By Hugh McIntyre Senior Contributor Steve Rapport
AC/DC returns to several Billboard charts as “Thunderstruck” and “You Shook Me All Night Long” … More reappears on different rock rankings. Brian Johnson and Angus Young, both of the group AC/DC, film the ‘Thunderstruck’ music video, Brixton Academy, London, 8/17/1990. (Photo by Steve Rapport/Getty Images)
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Some weeks are bigger than others for AC/DC on the Billboard charts, but the band never disappears completely. At times, attention is split across multiple albums, with interest divided between greatest hits collections and proper studio albums.
In other instances, as is the case at the moment, American listeners are returning to the classic songs that turned the Australian outfit into global superstars decades ago. AC/DC regularly appears on rankings focused on both albums and songs, but this frame, multiple tunes return, and the group claims several hits in the largest music market on the planet.
“Thunderstruck” Remains AC/DC鈥檚 Sturdiest Hit
“Thunderstruck” is, as is almost always the case, AC/DC鈥檚 biggest hit in America right now. The track lives on a trio of U.S.-based Billboard rankings, as well as both of the company鈥檚 global tallies. What has turned out to be AC/DC鈥檚 most enduring smash reenters the Rock Digital Song Sales chart at No. 14 this week.
Recently, “Thunderstruck” passed a decade as one of the top-selling rock tunes in the country, but despite that accomplishment, it has only ever climbed to No. 2 on the tally, coming tantalizingly close to the summit.
鈥淭hunderstruck鈥 Lives Close to No. 1
As “Thunderstruck” reenters the Rock Digital Song Sales tally, it also sits inside the upper reaches of both the Hard Rock Digital Song Sales and Hard Rock Streaming Songs rankings this frame. The cut slips from the throne on the sales roster, but only by one spot, while climbing one rung on the Hard Rock Streaming Songs chart to No. 3.
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“You Shook Me All Night Long” Returns
“You Shook Me All Night Long” joins “Thunderstruck” as a comeback in America this frame. It narrowly manages to sneak back onto the Hard Rock Streaming Songs list, coming in at No. 24 on the 25-spot ranking of the most successful hard rock-only tracks in the country on platforms like Spotify.
“Back in Black” Hits Half a Decade
AC/DC sat in twenty-fourth place on the Hard Rock Streaming Songs chart just last frame, and the band occupies the same slot this time around, but with a different tune. Days ago, “Back in Black” landed in second-to-last place, but as that track celebrates half a decade 鈥 or exactly 260 frames 鈥 on the streaming-only roster, it advances to No. 22. “You Shook Me All Night Long” only needs a few more months to reach that milestone.
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