Year-end consensus · Indie & Adult Alternative · twelve countdowns combined

The best indie rock songs of 2024

Q: What was the top indie rock song of 2024?

Combining 12 year-end radio countdowns, the top indie rock song of 2024 is "Cardinal" by Kacey Musgraves, which appeared on 12 of the lists.

Twelve radio stations and charts published year-end countdowns for 2024: 107.1 The Peak, 90.9 The Bridge, Exit 97.7, Indie 102.3, KXT, Lightning 100, The Current, WERS 88.9, WFUV, WNXP 91.ONE, WTMD and WXPN. Combining every list, the top indie rock song of 2024 is “Cardinal” by Kacey Musgraves, which appeared on twelve of the twelve countdowns. Eleven different songs were voted number one somewhere: “Too Sweet” by Hozier (2 stations), “HOT TO GO!” by Chappell Roan, “Don't Forget Me” by Maggie Rogers, “Good Luck, Babe” by Chappell Roan and “Yes Man” by Remy Reilly and others. Kacey Musgraves was the year’s most-charted artist, with four different songs placing 20 times across the countdowns.

12countdowns

519songs charted

11different #1s

Top 100 songs of 2024

All 519 songs →

Ranked by combined points across every 2024 year-end countdown in this format. How it works.

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s
1	Cardinal Kacey Musgraves	1,069	12	#2	–
2	Too Sweet Hozier	1,051	11	#1	3
3	Don't Forget Me Maggie Rogers	944	11	#1	2
4	That's How I'm Feeling Jack White	802	10	#2	–
5	Burial Ground The Decemberists	792	11	#6	–
6	Right Back to It Waxahatchee	787	11	#1	2
7	Peaceful Place Leon Bridges	767	11	#3	–
8	Broken Man St. Vincent	729	12	#4	–
9	Good Together Lake Street Dive	729	9	#3	–
10	All In Good Time Iron and Wine	723	9	#9	–
11	Sexy To Someone Clairo	722	10	#2	–
12	Starburster Fontaines D.C.	719	9	#1	1
13	She's Leaving You M J Lenderman	693	9	#1	1
14	The Feminine Urge Last Dinner Party	683	10	#15	–
15	Supersad Suki Waterhouse	681	10	#8	–
16	Capricorn Vampire Weekend	620	10	#11	–
17	Favorite Fontaines D.C.	603	9	#3	–
18	Love Of A Girl Avett Brothers	597	11	#18	–
19	Worthy Mavis Staples	582	11	#19	–
20	A Fragile Thing The Cure	566	9	#11	–
21	Gild The Lily Billy Strings	563	8	#5	–
22	Floating Parade Michael Kiwanuka	542	10	#5	–
23	Good Luck Babe! Chappell Roan	536	6	#1	2
24	Running Norah Jones	520	9	#21	–
25	Nobody's Soldier Hozier	508	9	#3	–
26	Bored Waxahatchee	506	11	#2	–
27	Speyside Bon Iver	482	8	#9	–
28	Rainbow Cage The Elephant	481	7	#5	–
29	Call Me (Whatever You Like) Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats	474	9	#2	–
30	A Love International Khruangbin	467	8	#13	–
31	Lunch Billie Eilish	461	6	#8	–
32	Happiness The Heavy Heavy	460	8	#16	–
33	Death Valley High Orville Peck	452	9	#24	–
34	Beaches Beabadoobee	431	9	#17	–
35	Heartless Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats	429	7	#9	–
36	Neon Pill Cage The Elephant	419	7	#14	–
37	Step Into Your Power Ray LaMontagne	412	9	#24	–
38	Beautiful People (Stay High) The Black Keys	408	7	#18	–
39	Prove It to You Brittany Howard	402	8	#12	–
40	Classical Vampire Weekend	398	7	#22	–
41	Giving Up Michigander	391	7	#15	–
42	Wreckage Pearl Jam	389	9	#11	–
43	Tiny Moves Bleachers	388	6	#22	–
44	Texas Hold'Em Beyoncé	374	5	#9	–
45	Ice Cream (Pay Phone) Black Pumas	370	6	#25	–
46	Cinderella Remi Wolf	360	5	#10	–
47	Take A Bite Beabadoobee	356	8	#26	–
48	Driver Soccer Mommy	354	8	#27	–
49	She Cleans Up Father John Misty	347	6	#9	–
50	Dance With A Stranger Lake Street Dive	324	6	#16	–
51	$10 Cowboy Charley Crockett	322	6	#22	–
52	In The Living Room Maggie Rogers	319	7	#10	–
53	Big Time Nothing St. Vincent	318	8	#35	–
54	Bright Lights The Killers	314	5	#17	–
55	Oh No! The Decemberists	311	7	#23	–
56	Paranoid Hippo Campus	307	6	#25	–
57	Mustang Kings of Leon	306	5	#5	–
58	Docket Blondshell	301	6	#36	–
59	We Were Never Alive Brigitte Calls Me Baby	294	6	#30	–
60	Highway Queen Mt. Joy	294	6	#34	–
61	Run Your Mouth The Marias	293	6	#18	–
62	Deeper Well Kacey Musgraves	292	4	#8	–
63	Vertigo Beach Bunny	289	5	#11	–
64	BIRDS OF A FEATHER Billie Eilish	288	3	#4	–
65	Alone The Cure	284	5	#17	–
66	Lithonia Childish Gambino	279	4	#6	–
67	Mood Ring DEHD	278	6	#13	–
68	American Dreaming Sierra Ferrell	277	5	#20	–
69	Wanting and Waiting Black Crowes	276	3	#3	–
70	Live For You Thee Sacred Souls	267	6	#24	–
71	Labour Paris Paloma	265	5	#3	–
72	Dark Matter Pearl Jam	265	7	#23	–
73	I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of us All Father John Misty	263	4	#16	–
74	Sunshine Getaway JD McPherson	263	6	#20	–
75	The Door Teddy Swims	261	3	#8	–
76	Keep Going Guster	253	5	#17	–
77	Old Tape Lucius	251	7	#45	–
78	Save It For Later Eddie Vedder	250	3	#8	–
79	Girl From The Record Shop Frank Turner	240	5	#27	–
80	Up All Night James Bay	236	3	#8	–
81	Annihilation Wilco	234	6	#43	–
82	Where The Road Goes Old 97's	232	4	#5	–
83	Little Chaos Orla Gartland	229	6	#29	–
84	Northern Attitude Noah Kahan	213	4	#18	–
85	Someday, Someday Pete Yorn	213	5	#47	–
86	From The Start Laufey	208	3	#12	–
87	feelslikeimfallinginlove Coldplay	201	3	#20	–
88	Creatures In Heaven Glass Animals	198	5	#43	–
89	The Architect Kacey Musgraves	197	3	#6	–
90	Mint Tea Johnny Blue Skies	196	5	#22	–
91	Bells and Whistles Bright Eyes	196	4	#32	–
92	Dog Days DEHD	196	4	#19	–
93	Pon Pon Khruangbin	192	3	#10	–
94	What About the Children Gary Clark Jr.	189	4	#32	–
95	Wondering Why The Red Clay Strays	188	4	#13	–
96	Solitary Road Charley Crockett	184	4	#24	–
97	Superstar Rainbow Kitten Surprise	181	5	#44	–
98	Evolve Phish	180	5	#26	–
99	All in My Head The Linda Lindas	180	3	#24	–
100	Blame Brett The Beaches	179	2	#7	–

