Rock is dead, apparently.
Yeah… somebody might want to tell the UK listening public, because the latest Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart is basically one enormous riff-powered greatest-hits playlist — and some of these songs simply refuse to bloody leave. 😂🔥
The latest chart for 7–13 August 2026 has landed, and sitting proudly at the top once again are Goo Goo Dolls with the seemingly immortal “Iris”.
And when we say immortal, we mean it.
The song has now spent an absolutely ridiculous 998 weeks on the Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart.
998 WEEKS!
At this point, Iris isn’t merely charting.
It has moved in, changed the Wi-Fi password and started receiving post there. 😂
And the rest of the Top 10?
It’s basically a battle between some of the biggest rock songs ever recorded.
🏆 THE OFFICIAL ROCK & METAL SINGLES TOP 10
🥇 1. Goo Goo Dolls – Iris
Last week: 1
🥈 2. AC/DC – Thunderstruck
Last week: 2
🥉 3. Guns N’ Roses – Sweet Child O’ Mine
Last week: 3
🔥 4. Evanescence – Bring Me To Life
Last week: 5 ⬆️
🤘 5. Bon Jovi – Livin’ On A Prayer
Last week: 7 ⬆️
🌶️ 6. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Can’t Stop
Last week: 4 ⬇️
⚡ 7. Linkin Park – Numb
Last week: 6 ⬇️
👑 8. Queen – Don’t Stop Me Now
Last week: 8
😈 9. Disturbed – The Sound Of Silence
Last week: 10 ⬆️
🤘 10. Metallica – Enter Sandman
Last week: 9 ⬇️
Seriously.
Look at that Top 10.
It’s less a singles chart and more the playlist you’d get if somebody handed control of the pub jukebox to a bloke wearing a faded Download Festival T-shirt after four pints. 🍺😂
And we absolutely love it.
👁️ Iris Simply Refuses To Leave
Released back in 1998, Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” has become one of those songs that appears to transcend generations.
Originally written for the soundtrack to City of Angels, the track became one of the defining alternative-rock ballads of the late ’90s.
But nearly three decades later, people are still streaming it.
Still discovering it.
Still screaming:
“AND I DON’T WANT THE WORLD TO SEE MEEEE!”
at completely inappropriate volumes.
Bedroom?
Yep.
Car?
Obviously.
Pub at midnight?
Absolutely.
Greggs queue?
Probably.
Its continued dominance demonstrates something particularly interesting about the modern singles charts.
Songs don’t necessarily disappear anymore.
Streaming has completely changed the lifespan of music.
A track released decades ago can suddenly explode again because of TikTok, television, films, playlists, memes or simply a new generation discovering their parents’ record collection.
And Iris might be one of the ultimate examples.
⚡ AC/DC ARE STILL BRINGING THE THUNDER
Sitting at Number Two are the mighty AC/DC with “Thunderstruck”.
Of course they are.
Few songs on planet Earth have an opening guitar part capable of making approximately 73% of the population immediately start pretending they’re Angus Young.
You hear those opening notes and suddenly you’re duck-walking across the kitchen.
The dog is confused.
The neighbours are concerned.
But you’re having a brilliant time.
🤘⚡
Decades after its original release, Thunderstruck remains one of rock’s ultimate adrenaline injections.
Sports stadium?
Thunderstruck.
Boxing entrance?
Thunderstruck.
Festival playlist?
Thunderstruck.
Trying to convince yourself you’re going to clean the garage?
THUNDERSTRUCK.
🌹 Guns N’ Roses Keep Hold Of Number Three
At Number Three we’ve got another track seemingly constructed from pure rock immortality.
Guns N’ Roses – “Sweet Child O’ Mine”.
That opening Slash riff remains one of the most instantly recognisable guitar parts ever recorded.
You could play about three notes of it in a pub and half the room would know exactly what’s coming.
