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Cover of Brothers by The Black Keys
Cover: Brothers

Song · The Black Keys

“Tighten Up” by The Black Keys

From the album Brothers (2010)

“Tighten Up” by The Black Keys appears on 82 radio countdowns from 52 stations between 2010 and 2026. It was first released in 2010 on the album Brothers. Its best result is #1 on the WEXT Top 97 of 2010, and it was voted number one on two countdowns in total. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #2 alternative song of 2010, #1,469 alternative song of all time and #3 of the '10s.

82countdowns
52stations
#1best position
2#1 finishes
23top 10 finishes
2010–2026years charted

Watch

The Black Keys - Tighten Up [Official Music Video]

Video from YouTube (The Black Keys). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Tighten Up" was the first single from the Black Keys' Brothers in 2010, sitting third on the record, and Danger Mouse produced it. Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney wrote it together, Kennie Takahashi engineered and Tchad Blake mixed it, and Nonesuch put it out.

It opens with a whistle and a shuffle, then drops into a thick, fuzzy groove in F-sharp minor, all swagger and hip-shake, the drums fat enough to sample and the guitar grinding like a busted jukebox. Halfway through, the whole thing lurches into a heavier, stomping second half, a little bit of garage-rock surprise that keeps it from ever settling into a comfortable loop.

It turned into one of their biggest American singles: their first to make the Billboard Hot 100, and a number one on both the Alternative Songs and Rock Songs charts. At the 53rd Grammy Awards in 2011 it won Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, the final song ever to take that prize, and picked up a nomination for Best Rock Song too.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2010 4 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 30 Songs of 2010 30
2010 7 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2010 91
2010 14 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 2010 101
2010 2 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 101 Songs of 2010 101
2010 7 89X Detroit, MI / Windsor, ON 89X Top 89 Songs of 2010 89
2010 2 CD101 Columbus, OH CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2010 101
2010 3 CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON 102.1 The Edge Top 102 Songs of 2010 102
2010 31 The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2010 99
2010 11 Channel 92.3 San Jose / San Francisco Bay Area, CA Channel 92.3 Top 92 Songs of 2010 92
2010 8 The Current Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN The Current Top 89 Songs of 2010 88
2010 15 92.3 WTTS Indianapolis-Bloomington, IN WTTS Top 50 Songs of 2010 50
2010 9 KJEE 92.9 Santa Barbara, CA KJEE Top 92 Songs of 2010 91
2010 4 KSLG Eureka (Humboldt County), CA KSLG Top 94 Slugtunez of 2010 94
2010 3 WRNR 103.1 Annapolis, MD WRNR Top 103.1 Songs of 2010 104
2010 16 94.1 The Zone Rochester, NY 94.1 The Zone Most Played Songs of 2010 91
2010 7 107.1 The Peak Westchester County, NY WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2010 107
2010 36 105.7 The Point St. Louis, MO 105.7 The Point Top 105 Songs of 2010 105
2010 5 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2010 103
2010 17 WXPN Philadelphia, PA WXPN Year in Review: Top 100 Songs of 2010 100
2010 6 96X Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News, VA 96X Top 20 of 2010 20
2010 14 X96 Salt Lake City, UT X96 Top 50 Songs of 2010 50
2010 40 106.1 The Corner Charlottesville, VA 106.1 The Corner Top 106 of 2010 105
2010 6 90.5 WERG Erie, PA WERG Top 90 of 2010 90
2010 3 93XRT Chicago, IL WXRT Listener Poll: Top 25 Songs of 2010 25
2010 46 WRSI 93.9 The River Northampton / Pioneer Valley, MA WRSI Top 94 Songs of 2010 93
2010 11 94.3 WCYY Portland, ME WCYY Top 50 of 2010 50
2010 27 94.5 The Buzz Houston, TX 94.5 The Buzz Top 94 of 2010 94
2010 1 Exit 97.7 Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY WEXT Top 97 of 2010 97
2010 5 99 Rock Lebanon-Hanover-White River Junction, NH-VT 99Rock WFRD Top 99 of 2010 99
2010 2 WFPK Louisville, KY WFPK Top 100 Songs of 2010 100
2010 8 FM 102/1 Milwaukee, WI FM 102/1 Top 50 of 2010 50
2010 14 103.1 The River Kalispell-Flathead Valley, MT 103.1 The River Top 103 of 2010 102
2010 48 89.7 The River Omaha, NE / Council Bluffs, IA 89.7 The River Top 89 of 2010 89
2010 48 103.1 The Buzz West Palm Beach, FL Buzz 103.1 The 103 Most Played Buzz Cuts of 2010 103
2010 1 WTMD Baltimore, MD WTMD Top 89 Songs of 2010 89
2010 21 Lightning 100 Nashville, TN Lightning 100 Best of 2010 50
2010 12 ALT 104.5 Philadelphia, PA Radio 104.5 Top 50.5 Songs of 2010 51
2010 82 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 2010 100
2010 8 WBRU Providence, RI WBRU Top 95 Songs of 2010 95
2011 51 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2011 91
2011 83 CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON 102.1 The Edge Top 102 Songs of 2011 102
2011 38 ALT 104.5 Philadelphia, PA Radio 104.5 Top 50.5 Songs of 2011 51
2011 16 KSLG Eureka (Humboldt County), CA KSLG Top 94 Slugtracks of 2011 94
2011 49 105.7 The Point St. Louis, MO 105.7 The Point Top 105 Songs of 2011 105
2011 20 93XRT Chicago, IL WXRT Listener Poll: Top 25 Songs of 2011 25
2011 11 97X Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL 97X Top 97 of 2011 97
2011 33 KFOG San Francisco Bay Area, CA KFOG Foghead Favorites of 2011 50
2011 10 94.5 The Buzz Houston, TX 94.5 The Buzz Top 94 of 2011 94
2011 33 X107.5 Las Vegas, NV X107.5 Top 50 Songs That Didn't Suck 2011 50
2011 89 103.1 The River Kalispell-Flathead Valley, MT 103.1 The River Top 103 of 2011 103
2011 45 89.7 The River Omaha, NE / Council Bluffs, IA 89.7 The River Top 89 of 2011 89
2012 24 97X Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL 97X Top 97 Songs of 2012 97

