RockLists.com

Year-end consensus · Alternative & Modern Rock · 22 countdowns combined

The best alternative rock songs of 2002

22 radio stations and charts published year-end countdowns for 2002: KROQ, 91X, Live 105, Q101, WHFS, K-Rock, WFNX, 107.7 The End, 89X, CD101, Y100, The Buzz, Channel 104.9, 102.7 WEQX, 103.1 The Buzz, 88.3 The Sting, John Peel (BBC Radio 1), Radio 104.1, Virgin Radio, WBER, Triple J and Radio & Records. Combining every list, the top alternative rock song of 2002 is “By the Way” by Red Hot Chili Peppers, which appeared on 21 of the 22 countdowns and was voted number one by one of them. 17 different songs were voted number one somewhere: “Fell in Love With a Girl” by The White Stripes (2 stations), “Aerials” by System of a Down (2 stations), “Blurry” by Puddle of Mudd (2 stations), “You Know You're Right” by Nirvana (2 stations) and “Flake” by Jack Johnson (2 stations) and others. System of a Down was the year’s most-charted artist, with six different songs placing 56 times across the countdowns.

22countdowns
639songs charted
17different #1s

Top 100 songs of 2002

All 639 songs →

Ranked by combined points across every 2002 year-end countdown in this format. How it works.

# Song Strength Lists Best #1s
1 By the Way Red Hot Chili Peppers
1,872		 21 #1 1
2 Sweetness Jimmy Eat World
1,467		 18 #2 –
3 Aerials System of a Down
1,461		 17 #1 2
4 The Middle Jimmy Eat World
1,444		 15 #1 1
5 Fell in Love With a Girl The White Stripes
1,433		 19 #1 2
6 You Know You're Right Nirvana
1,413		 18 #1 2
7 All My Life Foo Fighters
1,395		 18 #4 –
8 Hate To Say I Told You So The Hives
1,385		 18 #1 1
9 Toxicity System of a Down
1,370		 16 #1 1
10 Blurry Puddle of Mudd
1,299		 14 #1 2
11 Warning Incubus
1,288		 17 #7 –
12 Amber 311
1,279		 18 #2 –
13 Get Free The Vines
1,262		 19 #5 –
14 Youth of the Nation P.O.D.
1,259		 15 #1 1
15 Seein' Red Unwritten Law
1,253		 18 #6 –
16 The Zephyr Song Red Hot Chili Peppers
1,242		 19 #10 –
17 Running Away Hoobastank
1,233		 16 #4 –
18 In My Place Coldplay
1,213		 19 #2 –
19 Crawling in the Dark Hoobastank
1,169		 14 #2 –
20 No One Knows Queens of the Stone Age
1,138		 17 #1 1
21 For You Staind
1,129		 14 #1 1
22 Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground The White Stripes
1,082		 17 #8 –
23 Here to Stay Korn
1,078		 16 #6 –
24 First Date blink-182
1,070		 17 #4 –
25 She Hates Me Puddle of Mudd
1,055		 15 #11 –
26 Prayer Disturbed
1,005		 15 #12 –
27 Keep Fishin' Weezer
992		 18 #6 –
28 Cochise Audioslave
991		 18 #19 –
29 My Friends Over You New Found Glory
985		 17 #18 –
30 Dope Nose Weezer
967		 19 #8 –
31 Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Good Charlotte
944		 16 #13 –
32 The Red Chevelle
934		 15 #18 –
33 Nice to Know You Incubus
925		 14 #3 –
34 Without Me Eminem
922		 13 #2 –
35 Last Nite The Strokes
914		 11 #2 –
36 I Am Mine Pearl Jam
902		 18 #7 –
37 Lose Yourself Eminem
887		 12 #1 1
38 Someday The Strokes
879		 15 #15 –
39 Thoughtless Korn
866		 15 #5 –
40 I Feel So Box Car Racer
866		 17 #14 –
41 Drift and Die Puddle of Mudd
845		 14 #15 –
42 Flake Jack Johnson
834		 13 #1 2
43 She Loves Me Not Papa Roach
832		 16 #10 –
44 Downfall Trust Company
825		 14 #11 –
45 Screaming Infidelities Dashboard Confessional
798		 16 #3 –
46 Somewhere Out There Our Lady Peace
779		 15 #2 –
47 Hard to Explain The Strokes
728		 15 #5 –
48 Hero Chad Kroeger
717		 12 #9 –
49 Clocks Coldplay
706		 14 #7 –
50 Still Waiting Sum 41
672		 14 #17 –
51 A Praise Chorus Jimmy Eat World
669		 16 #24 –
52 It's Goin' Down X-Ecutioners
647		 14 #19 –
53 I Stand Alone Godsmack
633		 10 #2 –
54 Too Bad Nickelback
628		 10 #10 –
55 Sorrow Bad Religion
615		 9 #1 1
56 I Wish You Were Here Incubus
610		 8 #5 –
57 In the End Linkin Park
585		 7 #4 –
58 Wasting My Time Default
584		 10 #7 –
59 Bother Stone Sour
580		 12 #20 –
60 Fine Again Seether
558		 13 #21 –
61 Where Are You Going? Dave Matthews Band
525		 10 #5 –
62 Papercut Linkin Park
514		 8 #2 –
63 Get Over It OK Go
512		 12 #39 –
64 Boom P.O.D.
510		 14 #42 –
65 Always Saliva
509		 12 #29 –
66 My Sacrifice Creed
500		 8 #5 –
67 Defy You The Offspring
498		 10 #20 –
68 Innocent Our Lady Peace
485		 11 #11 –
69 Chop Suey System of a Down
481		 6 #1 1
70 Rock Star N.E.R.D.
464		 9 #18 –
71 One Last Breath Creed
458		 8 #17 –
72 Lost Cause Beck
441		 8 #7 –
73 Are You In Incubus
440		 6 #9 –
74 We Are All Made of Stars Moby
433		 13 #31 –
75 Electrical Storm U2
428		 13 #41 –
76 Innervision System of a Down
424		 13 #37 –
77 Never Gonna Stop Rob Zombie
424		 8 #20 –
78 Deny Default
411		 8 #21 –
79 Epiphany Staind
392		 9 #33 –
80 Bubble Toes Jack Johnson
391		 6 #11 –
81 The One Foo Fighters
391		 10 #11 –
82 Girl All the Bad Guys Want Bowling for Soup
380		 8 #5 –
83 There Is Box Car Racer
374		 9 #18 –
84 When I'm Gone 3 Doors Down
373		 12 #39 –
85 Outtathaway The Vines
366		 12 #21 –
86 Poem Taproot
359		 11 #48 –
87 Tribute Tenacious D
356		 8 #37 –
88 The Way You Like It Adema
352		 9 #14 –
89 A Sorta Fairytale Tori Amos
345		 8 #13 –
90 Diamonds and Guns Transplants
345		 8 #34 –
91 Up All Night Unwritten Law
329		 9 #3 –
92 Friends and Family Trik Turner
318		 10 #27 –
93 Where Do We Go From Here Filter
317		 11 #56 –
94 How You Remind Me Nickelback
316		 5 #20 –
95 Alive P.O.D.
315		 4 #8 –
96 Bouncing Off the Walls Sugarcult
310		 7 #19 –
97 Hey Mister Custom
303		 8 #42 –
98 Honestly Zwan
296		 9 #25 –
99 My December Linkin Park
293		 5 #15 –
100 The Taste of Ink The Used
288		 12 #56 –

