Artist · chart history · #525 in indie & aaa artist polls
Michael Franti & Spearhead
Band San Francisco United States Formed 1994
Michael Franti & Spearhead formed in 1994 in San Francisco, United States. Michael Franti & Spearhead has 121 chart appearances on 78 radio countdowns from 26 stations on RockLists, spanning 2006–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Say Hey (I Love You)”, which appears on 28 lists with a best position of #2. The station that charted Michael Franti & Spearhead most often is WYEP (Pittsburgh, PA), with 36 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 2010.
Michael Franti had already spent years making political noise with the Beatnigs and the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy before he put together Spearhead in San Francisco in 1994. The new band was his biggest canvas yet: hip-hop at the core, with funk, reggae, jazz, folk and rock all folded in, and Franti out front singing, rapping and strumming guitar with a message on his sleeve about peace and social justice.
By All Rebel Rockers, in 2008, the protest songs had learned to dance. "Say Hey (I Love You)" was pure sunshine, a loose-limbed, reggae-tinged love song built for summer windows-down listening, and "Sound of Sunshine" kept the forecast bright. All People, in 2013, delivered the warm, singalong "Life Is Better With You", and Follow Your Heart in 2022 brought "Brighter Day" and "Good Day for a Good Day", titles that tell you all you need to know about where his head is at.
In Franti's hands, optimism turns out to be its own kind of activism, and rock radio's countdowns have been happy to play along.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Michael Franti & Spearhead on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Say Hey (I Love You) | 28 | #2 | – | 2009 | |
| 2 | The Sound Of Sunshine | 11 | #7 | – | 2010 | |
| 3 | Sound of Sunshine | 11 | #7 | – | 2010 | |
| 4 | Hey Hey Hey | 8 | #5 | – | 2010 | |
| 5 | I Got You | 7 | #24 | – | 2020 | |
| 6 | Everyone Deserves Music | 7 | #50 | – | – | |
| 7 | Brighter Day | 4 | #19 | – | 2022 | |
| 8 | Good Day for a Good Day | 4 | #67 | – | 2021 | |
| 9 | Life Is Better With You | 4 | #18 | – | 2013 | |
| 10 | Big Big Love | 4 | #42 | – | 2023 | |
| 11 | I'm Alive (Life Sounds Like) | 3 | #32 | – | 2013 | |
| 12 | Crazy For You | 3 | #83 | – | 2016 | |
| 13 | Hey World | 4 | #36 | – | 2009 | |
| 14 | Break Up With Everything | 2 | #42 | – | 2025 | |
| 15 | I'll Be Waiting | 5 | #38 | – | 2011 | |
| 16 | Obama Song | 1 | #4 | – | 2009 | |
| 17 | Hello Bonjour | 1 | #248 | – | – | |
| 18 | Hey, Hey | 1 | #26 | – | 2011 | |
| 19 | Hands Up to the Sky | 1 | #32 | – | 2024 | |
| 20 | I'm Alive | 1 | #36 | – | 2013 | |
| 21 | Bomb the World | 2 | #525 | – | – | |
| 22 | Work Hard And Be Nice | 1 | #43 | – | 2020 | |
| 23 | Life in the City | 1 | #457 | – | – | |
| 24 | Hey World (Don't Give Up) | 1 | #54 | – | 2009 | |
| 25 | Hey World (Don't Give Up Version) | 2 | #640 | – | – | |
| 26 | I Know I'm Not Alone | 1 | #592 | – | – | |
| 27 | Once a Day Rise Up | 1 | #65 | – | 2016 | |
| 28 | Yell Fire! | 1 | #758 | – | – |
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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