Beatles, Queen Among Most-Streamed Rock Artists of 2020

The Beatles, Queen and a host of other classic rock acts continue to dominate in the rock world when it comes to streaming.

Nielsen recently released their mid-year figures on audio streaming and The Beatles and Queen are numbers one and two, respectively, when it comes to the most-streamed rock artists. Rounding out the top five is Imagine Dragons, Fleetwood Mac and Metallica.

Classic rock artists also dominated the list of the most-streamed rock albums. The top five albums were the following:

1. Queen – Greatest Hits
2. Elton John – Diamonds
3. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Chronicle, Vol. 1
4. Journey – Greatest Hits
5. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours

Journey, Queen and The Eagles all made the top five most-streamed rock songs with “Don’t Stop Believin'” (No. 2), “Bohemian Rhapsody” (No. 3) and “Hotel California” (No. 5).

As for radio airplay, Panic! At The Disco’s “High Hopes” was the most-played rock song, but songs two-five were from classic rock giants. They were Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer,” The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” and Phil Collins’ “In The Air Tonight.”

GALLERY: A Look at 1984’s Best Rock Albums

• Bon Jovi – ‘Bon Jovi’

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  Bon Jovi’s self-titled debut set the stage for what was to come from some of New Jersey’s favorite sons just three years later when they’d become the biggest band in the world with ‘Slippery When Wet.’

• Van Halen – ‘1984’

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  Van Halen’s ‘1984’ may have turned off some fans with their use of synthesizers, but the album still rocks and gave fans hits like “Jump,” “I’ll Wait,” “Panama” and “Hot for Teacher.”

• Queen – ‘The Works’

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  After taking a year off after touring in support of their previous album Hot Space, Queen came back with ‘The Works,’ which featured fan favorites “Radio Ga Ga,” “I Want to Break Free” and “Hammer to Fall.”
• U2 – ‘The Unforgettable Fire’

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  U2 took a big step forward on ‘The Unforgettable Fire’ with moving radio hits like “Pride (In the Name of Love)” and “Bad.”

• The Cars – ‘Heartbeat City’

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  The Cars’ fifth studio album was loaded with hits, including “Drive” their highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100.

• Scorpions – ‘Love At First Sting’

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  Scorpions’ ‘Love at First Sting’ remains the German band’s most successful album in the United States thanks to successful singles like “Rock You Like a Hurrican”, “Still Loving You” and “Big City Nights.”
• Rush – ‘Grace Under Pressure’

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  Rush continued to evolve their sound on their tenth studio album ‘Grace Under Pressure,’ which features an increase of synthesizers.

• R.E.M. – ‘Reckoning’

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  Despite the lack of mainstream rock radio support, REM’s ‘Reckoning’ still managed to reach number 27 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart thanks in large part to the support of college radio.

• Metallica – ‘Ride The Lightning’

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  Few bands showed as much progression from debut to sophomore album quite like Metallica did on ‘Ride the Lightning.’ They foreshadowed the brilliance yet to come from their remarkable catalog.
• Bruce Springsteen – ‘Born in the U.S.A.’

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  ‘Born in the USA’ remains The Boss’ highest-selling album in the United States selling 15 million copies. With hits like “Dancing in the Dark,” the title track and “Cover Me,” it pretty understandable why the album was so successful. Plus, that album artwork, though.