Disturbed’s ‘Sound of Silence’ Hits Milestone with 400 Weeks on Billboard Alternative Chart
Disturbed has made music history by having their cover of “The Sound of Silence” reach its 400th week on Billboard’s Alternative Digital Song Sales chart – something no other song has managed to do.
In an impressive jump this January, their cover moved from seventh to third place on Rock Digital Song Sales. It stayed number one in Hard Rock Digital Song Sales, while landing fifth place in Alternative Digital Song Sales.
The next longest-running song, The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside,” only lasted 43 weeks. Adding up the next nine most successful alternative singles only reaches 196 weeks – not even half of Disturbed’s record.
Paul Simon gave his blessing to the band’s version. He contacted vocalist David Draiman after seeing their performance on Conan. Draiman’s responded, “Mr. Simon, I am honored beyond words. We only hoped to pay homage and honor to the brilliance of one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Your compliment means the world to me/us and we are eternally grateful,” he posted on Facebook.
Digital sales of the song went over 1.5 million, while streaming reached 54 million by fall 2017. The music video got more than a billion views on YouTube, and their Conan show performance has more than 154 million views.
“The Sound of Silence” didn’t top the charts until three months after its September release. It peaked at No. 42 on the Hot 100, while dominating both Hard Rock Digital Songs and Mainstream Rock charts.
Before this huge success, Disturbed’s previous best-performing song, “Down with the Sickness,” only stayed on the Alternative Digital Song Sales chart for 11 weeks.
