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Rock Rips Top 50 of 2025

Pos Song Artist Peak Notes
1 German bandUniversal Xandria 1 4 wks at #1
2 Norwegian bandDutch artistWhat Else is There? Mortemia & Zora Cock 1 3 wks at #1
3 Austrian bandCarousel Liliac 1 3 wks at #1
4 UK bandUS bandsThe Retaliators (21 Bullets) The Retaliators, Motley Crue, Asking Alexandria, Ice Nine Kills & From Ashes To New 1 3 wks at #1
5 German bandDarkness Always Wins Halestorm 1 4 wks at #1
6 US BandNo Time to Live Forever Xandria 1 2 wks at #1
7 USA Symptom of Being Human Shinedown 1 4 wks at #1
8 US bandDutch bandThe Reckoning Within Temptation & Amy Lee 1 1 wk at #1
9 German artistRunning Up That Hill Patty Gurdy 1 1 wk at #1
10 Norwegian bandTwist in my Sobriety Sirenia 1 1 week at #1
11 Argentinian artistGerman bandMy Curse Is My Redemption (Summer 80's Remix) Xandria & Canttias 1 1 wk at #1
12 Dutch artistRussian bandAltay Otyken & Ummet Ozcan 1 1 wk at #1
13 US BandLegends Never Die Anaria 1 2 wks at #1
14 Swedish bandDanish artistThe Eagle Flies Alone Arch Enemy 1 1 wk at #1
15 Spanish BandAPT. Broken Peach 1 1 wk at #1
16 Russian BandLegend Otyken 2 2 wks at #2
17 Canadian artistSix Feet Deep Royale Lynn 1 2 wks at #1
18 Norwegian BandDeadlight Sirenia 1 1 wk at #1
19 Romanian BandIron The Iron Cross 1 1 wks at #1
20 Mexican BandAutomatic Sun The Warning 1 1 wk at #1
21 Austrian bandClocks Visions of Atlantis 2 2 wks at #2
22 Finnish BandPerfume of the Timeless Nightwish 1 2 wks at #1
23 Finnish artistGerman artistI Am With You Patty Gurdy & Marko Hietala 1 1 wks at #1
24 Dutch bandDance With the Devil Delain 1 1 wk at #1
25 US BandAll I Haven't Said 38 Special 1 1 wk at #1
26 US bandUK bandOrdinary Man Ozzy Ozbourne, Elton John, Slash, Duff McKagan, Chad Smith 1 1 wk at #1
27 US bandAfterlife Evanescence 1 2 wks at #1
28 German bandFree Me Beyond the Black 1 1 wk at #1
29 German bandCall My Name Beyond the Black 1 1 wk at #1
30 German bandI Remember Dying Beyond the Black 1 1 wk at #1
31 Dutch artistUS artistOde to the West Wind Charlotte Wessels & Alissa White-Gluz 3 2 wks at #3
32 Brazilian BandEnrage Semblant 1 1 wk at #1
33 US bandHeaven and Hell Liliac 3 2 wks at #3
34 Norwegian bandWintry Heart Sirenia 3 2 wks at #3
35 Italian artistMonsters Visions of Atlantis 2 2 wks at #2
36 US bandMadness Liliac 1 3 wks at #1
37 Italian BandCrystalline Alterium 2 2 wks at #2
38 US artistsThe Gates of Time Halsey & Amy Lee 3 2 wks at #3
39 Mexican BandBurnout The Warning 2 2 wks at #2
40 International BandLegends Never Die The Dark Side of the Moon 4 2 wks at #4
41 Spanish BandGet Ready/You Really Got Me Broken Peach 3 2 wks at #3
42 Austrian BandHellfire Visions of Atlantis 5 2 wks at #5
43 Russian BandStorm Otyken 6 2 wks at #6
44 US BandYeah Right Evanescence 5 2 wks at #5
45 Canadian BandsThe Last Ember Elsewhere & Elvan 3 2 wks at #3
46 US BandSomber Cry Liliac 4 2 wks at #4
47 Dutch BandThe Reaping Delain 4 2 wks at #4
48 US BandThe Dam Daughtry 5 2 wks at #5
49 Italian BandCrossroads Inn Alterium 7 2 wks at #7
50 Brazilian BandPurified Semblant 7 2 wks at #7

