As it returns to the Billboard Hot 100, “Sweet Home Alabama” ties as Lynyrd Skynyrd’s second-longest-charting hit, alongside “What’s Your Name.” CIRCA 1975: Lynyrd Skynyrd (L-R Allen Collins, Leon Wilkeson, Ronnie Van Zandt, Artimus Pyle, Gary Rossington, and Billy Powell) Pose for a portrait circa 1975. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
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More than half a century after it was released, “Sweet Home Alabama” is a major hit again in America. The Lynyrd Skynyrd smash – perhaps the band’s most recognizable song – returns to multiple Billboard charts thanks to the recent July Fourth holiday.
It is one of several older compositions that reappear after sales and streams of patriotic and America-themed music grew exponentially during the most recent tracking period. This was not an average Independence Day, as the nation celebrated its milestone two-hundred-and-fiftieth birthday.
“Sweet Home Alabama” ranks among this week’s biggest gainers, returning to the most important songs tally in the country, earning Lynyrd Skynyrd a first No. 1 on another list and lifting the band to new career peaks.
“Sweet Home Alabama” Returns to the Billboard Hot 100
“Sweet Home Alabama” reenters the Billboard Hot 100, coming in at No. 31 as it becomes a top 40 hit once again. The Billboard Hot 100 is the most important songs roster in the U.S., as it looks at total consumption, not only sales or streams or radio airplay, but all three at once.
Lynyrd Skynyrd Ties One of Its Own Biggest Hits
As of this frame, “Sweet Home Alabama,” which debuted on the tally in the summer of 1974, has racked up 18 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. It ties “What’s Your Name” as Lynyrd Skynyrd’s second-longest-charting hit. “Free Bird” remains the group’s champion when it comes to longevity, with 20 turns on the roster.
Lynyrd Skynyrd has scored half a dozen Billboard Hot 100 hits, all of which first appeared on the ranking during the mid-to-late 1970s. “Saturday Night Special,” “You Got That Right” and “Double Trouble” failed to reach double-digit stays on the tally, lasting nine, four and three weeks, respectively.
Several Patriotic Hits Return Together
“Sweet Home Alabama” scores the third-highest reentry on the Billboard Hot 100 this week. Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” leads the returning favorites at No. 11, establishing a new career high for both the song and the late country musician. Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the U.S.A.” follows at No. 25.
Zac Brown Band’s “Chicken Fried,” Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.,” John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” and Kenny Chesney’s “American Kids” also reenter within the top 50 on the 100-space roster.
Lynyrd Skynyrd Scores Its First Rock Streaming No. 1
In addition to the Billboard Hot 100, “Sweet Home Alabama” also returns to the Rock Streaming Songs chart, The southern smash becomes a sudden No. 1, and it earns Lynyrd Skynyrd its first leader on the ranking. The classic reaches the summit after spending 242 weeks somewhere on the streaming-only list.
“Sweet Home Alabama” also debuts at No. 23 on the all-genre Streaming Songs chart. The launch gives Lynyrd Skynyrd its first career placement on that ranking, which did not exist during the group’s commercial heyday. Several other July Fourth favorites by legacy acts – most of which also find their way to the Billboard Hot 100 as well – similarly start on the list this frame.
“Sweet Home Alabama” Reaches a New Global Peak
The single performed so well in America that it reenters the Billboard Global 200 at No. 118. That placement marks a new high for both “Sweet Home Alabama” and Lynyrd Skynyrd. The worldwide tally ranks the most-consumed songs around the planet using sales and streaming activity.
“Sweet Home Alabama” has appeared on the chart – one of two that look at what songs the world is listening to – only twice. The band debuted the decades-old single following the July Fourth holiday last year.
All Time Greatest Hits Soars to New Chart Highs
Guitarist Rickey Medlocke and singer Johnny Van Zant of American southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd perform on stage at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, 7th December 1999. (Photo by Scott Harrison/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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The success of “Sweet Home Alabama” powers Lynyrd Skynyrd’s All Time Greatest Hits compilation on four albums rankings in America. The collection reenters the Top Streaming Albums chart at No. 34, establishing a new peak for the title and the band at the same time.
All Time Greatest Hits also returns to the top 10 on both of Billboard’s rock albums charts. The set jumps from No. 17 to No. 9 on the Top Rock Albums ranking and halves its placement on the Top Rock & Alternative Albums chart – the more competitive of the two – advancing from No. 20 to No. 10.
The compilation makes its grandest numerical gain on the Billboard 200, where it rockets 40 spaces from No. 78 to No. 38. That spot marks yet another new high for All Time Greatest Hits, which has now spent 362 weeks on the country’s most closely-watched albums-only tally.
ForbesLynyrd Skynyrd’s Classic Smash Rises To No. 1 For The First TimeBy Hugh McIntyre