RockLists.com
Cover of Face Value by Phil Collins
Cover: Face Value

Song · Phil Collins

“In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins

From the album Face Value (1981)

“In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins appears on 99 radio countdowns from 37 stations between 1981 and 2026. It was first released in 1981 on the album Face Value. Its best result is #8 on the KISW 25 Biggest Rock Songs from 1981. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #3,195 alternative song of all time.

99countdowns
37stations
#8best position
0#1 finishes
2top 10 finishes
1981–2026years charted

Watch

Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight (Official Music Video) [HD Upgrade]

Video from YouTube (Phil Collins). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"In the Air Tonight" introduced Phil Collins the solo artist, arriving in January 1981 as the first single from his debut album, Face Value, and it's about as ominous as a pop hit gets. Collins wrote it, co-produced it with Hugh Padgham, and played most of it himself: a drum machine ticking away in the dark, Rhodes piano, synthesizer and vocoder, with John Giblin on bass and Daryl Stuermer on guitar.

For minutes the song just smoulders, Collins's voice cold and bitter over the hum, and then the real drums come crashing in near the end, the break that made the song famous. It hit number 2 in the UK and topped the charts in West Germany, Austria, Sweden and Switzerland, and Stuart Orme's video got heavy play on MTV when the channel launched that August.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1981 8 KISW Seattle-Tacoma, WA KISW 25 Biggest Rock Songs from 1981 25

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1982 82 95.5 KLOS KLOS Memorial Day 500 (1982) 499
1988 81 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (1988) 100
1991 114 WNEW-FM WNEW Firecracker 500 (1991) 500
1997 63 102.3 WBAB WBAB Top 1,023 Rock and Roll Songs of All Time (1997) 1023
1997 34 104.5 KZEP KZEP Memorial Weekend Top 500 (1997) 500
1997 14 100.7 WZLX WZLX Memorial 500 (1997) 499
2001 241 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 500
2001 1648 WFPK WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time 2000
2002 56 100.7 WZLX WZLX Memorial 500 (2002) 500
2002 422 92.3 KGON KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2002) 923
2004 421 92.3 KGON KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2004) 923
2004 225 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 500
2005 256 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 500
2011 249 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) 1100
2012 13 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2012) 500
2012 251 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) 1200
2013 25 Big 100 BIG 500 Labor Day Countdown (2013) 500
2013 191 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2013) 500
2013 21 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2013) 500
2013 209 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) 1000
2014 223 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) 1000
2014 332 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 400 (2014) 400
2014 30 Big 100 BIG 1000 New Year's Countdown (2014) 1000
2015 126 I-95 I-95 Memorial Day Weekend Top 500 (2015) 500
2015 208 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) 1007
2015 214 102.9 The Whale 102.9 The Whale Hartford 500 (2015) 500
2015 461 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2015) 499
2016 75 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 1007
2016 143 102.9 The Whale 102.9 The Whale Hartford 500 (2016) 500
2016 32 103.5 The Fox The Fox Memorial Day 500 (2016) 299
2016 35 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2016) 500
2016 61 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2016) 500
2017 42 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2017) 500
2017 132 97.9 The Loop 97.9 The Loop Top 540 Countdown (2017) 540
2017 52 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2017) 500
2018 343 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs 892
2018 55 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2018) 500
2018 10 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2018) 500
2019 653 102.5 KZOK KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 1025
2019 429 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2019) 500
2019 51 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2019) 500
2019 24 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2019) 500
2019 167 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2019) 499
2019 100 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2019) 500
2020 182 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2020) 500
2020 770 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2020) 1025
2020 42 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2020) 500
2020 197 WXPN WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time 2020
2021 151 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2021 109 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2021) 500
2021 120 WCSX WCSX Rock & Roll 500 (2021) 499
2021 21 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2021) 499
2021 43 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2021) 500
2021 366 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2021) 500
2022 602 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2022) 1043
2022 156 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2022 178 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2022) 500
2022 26 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2022) 1025
2022 83 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 27 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2022) 500
2022 47 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2022 52 94.1 KRNA KRNA Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 25 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2022) 500
2022 24 97.1 The River River 500 (2022) 500
2023 116 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2023 48 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2023) 500
2023 390 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2023) 1043
2023 44 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 128 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2023) 500
2023 46 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2023) 500
2023 52 101.5 WPDH WPDH Top 1015 (2023) 1015
2023 296 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time 909
2023 16 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 23 97.1 The Drive 97.1 The Drive Memorial Day Weekend Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 189 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2023) 500
2024 327 KQRS KQRS KQ 500 (2024) 499
2024 294 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2024) 500
2024 51 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2024) 498
2024 662 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2024) 1043
2024 38 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 500
2024 62 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2024) 500
2024 58 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2024) 500
2024 97 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2024) 100
2024 27 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 499
2024 531 KEXP The Best Opening Tracks of All Time 738
2025 51 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2025) 498
2025 433 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2025) 1043
2025 78 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 139 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2025) 500
2025 187 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2025) 500
2025 89 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2025) 100
2025 53 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2026 247 WFPK WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '80s 498
2026 480 WYEP WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time 1180
2026 18 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2026) 500
2026 113 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2026) 500
2026 51 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2026) 500
2026 382 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2026) 500

Also listed as: In The Air Tonight.

Charting alongside it in 1981

Best songs of 1981 →
  1. 1Start Me UpThe Rolling Stones
  2. 2Tom SawyerRush
  3. 3I Love Rock-N-RollJoan Jett
  4. 4Every Little Thing She Does Is MagicThe Police
  5. 5Jukebox HeroForeigner
  6. 6For Those About to RockAC/DC

Comments

Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins.

Be kind and stay on topic. Guidelines

No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.