Song · The Who
“Athena” by The Who
From the album It’s Hard (1982)
“Athena” by The Who appears on 10 radio countdowns from 6 stations between 1997 and 2023. It was first released in 1982 on the album It’s Hard. Its best result is #602 on the BIG 1000 New Year's Countdown (2014). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,412 classic rock song of all time.
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The Who opened It's Hard, their tenth studio album, with "Athena" in 1982 and sent it out as the record's first single. Pete Townshend wrote it after a night at Pink Floyd's The Wall with his friend Bill Minkin and the actress Theresa Russell; drunk, by his own admission, he decided he was in love, made his move and was turned down. The working title was simply "Theresa".
Glyn Johns produced, Roger Daltrey and Townshend share the lead vocal and the guitars, John Entwistle plays bass and horns, and Kenney Jones drums. It got to No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, which turned out to be the band's last American top 40 hit, and No. 40 in the UK.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 758 | 102.3 WBAB | WBAB Top 1,023 Rock and Roll Songs of All Time (1997) | 1023 |
| 2011 | 719 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) | 1100 |
| 2012 | 740 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) | 1200 |
| 2014 | 602 | Big 100 | BIG 1000 New Year's Countdown (2014) | 1000 |
| 2016 | 885 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 | 1007 |
| 2019 | 725 | 102.5 KZOK | KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 | 1025 |
| 2020 | 854 | 102.5 KZOK | KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2020) | 1025 |
| 2021 | 719 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2021) | 1043 |
| 2023 | 692 | 101.5 WPDH | WPDH Top 1015 (2023) | 1015 |
| 2023 | 758 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2023) | 1043 |
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