Artist · chart history · #457 in indie & aaa artist polls
Robert Palmer
Solo artist Batley United Kingdom English singer‐songwriter
Robert Palmer is an artist from Batley. Robert Palmer has 112 chart appearances on 74 radio countdowns from 36 stations on RockLists, spanning 1986–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Addicted to Love”, which appears on 44 lists with a best position of #50. The station that charted Robert Palmer most often is Big 100 (Washington, DC), with 14 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1986.
Robert Palmer, born in Batley in 1949, was a rock singer with a tailor's eye and a soul man's voice, and he spent a career proving you could wear a sharp suit and still sweat. He got his start in the '60s, did time with Vinegar Joe in the '70s and made his name solo on Island, where "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley", "Every Kind of People" and "Bad Case of Loving You" showed a singer who could slide from soul and funk to reggae, rock and blues without breaking stride. Clues, in 1980, went sleek and synthetic with "Johnny and Mary" and "Looking for Clues".
The '80s were his, both on his own and with the Power Station, with top 10 hits on both sides of the Atlantic. Riptide, in 1985, gave him "Addicted to Love" and "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On", and the former's video, directed by fashion photographer Terence Donovan, came to sum up the whole glossy, overindulgent decade. Heavy Nova brought "Simply Irresistible", and Don't Explain, in 1990, "You're Amazing" and a medley of "Mercy Mercy Me/I Want You".
He picked up 2 Grammys for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance and an MTV Video Music Award along the way. He died of a heart attack in 2003, at 54.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Robert Palmer on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Addicted to Love | 44 | #50 | – | 1986 | |
| 2 | Bad Case of Loving You | 31 | #116 | – | – | |
| 3 | Simply Irresistible | 9 | #42 | – | 1988 | |
| 4 | Bad Case Of Lovin' You (Doctor, Doctor) | 5 | #223 | – | – | |
| 5 | Every Kind Of People | 3 | #10 | – | – | |
| 6 | Johnny and Mary | 4 | #109 | – | – | |
| 7 | Sneaking Sally Through | 2 | #616 | – | – | |
| 8 | Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley | 2 | #329 | – | – | |
| 9 | I Didn't Mean to Turn You On | 2 | #37 | – | 1986 | |
| 10 | Give Me An Inch | 1 | #123 | – | – | |
| 11 | Bad Case Of | 1 | #218 | – | – | |
| 12 | Looking For Clues | 2 | #690 | – | – | |
| 13 | Sneaking Sally Thru the Alley | 1 | #567 | – | – | |
| 14 | Mercy Mercy Me/I Want You | 1 | #793 | – | – | |
| 15 | You're Amazing | 1 | #78 | – | 1990 | |
| 16 | Sailin'\Sneakin'\Hey | 1 | #437 | – | – | |
| 17 | You're Gonna Get What's Coming | 1 | #451 | – | – |
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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