{"id":378869,"date":"2025-08-27T23:36:17","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T23:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/378869\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T23:36:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T23:36:17","slug":"radioheads-let-down-debuts-on-the-hot-100-after-28-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/378869\/","title":{"rendered":"Radiohead’s ‘Let Down’ Debuts on the Hot 100 After 28 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tRadiohead is back on the Billboard<\/a> Hot 100 this week for the first time in 17 years, but it\u2019s not with a new release. Instead, it\u2019s with OK Computer standout \u201cLet Down\u201d \u2014 which debuts at No. 91 (on the chart dated Aug. 30, 2025), 28 years after its release.<\/p>\n

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\n\tThe song earns the band its fourth career chart entry on the Hot 100, after \u201cCreep\u201d (No. 34 peak in 1993), \u201cHigh and Dry\u201d (No. 78; 1996) and \u201cNude\u201d (No. 37; 2008). Unlike those earlier appearances, which were powered by a radio push and\/or digital sales, \u201cLet Down\u201d debuts almost entirely from streaming: the song earned 5.2 million official U.S. streams in the latest tracking week (Aug. 15-21), up 4% week-over-week, according to Luminate.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s not particularly uncommon in this era for catalog songs to land on the Hot 100 long after their release. Earlier this month, for example, Ozzy Osbourne\u2019s \u201cCrazy Train\u201d entered<\/a> for the first time, 45 years after its release, following the singer\u2019s death. In June, Coldplay\u2019s 2000 song \u201cSparks\u201d debuted<\/a> after Chris Martin\u2019s tearful live performance tied to his rumored breakup with Dakota Johnson (and it continues to chart six weeks later, ranking at No. 81 this week). And, among others, Nirvana\u2019s 1991 Nevermind deep cut \u201cSomething in the Way\u201d surged<\/a> onto the chart in 2022 after its use in The Batman.<\/p>\n

\n\tThose songs had clear catalysts \u2014 a major film\/TV sync, a viral moment, an artist\u2019s passing. Another common reason is annual resurgences around holidays. Radiohead\u2019s \u201cLet Down\u201d debut stands out, though, in that its rise has been slow and steady, and harder to pin to one event.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe song resurfaced in 2022 after its placement in The Bear\u2019s first-season finale, but that renewed attention wasn\u2019t enough to help it return to any charts. This summer, it\u2019s gradually grown on TikTok and crossed back onto Billboard\u2019s rock charts. It first charted in 1997 after it was released as an official single, peaking at No. 29 on Alternative Airplay.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe song\u2019s TikTok traction picked up late last year when users began pairing it with clips capturing various melancholic moments<\/a>. That carried into this year during the wave of speculation about a potential TikTok shutdown, when \u201cLet Down\u201d became the go-to song to soundtrack future uncertainty. More recently, though, its presence has broadened \u2014 the track now surfaces<\/a> across posts expressing all kinds of emotions and drama.<\/p>\n


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\n\tHere\u2019s a week-by-week breakdown of the song\u2019s on-demand official U.S. streams this summer, according to Luminate:<\/p>\n

\n\tMay 30-June 5: 4 million (up 18%)
June 6-12: 4.3 million (up 8%)
June 13-19: 4.2 million (down 2%)
June 20-26: 4.2 million (down 1%)
June 21-July 3: 4.5 million (up 8%)
July 4-10: 4.5 million (up\/down 0%)
July 11-17: 4.8 million (up 5%)
July 18-24: 4.9 million (up 4%)
July 25-31: 4.9 million (down 1%)
Aug. 1-7: 5 million (up 2%)
Aug. 8-14: 5 million (up\/down 0%)
Aug. 15-21: 5.2 million (up 4%)<\/p>\n

\n\tThose are solid weekly totals for a song nearly 30 years old. But what those streams tell us is that there hasn\u2019t been a sudden viral spike, but rather a gradual climb \u2014 it\u2019s been a rare slow burn compared to how most catalog songs have a sudden viral moment tied to their chart debuts or re-entries, and then fall away.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat\u2019s more, \u201cLet Down\u201d isn\u2019t even Radiohead\u2019s most-streamed track right now. \u201cCreep\u201d raked in 7.4 million streams in the latest week, but recurrent rules keep it off the Hot 100 (since it already charted in 1993, it would need to have enough chart points to rank in the top 50 in order to return). On the Billboard Global 200, \u201cCreep\u201d ranks at No. 32, while \u201cLet Down\u201d is No. 103.<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, the arrival of \u201cLet Down\u201d reinforces how deep catalogs are thriving<\/a> in the streaming era. Alongside \u201cCreep,\u201d Fleetwood Mac\u2019s 1977 classic \u201cDreams\u201d and Goo Goo Dolls\u2019 1998 hit \u201cIris\u201d both rank on this week\u2019s Streaming Songs chart, all pulling in strong streaming numbers (10.5 million and 8.3 million, respectively). It\u2019s proof that old music<\/a> can still find a fresh audience decades later, and not necessarily through a viral moment.<\/p>\n