Every station’s number one of 2024

Station	Number one song	Countdown
107.1 The Peak	Too Sweet Hozier	WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2024
90.9 The Bridge	HOT TO GO! Chappell Roan	90.9 The Bridge Top 90 Songs of 2024
Exit 97.7	Don't Forget Me Maggie Rogers	WEXT Top 106 of 2024
Indie 102.3	Good Luck, Babe Chappell Roan	Indie 102.3 Top 102.3 Songs of 2024
KXT	Yes Man Remy Reilly	KXT Top 91 Songs of 2024
Lightning 100	Scared to Start Michael Marcagi	Lightning 100 Top 200 Songs of 2024
The Current	I'd Miss The Birds Joy Oladokun	The Current Top 89 Songs of 2024
WERS 88.9	Too Sweet Hozier	WERS Top 88 Songs of 2024
WFUV	She's Leaving You MJ Lenderman	WFUV Top 90 Songs of 2024
WNXP 91.ONE	Good Things BEAN.	WNXP 91 Most Played Songs of 2024
WTMD	Like I Say Nilufer Yanya	WTMD Top 89 Songs of 2024
WXPN	Together Snacktime	WXPN Top 100 Most Played Songs of 2024

All 2024 countdowns in this ranking

About the 2024 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 2024 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 twelve qualifying countdowns. Each radio format is ranked separately, so classic rock and hard rock countdowns never shift the indie & aaa results; use the tabs above to switch formats. Read the full methodology.