2025 in Review

Our Number 1 of the year for 2025 comes from the same band that earned the #1 from 2024. Xandria scored three more #1s is 2025, and placed two in the top 10 of our year-end chart. Like last year, when they landed at #1 and 2 for the year, repeating the #1 of the year in two consecutive years has never been done! A note about how we calculated this year's chart: As you know, we switched over to a top 40 format in July. This changes the scoring of our songs, which was always calucated but straight numbers - a week at #20 counts as 1 point. A week at #1 counts as 20 points. We considered staying the same, assigning decimal points to number 21 through 40, but that created additional complications. So we decided to re-assign the points from 40 for #1 to 1 for #40. Make sense? Now the issue we were left with was that songs from the second half of the year had enormous points compared to the previous half of the year. Couldn't have that - so we re-calculated all songs without any rankings from 21 to 40, for this year only! Next year, we go by all the new points.

A new trend that appeared just as we transitioned to the top 40 format was AI-created or augmented music. Nothing on the top 50 but missing it by only 8 was Aikon Show's "Don't Let it Begin" that reached #7, with additional entries from Unleash the Archers that reached #10, David Usher reached #12, and four more got as high as #23. No matter how you feel about it, AI is changing the way people make music, even existing acts!

Once again our top 50 of the year features artists from 17 countries: 20 from the US, 8 from Germany, 6 from the Netherlands, 4 each from Canada and Norway, 3 each from the UK, Austria and Russia. Countries with two represented include Italy, Spain, Mexico, Finland and Brazil; and 1 apiece from Argentina, Sweden, Romania, and International.

This year again, fourteen bands have more than 1 hit on our chart, including 4 from Liliac (#3, 33, 36 & 46); 3 each from Xandria (#1, 6, 11), Sirenia (#10, 18, 34), Otyken (#12, 16 & 43), Visions of Atlantis (#21, 35 & 42), and Beyond the Black (#28, 29 & 30). Semblant (#32 & 50), Alterium (#37 & 49), and The Warning (#20 & 39) Evanescence (#27 & #44), Amy Lee (#8 & 38), Patty Gurdy (#9 & 23), Broken Peach (#15 & 41), and Delain (#24 & 47) all have two hits apiece in the final 50. How interesting is it that Beyond the Black's 3 entries all land sequentially?

XandriaMortemiaLiliac
Motley CrueHalestormShinedown

Chart facts: 13 artists on this year's top 50 were also on last year's chart: The Dark Side of the Moon, Charlotte Wessels, Daughtry, The Warning, Xandria, Visions of Atlantis, Sirenia, Anaria, Patty Gurdy, Mortemia, Beyond the Black, Liliac, and Alterium/b>.

Other minutiae:
  • 43 songs feature one or more women.
  • There were 30 #1s and 5 #2s.
  • There are 10 multi-act entries: They're at #2, 4, 8, 11, 12, 23, 26, 31, 38 and 45.
  • The lowest peaking song on the chart is "Purified" by Semblant, which reached #7.
  • 13 artists are here with their first charted hit, with 2 in the top 10 (#2 & 4).
  • 10 songs are remakes.
  • 4 feature a foreign language.
  • Two song debuted in the top 10: "A Symptom of Being Human" (#10), and "Afterlife" (#10).
  • Three songs are from soundtracks.
  • Three songs are from indigenous artists.
  • Three songs have numbers in the band name or the song title.


In addition, we had a large number of legacy acts return or make their first appearances on Rock Rips this year:
  • Mötley Crüe
  • 38 Special
  • Ozzy Osbourne
  • Elton John
  • Slash
  • Duff McKagan
  • Chad Smith
  • Bryan Adams
  • Wang Chung
  • Valerie Day from Nu Shooz
  • Billy Idol
  • Men Without Hats
  • Rob Trujillo
  • Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
  • Bachman-Turner Overdrive
  • Honeymoon Suite
  • Styx


An exciting footnote is that the song "Everybody Stay Safe Tonight" by Wang Chung with Valerie Day also featured cameos from The Escape Club, The Vapors, Nelson, and even MTV Veejay Downtown Julie Brown!