Artist · chart history · #160 in indie & aaa artist polls · #249 in alternative artist polls
Natalie Merchant
Solo artist Jamestown United States
Natalie Merchant is an artist from Jamestown. Natalie Merchant has 75 chart appearances on 48 radio countdowns from 24 stations on RockLists, spanning 1995–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Carnival”, which appears on 23 lists with a best position of #9. The station that charted Natalie Merchant most often is CD101 (Columbus, OH), with 28 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1995.
Natalie Merchant, born in Jamestown in 1963, spent the '80s and early '90s as the voice and chief lyricist of 10,000 Maniacs, singing on the band's first seven albums before she walked away in 1993 to go it alone.
Her first solo record, in 1995, made plain who'd been steering the ship. "Carnival" drifts and broods on that deep, grainy voice, "Wonder" glows, and "Jealousy" is all coiled nerves. The records came out on Elektra, and they have the unhurried confidence of someone who'd spent more than a decade learning what her voice could do. She plays piano and vibraphone too, and it shows in how patiently the songs are built, never rushed, never crowded.
Ophelia followed in 1998, and she has kept at it ever since, with nine solo studio albums to date. The latest, Keep Your Courage, arrived in 2023, and "Come On Aphrodite" and "Tower of Babel" prove the voice hasn't lost an ounce of its gravity.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Natalie Merchant on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carnival | 23 | #9 | – | 1995 | |
| 2 | Wonder | 29 | #43 | – | 1995 | |
| 3 | Jealousy | 10 | #96 | – | 1996 | |
| 4 | Come On Aphrodite | 5 | #33 | – | 2023 | |
| 5 | Topsy-Turvy World | 2 | #51 | – | 2010 | |
| 6 | Ophelia | 1 | #1333 | – | – | |
| 7 | Tower Of Babel | 2 | #82 | – | 2023 | |
| 8 | Kind and Generous | 1 | #88 | – | 1998 |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Featured on
Songs by other artists credited with Natalie Merchant as a guest.
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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