RockLists.com

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

The best alternative rock songs of 2016

Four radio stations and charts published year-end countdowns for 2016: 91X, Live 105, CD101 and Triple J. Combining every list, the top alternative rock song of 2016 is “Dark Necessities” by Red Hot Chili Peppers, which appeared on three of the four countdowns. Four different songs were voted number one somewhere: “Bang, Bang” by Green Day, “Heathens” by Twenty One Pilots, “WOW” by Beck and “Never Be like You” by Flume featuring Kai. blink-182 was the year’s most-charted artist, with five different songs placing 8 times across the countdowns.

4countdowns
250songs charted
4different #1s

Top 100 songs of 2016

All 250 songs →

Ranked by combined points across every 2016 year-end countdown in this format. How it works.

# Song Strength Lists Best #1s
1 Dark Necessities Red Hot Chili Peppers
267		 3 #5 –
2 Bored To Death blink-182
260		 4 #7 –
3 Ophelia Lumineers
258		 3 #2 –
4 Ghenghis Khan Miike Snow
248		 4 #15 –
5 Bang, Bang Green Day
242		 3 #1 1
6 HandClap Fitz and the Tantrums
234		 3 #5 –
7 Wow Beck
223		 3 #1 1
8 Life Itself Glass Animals
220		 4 #9 –
9 River Bishop Briggs
217		 3 #4 –
10 Heathens Twenty One Pilots
197		 2 #1 1
11 Good Grief Bastille
195		 3 #8 –
12 You Dont Get Me High Anymore Phantogram
193		 3 #9 –
13 All We Ever Knew The Head and the Heart
191		 3 #6 –
14 7 Catfish and the Bottlemen
189		 3 #16 –
15 Trouble Cage The Elephant
188		 2 #7 –
16 Way Down We Go Kaleo
185		 3 #14 –
17 Mess Around Cage The Elephant
177		 2 #11 –
18 Burn The Witch Radiohead
177		 3 #14 –
19 Waste a Moment Kings of Leon
173		 3 #13 –
20 Rebel Heart The Shelters
171		 2 #6 –
21 2AM Bear Hands
169		 2 #11 –
22 What Went Down Foals
156		 2 #22 –
23 The Less I Know the Better Tame Impala
151		 2 #16 –
24 Next Storm Frank Turner
139		 2 #17 –
25 Trip Switch Nothing But Thieves
137		 2 #24 –
26 Pretty Pimpin' Kurt Vile
129		 2 #3 –
27 Brazil Declan McKenna
124		 2 #2 –
28 Fountain of Youth Local Natives
121		 2 #31 –
29 Soundcheck Catfish and the Bottlemen
121		 2 #4 –
30 Stressed Out Twenty One Pilots
113		 2 #13 –
31 Something to Believe In Young the Giant
112		 2 #17 –
32 Spirits The Strumbellas
109		 2 #22 –
33 High and Low Empire of the Sun
109		 4 #19 –
34 King of the World Weezer
103		 3 #20 –
35 Never Be like You Flume
100		 1 #1 1
36 Adore Amy Shark
99		 1 #2 –
37 She's Out Of Her Mind blink-182
99		 1 #2 –
38 Jungle Tash Sultana
98		 1 #3 –
39 Still Breathing Green Day
98		 2 #10 –
40 Circles Pierce The Veil
98		 1 #3 –
41 1955 Hilltop Hoods
97		 1 #4 –
42 10,000 Emerald Pools Borns
96		 2 #49 –
43 Redbone Childish Gambino
96		 1 #5 –
44 Believe (Like a Version) DMA's
95		 1 #6 –
45 Papercuts Illy
94		 1 #7 –
46 Hands Down The Greeting Committee
93		 1 #8 –
47 Say It Flume
93		 1 #8 –
48 Sure and Certain Jimmy Eat World
92		 3 #24 –
49 Ride Twenty One Pilots
92		 1 #8 –
50 Stranger Peking Duk
92		 1 #9 –
51 Circadian Rhythm (Last Dance) Silversun Pickups
91		 1 #10 –
52 Welcome to Your Life Grouplove
91		 2 #22 –
53 Starboy The Weeknd
91		 1 #10 –
54 Chameleon Pnau
90		 1 #11 –
55 I Need Never Get Old Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats
89		 1 #12 –
56 Cocoon Milky Chance
89		 1 #12 –
57 Lovesick Mura Masa
88		 1 #13 –
58 Mountain At My Gates Foals
87		 1 #14 –
59 Viceroy Violent Soho
87		 1 #14 –
60 January 26 A.B. Original
85		 1 #16 –
61 Rabbit Hole blink-182
85		 1 #15 –
62 The Opposite of Us Big Scary
84		 1 #17 –
63 On Hold The xx
83		 2 #20 –
64 All Night Chance The Rapper
83		 1 #18 –
65 Casual Party Band of Horses
83		 1 #19 –
66 Float Switchfoot
82		 1 #17 –
67 In My Eyes Best Coast
82		 1 #20 –
68 Oblivious The Strokes
81		 2 #35 –
69 Doing It To Death Kills
81		 1 #21 –
70 Kiss This The Struts
80		 1 #19 –
71 Death to the Lads The Smith Street Band
80		 1 #21 –
72 Ultralight Beam Kanye West
79		 1 #22 –
73 Catch 22 Illy
78		 1 #23 –
74 Come On Mess Me Up Cub Sport
77		 1 #24 –
75 Because I Love You Montaigne
76		 1 #25 –
76 Lazarus David Bowie
76		 1 #23 –
77 Mittens Frank Turner
76		 1 #26 –
78 Make Them Wheels Roll SAFIA
75		 1 #26 –
79 Hotting Up Iration
75		 1 #24 –
80 Drive Gretta Ray
74		 1 #27 –
81 Victim of Me Descendents
74		 1 #25 –
82 Frankie Sinatra The Avalanches
73		 1 #28 –
83 Stop Desire Tegan and Sara
73		 1 #29 –
84 Our Town Sticky Fingers
72		 1 #29 –
85 Victorious Wolfmother
71		 1 #27 –
86 Innerbloom (What So Not Remix) Rüfüs
71		 1 #30 –
87 Walking On A Dream Empire of the Sun
70		 1 #28 –
88 One Dance Drake
70		 1 #31 –
89 Notion Tash Sultana
69		 1 #32 –
90 Fire Escape Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness
68		 1 #30 –
91 Bullshit Dune Rats
68		 1 #33 –
92 Giant Peach Wolf Alice
68		 1 #34 –
93 Scott Green Dune Rats
67		 1 #34 –
94 Giant Banks & Steelz
66		 1 #36 –
95 World of Our Love Client Liaison
66		 1 #35 –
96 Don't Threaten Me With a Good Time Panic! at the Disco
65		 1 #10 –
97 Sad Songs Sticky Fingers
65		 1 #36 –
98 She Got Arrested The Interrupters
65		 1 #33 –
99 Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales Car Seat Headrest
64		 1 #38 –
100 Smoke & Retribution Flume
64		 1 #37 –

Every station’s number one of 2016

StationNumber one songCountdown
91X Bang, Bang Green Day 91X Top 91 Songs of 2016
Live 105 Heathens Twenty One Pilots Live 105 Top 25 Songs of 2016
CD101 WOW Beck CD101 Top 102.5 Songs of 2016
Triple J Never Be like You Flume featuring Kai Triple J Hottest 100 of 2016

All 2016 countdowns in this ranking

About the 2016 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 2016 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 four 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.