Released on the band’s legendary Appetite for Destruction album, Sweet Child O’ Mine has long since escaped the confines of the ’80s rock scene and become part of mainstream musical culture.
Weddings.
Radio.
Films.
Festivals.
Rock clubs.
Dad’s Bluetooth speaker at the barbecue.
It’s everywhere.
And judging by the latest chart, it isn’t disappearing anytime soon.
🖤 WAKE ME UP! Evanescence Climb To Number Four
Here’s one that’ll make every millennial suddenly feel about 400 years old.
Evanescence – “Bring Me To Life” has climbed from Number Five to Number Four.
Yes.
The song released in 2003 is still smashing its way around the UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart.
Amy Lee’s unmistakable vocals combined with those enormous guitars turned Bring Me To Life into one of the defining alternative-metal tracks of the early 2000s.
And somehow it still sounds gigantic.
The opening piano arrives…
You already know what’s coming.
Then everything explodes.
WAKE ME UP!
Somewhere, somebody has just pulled out a studded belt and booted up Windows XP.
😂🔥
🙏 Bon Jovi Are Halfway There… To Number One
One of the week’s biggest movers inside the Top 10 comes from Bon Jovi.
“Livin’ On A Prayer” climbs from Number Seven to Number Five.
And really, is anyone surprised?
That chorus could resurrect a completely dead pub.
Put Livin’ On A Prayer on at 11:45pm and suddenly everyone becomes Jon Bon Jovi.
People who haven’t spoken all evening are embracing.
Someone is standing on a chair.
A pint has mysteriously gone airborne.
And 40 complete strangers are screaming:
“WOAAAAAH, WE’RE HALFWAY THERE!”
Rock ‘n’ roll community spirit, mun. 😂🍺
🌶️ Red Hot Chili Peppers Slip To Six
Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Can’t Stop” drops two positions this week, moving from Number Four to Number Six.
But let’s be fair.
Remaining inside the Top 10 more than two decades after release isn’t exactly struggling.
The track remains one of the Chili Peppers’ most recognisable songs, powered by John Frusciante’s instantly identifiable guitar work and Flea doing what Flea does best — attacking the bass like it owes him money.
🔥 LINKIN PARK ARE ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE
Linkin Park’s “Numb” sits at Number Seven this week, slipping one position from Number Six.
But that doesn’t even begin to tell the full story.
Because Linkin Park aren’t merely represented in the chart.
They’re bloody everywhere.
Tracks including:
Numb
Faint
Somewhere I Belong
What I’ve Done
The Emptiness Machine
One Step Closer
Crawling
and
Bleed It Out
are all represented across the wider Top 40.
That’s an incredible demonstration of just how enormous Linkin Park’s legacy remains.
The band’s music continues to connect with listeners who were there during the Hybrid Theory and Meteora era while simultaneously reaching younger fans discovering those records for the first time.
Few bands have successfully crossed generations quite like Linkin Park.
And those chart positions prove it.
👑 DON’T STOP QUEEN NOW
At Number Eight are Queen with the unstoppable “Don’t Stop Me Now”.
There are certain songs that have effectively become part of British DNA.
This is one of them.
The moment Freddie Mercury starts singing, somebody somewhere is preparing to absolutely murder the high notes.
And they’re going to enjoy every second of it.
From films and adverts to weddings, parties, pubs and sporting events, Don’t Stop Me Now has become far bigger than merely an album track.
It’s basically a national institution.
😈 Disturbed Climb With The Sound Of Silence
Disturbed’s “The Sound Of Silence” moves from Number Ten to Number Nine.
Their dramatic reworking of the Simon & Garfunkel classic became one of the band’s biggest crossover successes, introducing Disturbed to audiences who might never previously have wandered anywhere near heavy metal.
David Draiman’s vocal performance remains the centrepiece.
Dark.
Huge.
Emotional.
And apparently still pulling in enough listeners to comfortably sit alongside Queen, Metallica, AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses.
