Linkin Park’s “Lost” was the #1 song on rock and alternative radio in 2023 – and Bad Omens’ “Just Pretend” wasn’t far behind

It’s almost December, and that means it’s almost the end of another year. Shocking, really. Anyway, you’d not be surprised to find out that both Bad Omens and Linkin Park had huge years – though in obviously very different ways. The 20th anniversary of Meteora acted as another victory lap for Linkin Park, with several unreleased tracks and demos seeing the light of day for the first time. Meanwhile, Bad Omens continue to capitalize on sold-out tours with the success of their third full-length album, where “Just Pretend” continues to make waves almost two years after the song (and album’s) initial release. It cannot be stressed just how much the latter band continues to accelerate in popularity, with even their merch drops selling out rather quickly.

It’s safe to say both Linkin Park and Bad Omens are quite successful (and that might be the understatement of the century). In addition to both bands making the top 10 artists on Billboard’s Rock/Alternative chart, both bands also had songs in the top 15 of the Hot Rock Songs charts – with “Just Pretend” and “Lost” landing in the top 15. “Lost” was also the #1 song on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart, with over 140,000 spins. So yeah, that whole “rock is dead” thing is pretty silly.