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Cover of Trapt by Trapt
Cover: Trapt

Song · Trapt

“Headstrong” by Trapt

From the album Trapt (2002)

“Headstrong” by Trapt appears on 34 radio countdowns from 28 stations between 2002 and 2026. It was first released in 2002 on the album Trapt. Its best result is #1 on the WFNX Top 100 Songs of 2003, and it was voted number one on two countdowns in total. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #10 alternative song of 2003, #1,689 alternative song of all time and #112 of the '00s.

34countdowns
28stations
#1best position
2#1 finishes
8top 10 finishes
2002–2026years charted

Watch

Trapt - Headstrong (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (Warner Records Vault). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Headstrong" was the opening shot from Trapt's self-titled 2002 debut on Warner Bros., the first single from a band that came barging into the post-grunge party with its fists up. Chris Taylor Brown wrote the words and bites them off through clenched teeth, trading riffs with fellow guitarist Simon Ormandy while Peter Charell's bass and Aaron Montgomery's drums lock into a stop-start stomp. Garth Richardson produced it with the band, and Andy Wallace mixed it loud and glossy enough to slip onto pop stations as well.

Billboard's year-end tally put it at the top of both its modern rock and mainstream rock rankings for 2003, and it collected two Billboard Music Awards that year. Not everyone was sold: Ultimate Guitar users later voted its riff the fourth-worst ever, and Metal Injection's Graham Hartmann waved it off as the band's one song.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Classic Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2002 47 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2002 91
2002 74 WCCC The Rock Hartford, CT WCCC Top 106 Songs of 2002 106
2002 78 Radio 104.1 Hartford-New Haven, CT WMRQ Top 104 Songs of 2002 104
2003 16 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2003 107
2003 19 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2003 106
2003 4 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 2003 101
2003 4 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 2003 100
2003 7 K-Rock New York, NY K-Rock Top 92.3 Songs of 2003 92
2003 1 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 100 Songs of 2003 100
2003 13 89X Detroit, MI / Windsor, ON 89X Top 89 Songs of 2003 89
2003 10 Y100 Philadelphia, PA Y100 Top 100 Songs of 2003 100
2003 19 CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON CFNY Top 102 Songs of 2003 102
2003 15 The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2003 99
2003 23 WCCC The Rock Hartford, CT WCCC Top 106 Songs of 2003 106
2003 9 Channel 104.9 San Jose, CA Channel 104.9 Top 104.9 Songs of 2003 105
2003 64 102.1 The Edge Dallas-Fort Worth, TX KDGE Top 102 Songs of 2003 102
2003 43 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2003 103
2003 13 WBCN Boston, MA WBCN Top 104 Songs of 2003 104
2003 5 103.1 The Buzz West Palm Beach, FL Buzz 103.1 Top 103 Buzz Cuts of 2003 103
2003 1 Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) Radio & Records Top 100 Songs of 2003 100
2004 73 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2004 106

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2005 177 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2010 19 WJRR WJRR Top 101 Songs of the Decade 101
2010 74 94.1 The Zone 94.1 The Zone 210 Most Played Songs of the Decade 210
2014 42 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) 500
2015 59 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) 500
2019 51 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2019) 500
2020 207 DC101 The DC101 Top 500 500
2020 383 Q105.7 Q105.7 Memorial Day 500 (2020) 499
2022 401 X96 X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time 500
2022 366 101X 101X 500 (2022) 498
2023 95 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2023) 500
2025 340 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2026 420 101X 101X 500 (2026) 500

Charting alongside it in 2003

Best songs of 2003 →
  1. 1Seven Nation ArmyThe White Stripes
  2. 2Like a StoneAudioslave
  3. 3Bring Me to LifeEvanescence
  4. 4Somewhere I BelongLinkin Park
  5. 5Times Like TheseFoo Fighters
  6. 6Weak and PowerlessA Perfect Circle

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