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Cover of Stadium Arcadium by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Cover: Stadium Arcadium

Song · Red Hot Chili Peppers

“Tell Me Baby” by Red Hot Chili Peppers

From the album Stadium Arcadium (2006)

“Tell Me Baby” by Red Hot Chili Peppers appears on 40 radio countdowns from 21 stations between 2006 and 2026. It was first released in 2006 on the album Stadium Arcadium. Its best result is #2 on the 88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 88 Songs of 2006. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #9 alternative song of 2006, #1,167 alternative song of all time and #122 of the '00s.

40countdowns
21stations
#2best position
0#1 finishes
4top 10 finishes
2006–2026years charted

Watch

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Tell Me Baby [Official Music Video]

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

"Tell Me Baby" followed "Dani California" out of Stadium Arcadium, the Red Hot Chili Peppers' ninth studio album, in 2006, and it's the band back in full funk-rock strut: a slinky, jittery groove that bounces between tight, chattering verses and a chorus that opens up wide and melodic.

Flea, John Frusciante, Anthony Kiedis and Chad Smith wrote it together, with Kiedis on words. Rick Rubin produced, the recording fell to Ryan Hewitt, Mark Linett and Andrew Scheps, and Hewitt mixed it for Warner Bros.

It never matched the chart heat of "Dani California" or the single that came after it, "Snow (Hey Oh)", but alternative radio couldn't get enough: it sat at number one on Billboard's Modern Rock chart for four weeks, the band's second chart-topper in a row from the album and the tenth of their career there.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2006 8 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2006 107
2006 13 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2006 91
2006 21 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2006 106
2006 39 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 2006 101
2006 24 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 100 Songs of 2006 100
2006 10 107.7 The End Seattle, WA The End Top 107 Songs of 2006 107
2006 20 89X Detroit, MI / Windsor, ON 89X Top 89 Songs of 2006 89
2006 82 CD101 Columbus, OH CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2006 101
2006 36 Y100 Philadelphia, PA Y100 Top 88.5 Songs of 2006 89
2006 10 CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON CFNY Top 102 Songs of 2006 102
2006 17 The Bear Ottawa, ON The Bear Top 107 Songs of 2006 107
2006 13 The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2006 97
2006 27 WCCC The Rock Hartford, CT WCCC Top 106 Songs of 2006 106
2006 22 Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 2006 30
2006 64 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2006 103
2006 2 88.3 The Sting Cleveland, OH 88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 88 Songs of 2006 88
2006 15 Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) Radio & Records Top 100 Songs of 2006 100
2007 21 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2007 107
2007 18 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2007 91
2007 19 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2007 106
2008 95 99 Rock Lebanon-Hanover-White River Junction, NH-VT 99Rock WFRD Top 99 of 2008 99

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2007 1388 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 64 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008) 500
2008 1467 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 314 Live 105 Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009) 500
2009 1218 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2009 43 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 200 Songs of All-Time (2009) 200
2010 100 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 200 New Rock Songs of the Millennium 200
2010 137 94.1 The Zone 94.1 The Zone 210 Most Played Songs of the Decade 210
2010 967 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 22 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 102 New Rock Songs of the 2000s 102
2011 856 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 833 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 810 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 311 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) 500
2015 307 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) 500
2019 241 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2019) 500
2022 264 101X 101X 500 (2022) 498
2023 270 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2023) 500
2026 205 101X 101X 500 (2026) 500

Charting alongside it in 2006

Best songs of 2006 →
  1. 1Dani CaliforniaRed Hot Chili Peppers
  2. 2When You Were YoungThe Killers
  3. 3Steady, As She GoesThe Raconteurs
  4. 4Miss MurderAFI
  5. 5CrazyGnarls Barkley
  6. 6VicariousTool

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