Song · Tom Waits
“Hold On” by Tom Waits
From the album Mule Variations (1999)
“Hold On” by Tom Waits appears on 8 radio countdowns from 5 stations between 1999 and 2023. It was first released in 1999 on the album Mule Variations. Its best result is #13 on the WXRT Listener Poll: Top 25 Songs of 1999. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #6,996 alternative song of all time.
"Hold On" is on Mule Variations, the 1999 album on ANTI- that ended a six-year stretch without a Tom Waits studio record. Waits wrote it and produced it with Kathleen Brennan, and he plays guitar and organ on it, alongside Marc Ribot and Joe Gore on guitar, while Larry Taylor plays bass and Stephen Taylor Arvizu Hodges handles percussion.
The song earned a Grammy nomination for Best Male Rock Performance, and the album itself won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Waits backed the record with a long run through Europe and North America that summer and autumn, his first proper tour since 1987.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 13 | 93XRT Chicago, IL | WXRT Listener Poll: Top 25 Songs of 1999 | 25 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 473 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2000) | 500 |
| 2001 | 471 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2001) | 498 |
| 2009 | 176 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Essential Songs | 913 |
| 2019 | 548 | WYEP | WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 | 1017 |
| 2019 | 548 | WYEP | WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 | 1099 |
| 2022 | 838 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s | 900 |
| 2023 | 849 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s | 893 |
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