorrow	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2008	403	21st Century Digital Boy	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2008	847	Los Angeles Is Burning	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2008	1469	New America	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2008	1732	Infected	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2007	47	Honest Goodbye	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2007
2007	76	New Dark Ages	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2007
2007	45	Honest Goodbye	91X Top 91 Songs of 2007
2007	61	New Dark Ages	91X Top 91 Songs of 2007
2007	59	An Honest Goodbye	Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2007
2007	42	Honest Goodbye	88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 88 Songs of 2007
2007	63	Honest Goodbye	KWOD Top 106 Songs of 2007
2007	81 (tie)	Honest Goodbye	WBER Listener Countdown 2007
2007	100	Honest Goodbye	WEQX Top 102.7 of 2007
2007	344	Sorrow	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2007	401	21st Century Digital Boy	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2007	641	Los Angeles Is Burning	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2007	1418	New America	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2007	1833	Infected	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2007	83	Infected	KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007)
2007	186	21st Century Digital Boy	KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007)
2007	329	Struck A Nerve	KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007)
2007	39	Artist ranking	KROQ Top 106.7 Artists of All-Time (Memorial Day 2007)
2007	36	Artist ranking	Live 105 Top 105.3 Artists of All-Time (May 2007)
2006	234	Infected	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2006)
2006	387	Sorrow	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2006)
2006	188	Infected	Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006)
2006	246	Sorrow	Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006)
2006	299	21st Century Digital Boy	Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006)
2006	41	Artist ranking	91X Top 100 Artists of All-Time (Memorial Day 2006)
2006	488	Artist ranking	WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Artists (2006)
2005	1771	Sorrow	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)
2005	1905	New America	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)
2005	26	21st Century Digital Boy	KEDJ Top 103 on Independent Radio
2005	49	Infected	KEDJ Top 103 on Independent Radio
2005	52	Los Angeles Is Burning	KEDJ Top 103 on Independent Radio
2005	277	Sorrow	99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005)
2005	348	Infected	99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005)
2005	404	21st Century Digital Boy	99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005)
2005	40	Artist ranking	KROQ Top 106.7 Biggest Bands of All-Time (July 2005)
2004	25	Los Angeles Is Burning	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2004
2004	57	The Empire Strikes First	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2004
2004	21	Los Angeles Is Burning	91X Top 91 Songs of 2004
2004	26	Los Angeles Is Burning	Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2004
2004	65	Sorrow	Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2004
2004	37	Los Angeles Is Burning	The End Top 77 Songs of 2004
2004	34	Los Angeles Is Burning	CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2004
2004	29	Los Angeles Is Burning	88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 88 Songs of 2004
2004	63	Los Angeles Is Burning	WEQX Top 102.7 of 2004
2004	78 (tie)	Los Angeles Is Burning	WBER Listener Countdown 2004
2004	188	21st Century Digital Boy	The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004)
2004	488	Infected	The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004)
2004	1776	Sorrow	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)
2004	1914	New America	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)
2004	2000	Los Angeles Is Burning	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)
2003	26	Sorrow	91X Top 91 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)
2003	1776	Sorrow	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)
2003	1914	New America	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)
2002	24	Sorrow	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2002
2002	1	Sorrow	91X Top 91 Songs of 2002
2002	11	The Defense	91X Top 91 Songs of 2002
2002	86	Sorrow	Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2002
2002	57	Sorrow	The End Top 107 Songs of 2002
2002	12	Sorrow	CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2002
2002	66	The Defense	CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2002
2002	24	Sorrow	Channel 104.9 Top 104.9 Songs of 2002
2002	4	Sorrow	88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 40 Songs of 2002
2002	12	Sorrow	WBER Listener Countdown 2002
2002	28	The Defense	88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 40 Songs of 2002
2002	76 (tie)	Broken	WBER Listener Countdown 2002
2002	77 (tie)	The Defense	WBER Listener Countdown 2002
2002	87	Sorrow	Radio & Records Top 100 Songs of 2002
2002	1990	Sorrow	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)
2002	296	Infected	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002	721	American Jesus	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002	1335	Struck A Nerve	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002	1657	A Walk	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002	1770	21st Century Digital Boy	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002	1973	Stranger than Fiction	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002	40	Artist ranking	KROQ Top 106.7 Artists of All-Time (Memorial Day 2002)
2001	97	Sorrow	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2001
2000	38	New America	91X Top 91 Songs of 2000
2000	67	New America	The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2000
1999	79	Infected	91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999)
1999	93	A Walk	91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999)
1999	271	21st Century Digital Boy	91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999)
1999	309	21st Century Digital Boy	Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999	613	Struck A Nerve	Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999	869	A Walk	Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999	233	21st Century Digital Boy	The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999	303	Infected	The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999	959	Shades of Truth	The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999	47	21st Century Digital Boy	The Buzz Top 99 Songs of All-Time (1999)
1999	238	Infected	KROQ Top 300 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 1999)
1999	40	Artist ranking	KROQ Top 106.7 Artists of All-Time (Memorial Day 1999)
1999	65	Artist ranking	KROQ Top 106.7 Artists of All-Time (Year End 1999)
1998	59	Shades of Truth	The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 1998
1997	59	Artist ranking	KROQ Top 106.7 Artists of All-Time (Memorial Day 1997)
1996	67	A Walk	91X Top 91 Songs of 1996
1996	63	Punk Rock Song	Triple J Hottest 100 of 1996
1995	85	Infected	91X Top 91 Songs of 1995
1995	55	Infected	The Buzz Top 103 Alternative Songs of '95
1995	76	21st Century Digital Boy	Triple J Hottest 100 of 1995
1995	94	Infected	WDRE Top 103.9 Songs of 1995
1995	98	Infected	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995)
1995	109	Infected	Live 105 Revolutionary 300 (July 1995)
1994	46	Infected	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1994
1994	82	Struck A Nerve	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1994
1994	93	21st Century Digital Boy	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1994
1994	52	21st Century Digital Boy	91X Top 91 Songs of 1994
1994	87	Stranger than Fiction	91X Top 91 Songs of 1994
1994	39	Infected	Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1994
1994	52	21st Century Digital Boy	Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1994
1994	31	21st Century Digital Boy	Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1994
1994	66	Infected	Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1994
1994	79	21st Century Digital Boy	WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1994

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