Depeche Mode sets a record on Billboard’s Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with “Ghosts Again,” which jumps 13-9 on the April 8-dated survey.
The song earned 2.4 million audience impressions, a 10% boost, in the March 24-30 tracking week, according to Luminate.
With its rise, “Ghosts” is Depeche Mode’s first top 10 on Rock & Alternative Airplay, which began in 2009 and encompasses play on alternative, adult alternative and mainstream rock radio stations.
The band was one of the original entrants on the chart, appearing at No. 38 on the inaugural, June 20, 2009-dated list with “Wrong.”
With nearly 14 years between its first chart appearance and first top 10 (13 years, nine months and two weeks), Depeche Mode sets a new mark for the longest wait between an act’s first entry and first top 10 on Rock & Alternative Airplay.
The previous mark was set late last year by Paramore, which went 13 years, three months and three weeks between its first appearance (“Ignorance,” July 25, 2009) and first top 10 (“This Is Why,” Nov. 19, 2022).
In February, “Ghosts” became Depeche Mode’s first Rock & Alternative Airplay appearance in almost a decade, among three total visits. After “Wrong” peaked at No. 38 in 2009, the act added “Soothe My Soul” (No. 44, 2013).
Depeche Mode’s history on the Billboard charts dates to 1981. The group first hit the all-genre multimetric Billboard Hot 100 chart with its classic “People Are People,” which rose to No. 13 in 1985.
Concurrently, “Ghosts” lifts 3-2 on Adult Alternative Airplay, a new high. Should it reach No. 1, it would become the band’s first ruler on the survey, which began in 1996; the group has hit No. 6 twice, with “Dream On” (2001) and “Precious” (2005).
“Ghosts” also reaches a new high on Alternative Airplay (13-11). It’s the band’s best rank there since “It’s No Good” hit No. 4 in 1997. The act first appeared on the chart in 1989, soon after the list launched.
“Ghosts” is the lead single from Memento Mori, Depeche Mode’s 15th studio album. The set premieres at No. 2 on the April 8-dated Top Rock Albums chart with 32,000 equivalent album units earned. It also starts at No. 3 on both Top Rock & Alternative Albums and Top Alternative Albums and No. 14 on the all-genre Billboard 200.
