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Cover of By the Way by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Cover: By the Way

Song · Red Hot Chili Peppers

“By the Way” by Red Hot Chili Peppers

From the album By the Way (2002)

“By the Way” by Red Hot Chili Peppers appears on 70 radio countdowns from 36 stations between 2002 and 2026. It was first released in 2002 on the album By the Way. Its best result is #1 on the Virgin Radio Top 10 Songs of 2002. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #1 alternative song of 2002, #457 alternative song of all time and #27 of the '00s.

70countdowns
36stations
#1best position
1#1 finishes
16top 10 finishes
2002–2026years charted

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Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way [Video]

Video from YouTube (Red Hot Chili Peppers). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"By the Way" is the title track of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' eighth studio album, and it went out in 2002 as the record's first single. All four Peppers, Anthony Kiedis, Flea, John Frusciante and Chad Smith, share the writing credit, and Rick Rubin produced, with Jim Scott engineering and mixing.

Leading with it wasn't the band's idea. Frusciante said their managers pushed for it, figuring it caught both the band's frantic side and its tuneful side in one go, and that's exactly how it plays: a breezy, sighing melody that keeps getting ambushed by a jittery, rapid-fire funk rock charge, lurching between the two like somebody flipping channels. Kiedis considered it a bombastic blast of anti-commercial noise, and he was stunned when British listeners took to it.

They did, in a big way. It reached number two in the UK, matching the band's best showing there, and topped the Italian chart. At home it became their sixth number one on Modern Rock Tracks and held the top of the Mainstream Rock chart for seven weeks.

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
2002 5 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2002 107
2002 6 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2002 91
2002 17 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2002 106
2002 11 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 2002 101
2002 3 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 2002 100
2002 15 K-Rock New York, NY K-Rock Top 92.3 Songs of 2002 92
2002 7 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 100 Songs of 2002 100
2002 8 107.7 The End Seattle, WA The End Top 107 Songs of 2002 107
2002 14 89X Detroit, MI / Windsor, ON 89X Top 89 Songs of 2002 89
2002 19 CD101 Columbus, OH CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2002 101
2002 2 Y100 Philadelphia, PA Y100 Top 100 Songs of 2002 100
2002 5 The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2002 99
2002 10 WCCC The Rock Hartford, CT WCCC Top 106 Songs of 2002 106
2002 4 Channel 104.9 San Jose, CA Channel 104.9 Top 104.9 Songs of 2002 105
2002 57 (tie) WBER Rochester, NY WBER Listener Countdown 2002 224
2002 2 Radio 104.1 Hartford-New Haven, CT WMRQ Top 104 Songs of 2002 104
2002 29 88.3 The Sting Cleveland, OH 88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 40 Songs of 2002 40
2002 12 103.1 The Buzz West Palm Beach, FL Buzz 103.1 The 103 Most Played Buzz Cuts of 2002 103
2002 1 Virgin Radio United Kingdom Virgin Radio Top 10 Songs of 2002 10
2002 3 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2002 103
2002 9 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 2002 100
2002 8 Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) Radio & Records Top 100 Songs of 2002 99

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2002 57 K-Rock K-Rock Top 92 Party Songs of All-Time (2002) 92
2002 2001 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 46 The Buzz The Buzz Top Songs of All-Time (Labor Day 2002, partial) 144
2002 811 KISW KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) 999
2003 420 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003) 500
2003 1809 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 7 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio VR10x10 (April 2003) 100
2004 1809 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2004 90 Y100 Y100 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (July 2004) 300
2004 242 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 500
2005 52 96.5 The Buzz 96.5 The Buzz Top 96 of the New Millennium 96
2005 1805 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 211 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2005 119 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 500
2006 20 107.7 The End The End Top 107 Songs of the Millennium (December 2006) 107
2006 275 Live 105 Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 90 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2006) 500
2007 153 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 432 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008) 500
2008 174 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 39 WFNX WFNX Top 101 Songs of the Decade (December 2009) 101
2009 139 Live 105 Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009) 500
2009 170 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2009 112 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 200 Songs of All-Time (2009) 200
2010 2 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 200 New Rock Songs of the Millennium 200
2010 156 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 34 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 102 New Rock Songs of the 2000s 102
2011 156 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 156 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 154 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 151 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) 500
2015 154 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) 500
2019 130 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2019) 500
2020 98 DC101 The DC101 Top 500 500
2021 320 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2021) 500
2022 213 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s 907
2022 88 101X 101X 500 (2022) 498
2022 422 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2023 174 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2023) 500
2024 729 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century 1055
2024 380 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2024) 400
2024 853 WXPN WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024) 885
2025 352 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 323 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century 909
2025 120 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2025) 400
2025 433 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the 21st Century (So Far) 714
2026 362 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2026) 500
2026 85 101X 101X 500 (2026) 500

Also listed as: By The Way.

Charting alongside it in 2002

Best songs of 2002 →
  1. 2AerialsSystem of a Down
  2. 3ToxicitySystem of a Down
  3. 4You Know You're RightNirvana
  4. 5All My LifeFoo Fighters
  5. 6SweetnessJimmy Eat World
  6. 7The MiddleJimmy Eat World

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