Music Charts Archive

Weekly national charts, as the trade papers printed them

Smells Like Teen Spirit

93 chart weeks across 5 charts, peaking at No. 1
Chart Peak Weeks Bulleted Run
Billboard Modern Rock / Alternative 1 20 6 9/21/91 – 2/1/92
R&R AOR Tracks 7 18 11 10/18/91 – 2/28/92
Billboard Mainstream Rock 7 24 10 11/2/91 – 4/11/92
Billboard Hot 100 6 20 10 12/7/91 – 4/18/92
R&R CHR / Top 40 9 11 7 12/13/91 – 3/6/92

Billboard Modern Rock / Alternative

20 weeks, 9/21/91 to 2/1/92. Each column is a published week — click one for that chart.

R&R AOR Tracks

18 weeks, 10/18/91 to 2/28/92. Each column is a published week — click one for that chart.

Billboard Mainstream Rock

24 weeks, 11/2/91 to 4/11/92. Each column is a published week — click one for that chart.

Billboard Hot 100

20 weeks, 12/7/91 to 4/18/92. Each column is a published week — click one for that chart.

R&R CHR / Top 40

11 weeks, 12/13/91 to 3/6/92. Each column is a published week — click one for that chart.

Tallest is No. 1, and the height is scaled by how many places the chart ran to that week, so No. 30 on a top-30 is the floor and No. 30 on a top-50 is the middle. A green column is a bulleted week — on the airplay charts, airplay gained; on the Hot 100, among the week’s greatest airplay and sales gains — which is not the same as a rise, so a green column can sit lower than the one before it. Weeks at the peak carry their position in red. A run longer than the page scrolls sideways; no week is left out of the drawing.