Artist · chart history · #250 in alternative artist polls · #534 in indie & aaa artist polls
Collective Soul
Band Stockbridge United States Formed 1992
Collective Soul formed in 1992 in Stockbridge, United States. Collective Soul has 276 chart appearances on 150 radio countdowns from 71 stations on RockLists, spanning 1994–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Shine”, which appears on 85 lists with a best position of #24. The station that charted Collective Soul most often is 106.7 WLLZ (Detroit, MI), with 21 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1995.
Collective Soul came out of Stockbridge, Georgia, in 1992 and got famous almost by accident. The Roland brothers, Ed singing and Dean on rhythm guitar, put out Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid on the little independent Rising Storm label in 1993 with guitarist Ross Childress, drummer Shane Evans and bassist David Neal, and when "Shine" started getting played on regional radio the band shot from nowhere to somewhere in a hurry. Will Turpin took over on bass around that time, and Atlantic Records reissued the album in 1994, turning "Shine" into a national hit, number one on the Mainstream Rock chart. Its slow, hymn-like build and big crunching riff made it a pure rock-radio monster.
The self-titled second album, released in March 1995, was the one Ed Roland thought of as their real debut, and it's easy to hear why: it's a sleeker, more confident record, all shiny guitars and soaring choruses. It stayed on the Billboard 200 for 76 weeks and went triple platinum, their best seller, and "Where the River Flows", "December" and "The World I Know" all went to number one on the Mainstream Rock chart, the latter 2 cracking the Hot 100's top ten as well. "December" broods; "The World I Know" swells with a lonely, searching feel.
Disciplined Breakdown came roughly 2 years later, sold less but still produced 2 more Mainstream Rock chart-toppers in "Precious Declaration" and "Listen". Dosage, in 1999, had "Heavy", a thick, chugging riff machine that sat at the top of the Mainstream Rock chart for 15 weeks, a record at the time. Blender followed in 2000, the last album with the classic lineup, and Childress was gone the next year. Each of those first 5 albums picked up an RIAA certification.
The band set up its own label ahead of Youth in 2004, Evans left at the end of 2005, and Collective Soul simply kept working: Afterwords, Rabbit, See What You Started by Continuing, Blood, Vibrating, the double album Here to Eternity in 2024 and Touch and Go in 2026, their 13th. They're based in Atlanta these days, and the Roland brothers are still at the center of it.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Collective Soul on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shine#444 of all time | 85 | #24 | – | 1994 | |
| 2 | December | 55 | #3 | – | 1995 | |
| 3 | The World I Know | 38 | #14 | – | 1996 | |
| 4 | Heavy | 18 | #7 | – | 1999 | |
| 5 | Precious Declaration | 10 | #18 | – | 1997 | |
| 6 | Listen | 7 | #47 | – | 1997 | |
| 7 | Gel | 13 | #59 | – | 1995 | |
| 8 | Counting the Days | 7 | #31 | – | 2004 | |
| 9 | Staring Down | 5 | #8 | – | 2009 | |
| 10 | Why Pt. 2 | 5 | #31 | – | 2000 | |
| 11 | Run | 4 | #63 | – | 1999 | |
| 12 | World I Know | 4 | #253 | – | – | |
| 13 | New Vibration | 1 | #6 | – | 2008 | |
| 14 | Better Now | 2 | #69 | – | 2005 | |
| 15 | Where The River Flows | 6 | #722 | – | – | |
| 16 | She Said | 1 | #35 | – | 1998 | |
| 17 | Breathe | 2 | #671 | – | – | |
| 18 | All That I Know | 2 | #72 | – | 2008 | |
| 19 | Welcome All Again | 2 | #69 | – | 2009 | |
| 20 | Blame | 1 | #58 | – | 1997 | |
| 21 | Right as Rain | 1 | #15 | – | 2019 | |
| 22 | ATYA | 1 | #62 | – | 2015 | |
| 23 | Shine (Album Version) | 1 | #316 | – | – | |
| 24 | Mother's Love | 1 | #20 | – | 2024 | |
| 25 | Where the Rive Flows | 1 | #93 | – | 1996 | |
| 26 | Vent | 1 | #98 | – | 2001 |
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.
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about Collective Soul.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.