Artist · chart history
The War On Drugs
Band Philadelphia United States Formed 2005
The War On Drugs formed in 2005 in Philadelphia, United States. The War On Drugs has 159 chart appearances on 84 radio countdowns from 24 stations on RockLists, spanning 2011–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Red Eyes”, which appears on 33 lists with a best position of #11. The station that charted The War On Drugs most often is WXPN (Philadelphia, PA), with 29 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 2017.
The War on Drugs started in Philadelphia in 2005 as a partnership between Adam Granduciel and Kurt Vile, but Vile left soon after the 2008 debut, Wagonwheel Blues, to concentrate on his solo career, and ever since it has been Granduciel's show. He sings, plays guitar and keyboards, and chases a sound that feels like a highway at dusk: long, rolling grooves, shimmering guitars and keyboards smeared across the horizon, heartland melodies heard through a heat haze. Dave Hartley has held down the bass from the start, and Robbie Bennett's organ and piano fill in the sky.
Slave Ambient, on Secretly Canadian in 2011, earned good notices and a long tour. Lost in the Dream, in 2014, was the leap, made after a stretch of loneliness and depression for Granduciel, and it turned private struggle into big, wide-open songs like "Red Eyes" and "Under the Pressure". The critics fell hard for it. Charlie Hall came back as full-time drummer during the sessions, with Jon Natchez on saxophone and Anthony LaMarca on guitar joining for the tour.
Now a six-piece, they signed with Atlantic, and A Deeper Understanding, in 2017, with "Pain", "Holding On" and "Thinking of a Place", won the Grammy for Best Rock Album. I Don't Live Here Anymore followed in 2021.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by The War On Drugs on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Red Eyes | 33 | #11 | – | 2014 | |
| 2 | Under the Pressure | 24 | #2 | – | 2014 | |
| 3 | I Don't Live Here Anymore | 25 | #2 | – | 2021 | |
| 4 | Pain | 18 | #4 | – | 2017 | |
| 5 | Holding On | 18 | #3 | – | 2017 | |
| 6 | Thinking of a place | 12 | #8 | – | 2017 | |
| 7 | Change | 5 | #14 | – | 2022 | |
| 8 | An Ocean Between the Waves | 4 | #74 | – | 2014 | |
| 9 | Oceans of Darkness | 4 | #48 | – | 2022 | |
| 10 | Eyes To The Wind | 2 | #91 | – | 2014 | |
| 11 | Baby Missiles | 2 | #30 | – | 2011 | |
| 12 | Burning | 1 | #16 | – | 2015 | |
| 13 | Come To The City | 1 | #354 | – | – | |
| 14 | Strangest Thing | 2 | #29 | – | 2017 | |
| 15 | Touch Of Grey | 1 | #395 | – | – | |
| 16 | Wasted | 1 | #60 | – | 2022 | |
| 17 | Up All Night | 2 | #753 | – | – | |
| 18 | In Chains | 2 | #81 | – | 2018 | |
| 19 | In Reverse | 1 | #176 | – | 2014 |
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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