Every station’s number one of 2002

StationNumber one songCountdown
KROQ Fell in Love With a Girl The White Stripes KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2002
91X Sorrow Bad Religion 91X Top 91 Songs of 2002
Live 105 Hate to Say I Told You So The Hives Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2002
Q101 Youth of the Nation P.O.D. Q101 Top 101 Songs of 2002
WHFS Aerials System of a Down WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 2002
K-Rock Blurry Puddle of Mudd K-Rock Top 92.3 Songs of 2002
WFNX Aerials System of a Down WFNX Top 100 Songs of 2002
107.7 The End You Know You're Right Nirvana The End Top 107 Songs of 2002
89X Lose Yourself Eminem 89X Top 89 Songs of 2002
CD101 Fell in Love With a Girl The White Stripes CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2002
Y100 Chop Suey System of a Down Y100 Top 100 Songs of 2002
The Buzz You Know You're Right Nirvana The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2002
Channel 104.9 Flake Jack Johnson Channel 104.9 Top 104.9 Songs of 2002
102.7 WEQX Flake Jack Johnson WEQX Top 102.7 of 2002
103.1 The Buzz For You Staind Buzz 103.1 The 103 Most Played Buzz Cuts of 2002
88.3 The Sting Your Gravest Words The Lawrence Arms 88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 40 Songs of 2002
John Peel (BBC Radio 1) Girls Are The New Boys Saloon John Peel's Festive Fifty of 2002
Radio 104.1 Toxicity System of a Down WMRQ Top 104 Songs of 2002
Virgin Radio By the Way Red Hot Chili Peppers Virgin Radio Top 10 Songs of 2002
WBER Rebels Of The Sacred Heart Flogging Molly WBER Listener Countdown 2002
Triple J No One Knows Queens of the Stone Age Triple J Hottest 100 of 2002
Radio & Records Blurry Puddle of Mudd Radio & Records Top 100 Songs of 2002

All 2002 countdowns in this ranking

About the 2002 ranking

Radio stations count down their listeners’ favorite songs at the end of every year. Each station’s list reflects its own audience, so a song that ruled Los Angeles could miss the top ten in Chicago. To find the songs that defined 2002 everywhere, RockLists gives every appearance percentile-based points (a number one earns 100, the last position earns close to zero) and adds them up across all 22 qualifying countdowns. Each radio format is ranked separately, so classic rock and hard rock countdowns never shift the alternative results; use the tabs above to switch formats. Read the full methodology.