Not bad company, eh?
🤘 ENTER SANDMAN CLOSES THE TOP TEN
Rounding everything out are a little band you might have heard of called Metallica.
“Enter Sandman” slips from Number Nine to Number Ten.
But honestly?
Metallica being inside a rock and metal singles chart decades after the release of The Black Album feels about as surprising as rain appearing at a British festival.
It’s simply part of life.
😂🌧️
That riff remains monstrous.
Those opening notes start and thousands of invisible festival cups immediately launch into the air.
🔥 Further Down The Chart…
The nostalgia train isn’t stopping inside the Top 10 either.
Green Day’s “Basket Case” jumps from Number 19 to Number 16, proving once again that Dookie-era Green Day continues to connect with listeners more than three decades later.
Meanwhile, Julia Wolf’s “In My Room” makes an impressive climb of five places to Number 18.
And then there’s one of the biggest rock songs ever recorded.
Led Zeppelin – “Stairway To Heaven”.
The legendary track has re-entered the chart at Number 34.
Yes.
Stairway.
Back in the charts.
Somewhere, a guitar shop employee has just felt a disturbance in the Force.
😂🎸
🤔 What Does This Chart Actually Tell Us?
Look through the Top 10 and something becomes immediately obvious.
The majority of these songs aren’t remotely new.
Many are decades old.
And yet they’re competing for streams alongside modern releases.
That’s fascinating.
Because the streaming era has completely rewritten what constitutes a “current” song.
Once upon a time, singles charts were largely driven by physical purchases.
You bought the single.
It charted.
Eventually sales slowed.
The song disappeared.
Streaming doesn’t work like that.
If millions of people keep pressing play, the song remains relevant.
Which means classic rock and metal tracks can enjoy incredibly long chart lives.
And perhaps more importantly, younger generations can discover them without having lived through their original release.
Someone discovering Metallica today doesn’t need to remember 1991.
Someone finding Evanescence doesn’t need memories of Kerrang! TV.
Someone discovering Guns N’ Roses doesn’t need to have experienced the Sunset Strip.
The music is simply sitting there waiting.
One click away.
🎸 ROCK IS DEAD? AYE, ALRIGHT THEN
Every few months somebody declares that guitar music is finished.
Rock is dead.
Metal is dying.
Young people don’t listen to bands.
Nobody cares about guitars anymore.
Blah blah blah.
Meanwhile…
Goo Goo Dolls.
AC/DC.
Guns N’ Roses.
Evanescence.
Bon Jovi.
Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Linkin Park.
Queen.
Disturbed.
Metallica.
All sitting inside the UK’s Rock & Metal Singles Top 10.
Some of those tracks were released before a sizeable percentage of their current listeners were even born.
That’s not a dying genre.
That’s a musical catalogue continuing to regenerate its audience.
And that’s bloody brilliant.
🤘 THE RIFF REPORT VERDICT
The latest Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart feels like someone plugged Spotify into a jukebox at Download Festival and simply shouted:
“GO ON THEN, PLAY THE BANGERS!”
😂🔥
There’s nostalgia everywhere, but there’s also something genuinely encouraging underneath it.
Rock fans aren’t abandoning the classics.
New listeners are discovering them.
Old listeners are returning to them.
And songs that once dominated radio and MTV are finding entirely new lives in the streaming generation.
With Goo Goo Dolls’ Iris sitting on an astonishing 998 weeks, we’re now dangerously close to another ridiculous milestone.
Will it reach 1,000 weeks?
At this rate, we’d probably bet the price of a festival pint on it.
And those things aren’t cheap.
🍺💸
Until then, turn it up.
Play the classics.
Support the new bands.
And if somebody tells you rock is dead…
just show them the bloody chart.
🤘🔥🏴
Proudly Welsh. Proudly Loud.
🎸 The Riff Report
Louder. Weirder. Always Backstage.