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2010 761 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 102 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 102 New Rock Songs of the 2000s 102
2011 488 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 471 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2013 65 WXPN WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013) 885
2014 463 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 301 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) 500
2015 302 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) 500
2018 296 WTMD WTMD Listeners' Top 897 Songs, 2003-2018 896
2019 42 93X 93X Top 93 Songs of the Decade (2010s) 93
2019 30 103.3 The Edge 103.3 The Edge Top 103.3 Songs of the Decade 103
2019 75 ALT 98.7 ALT 98.7 Top 98 ALT Songs of the Decade 98
2019 307 WYEP WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 1099
2019 307 WYEP WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 1017
2019 333 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2019) 500
2020 13 107.7 The End The End Top 107 Songs of Last Decade (2010s) 107
2020 21 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 102 of the 2010s 102
2020 7 The Buzz The Buzz Top 99 Songs of the Decade 99
2020 22 X96 X96's Top 100 Songs of the Last Decade 100
2020 444 DC101 The DC101 Top 500 500
2022 55 101X 101X 500 (2022) 498
2023 245 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2023) 500
2023 808 WYEP WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 1229
2024 473 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century 1055
2024 328 WXPN WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024) 885
2025 454 The Current 893 Essential Songs of The Current: 2005 to Now 893
2025 115 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century 909
2025 547 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the 21st Century (So Far) 714
2026 100 101X 101X 500 (2026) 500
2026 248 KXT KXT 917 Song Countdown 917

Charting alongside it in 2010

Best songs of 2010 →
  1. 1Little Lion ManMumford & Sons
  2. 3RadioactiveKings of Leon
  3. 4The High RoadBroken Bells
  4. 5AnimalNeon Trees
  5. 6Lay Me DownDirty Heads
  6. 7Ready to StartThe Arcade Fire

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