Tame Impala 'Dracula' Becomes First US Radio Songs No. 1

A psychedelic project reaches the top of US radio

Tame Impala, Kevin Parker's long-running project, now has a No. 1 on Billboard's all-format Radio Songs chart. "Dracula," his collaboration with BLACKPINK's JENNIE, rose one place to the top of the chart dated Sept. 26, 2026, after reaching an airplay audience of 62.6 million from Sept. 11 to 17, according to Luminate data reported by Billboard.11 It is the first Radio Songs No. 1 for either act.1114

The chart date can make the story look as if everything happened on Sept. 26, and some coverage presented it that way.12 Billboard actually published the result on Sept. 22, and the chart measures airplay from the week before that.1115 That sounds like a small detail, but it matters. The No. 1 reflects months of steady growth at radio stations, not a spike on one day.

The song also stayed there. Allkpop reported that by the chart dated Oct. 17, "Dracula" had led Radio Songs for four straight weeks.7 That makes it more than a one-week fluke at a slow moment for radio.

How the song got there

The song took a long road. Billboard describes "Dracula" as a Tame Impala solo track first released in October 2025, with the JENNIE duet following in early February.11 Wikipedia dates the original single to Sept. 26, 2025, as part of the album Deadbeat, and Billboard Philippines also places its release in September 2025.89 The likely explanation is that the single came out in late September and the full album in October. Either way, the song reached No. 1 at radio almost exactly a year after it first appeared.

The original was not a flop. When Deadbeat came out, "Dracula" debuted at No. 1 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, which was the project's first No. 1 on that chart. Halloween-week streaming also pushed the song into the Hot 100's top 40.8 Still, the remix is what made it a major hit. Parker announced the JENNIE version on Feb. 3 with an Instagram clip and released it on Feb. 6. The remix then took off as a TikTok trend.8 Rolling Stone UK, as cited in a radio-industry report, counted the trend in 1.3 million videos and said the song had close to 1 billion on-demand streams worldwide.2 The Korea Times said the song's momentum came from that viral spread on short-form video apps.6

The Hot 100 numbers show the climb. The song reached a new peak of No. 17 in mid-April.10 It entered the top 10 on the chart dated May 16. That week it had 12.1 million streams and a 23.1 million radio audience, and it became the first top 10 for both Parker and JENNIE.8 It peaked at No. 5 on the chart dated July 18.8 It reached No. 1 on Pop Airplay on the chart dated July 11, again a first for both artists.20 By the time it took Radio Songs, it had led Adult Pop Airplay for nine weeks. Billboard also reported earlier runs of seven weeks atop Pop Airplay and two weeks atop Alternative Airplay.11

Reading these milestones together, radio followed the audience rather than leading it. The song first broke through on streaming and short-form video. Pop stations then added it, adult-pop and alternative stations followed, and the combined audience across those formats finally put it at the top of the all-format chart.

The Tame Impala angle: from alternative favorite to pop-radio regular

For Parker, the result matters more than another chart record. Tame Impala first appeared on Billboard's charts in 2010.11 For more than ten years, its radio success was mostly limited to rock and alternative stations. When Justice and Tame Impala's "Neverender" topped Alternative Airplay in March 2025, it was Tame Impala's first No. 1 on that chart, on its eighth appearance. Earlier songs had stalled at No. 2, including "Lost in Yesterday" in 2020 and Parker's featured spot on Gorillaz's "New Gold" in 2023.19 Before "Dracula," Parker's biggest result on the all-format Radio Songs chart came as a co-writer and co-producer on Dua Lipa's "Houdini," which peaked at No. 7 in 2024.1114

That background shapes how to read this moment. Parker spent years helping write mainstream hits for other artists. With "Dracula," he wrote and produced one under his own name and took it to the top. Billboard says Parker produced the song alone and co-wrote it with JENNIE, Sarah Aarons and Carly Gibert.11 Aarons told Billboard the song went through many versions. In her account, Parker combined a hook they had written years earlier with a separate song called "Dracula" that his wife liked, keeping its line about running from the sun.1114

The same Radio Songs chart showed that Tame Impala's success there isn't limited to one song. Forbes contributor Hugh McIntyre noted that "Loser," another Deadbeat single, debuted at No. 49 in the week "Dracula" reached No. 1. That gave the act its second-ever entry on the chart, with its only two Radio Songs hits sitting at opposite ends of the list.13 McIntyre also reported that "Loser" reached new peaks of No. 22 on Pop Airplay and Adult Pop Airplay, and No. 6, No. 7 and No. 15 on Rock & Alternative, Alternative and Adult Alternative Airplay. It was also in the top 10 of the Billboard Global 200.13 The ad-hoc-news recap connected the chart wins to the wider Deadbeat album cycle and Parker's tour.12

Our reading is that the second song matters more than the No. 1 itself. One viral collaboration can be a fluke. A second single from the same album building steadily at pop radio, without a K-pop star featured and without a TikTok trend of the same size, suggests pop programmers now treat Tame Impala as a pop act. "Loser" still has to prove it can climb far on Radio Songs, but its early numbers support that view.

Where the coverage agrees and where it differs

The main facts are consistent. Billboard and the outlets that rewrote its report agree on the 62.6 million audience figure, the chart date and that this is a first for both artists.11141517 They also agree that "Dracula" continued to dominate genre charts. Billboard counted 37 weeks at No. 1 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs and 19 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs as of the Radio Songs win.11 McIntyre noted that on some of those charts it is becoming one of the longest-running No. 1s ever.13

The coverage differs in emphasis. Korean and K-pop outlets centered JENNIE. Soompi and Pannchoa led with BLACKPINK's member scoring a first US radio No. 1.1517 Billboard pointed out that BLACKPINK as a group has never appeared on Radio Songs at all.11 It also noted that JENNIE's only previous entry was No. 48 with "One of the Girls" in 2024.11 Western rock and chart coverage centered Parker's path from alternative favorite to the top of pop radio.1319 Both framings are fair. The fact that two different fan bases each claim the song as their own artist's win helps explain why it has lasted this long.

There is also a small numbers error in later Hot 100 coverage. The Korea Times reported that the song climbed six places to No. 6 in mid-October.6 Other reports put the previous week at No. 10, which is a four-place jump.27 Allkpop credited that rebound to the song's strong radio support at the time, which links the Radio Songs run directly to its Hot 100 staying power.7 The song then returned to its No. 5 peak on the chart dated Oct. 24, its 21st week in the top 10.47 Reports said this extended JENNIE's record for the longest Hot 100 top-10 run by a K-pop artist.27

Why it matters now

The timing could help again soon. The song's title has always made Halloween a natural boost. Billboard has already asked whether this year's Hot 100 could produce the first seasonal Halloween No. 1 of the century, naming "Dracula" alongside "Thriller."16 Last year, the original version gained about 49% in on-demand US streams on Halloween.8 With the duet already near the top and radio support in place, a Halloween bump this year starts from a much higher level.

The song has also brought recognition. It has been nominated for an American Music Award for Best Rock/Alternative Song, an MTV VMA for Best Alternative, and ARIA nominations for Best Pop Release and Song of the Year.8 Billboard's report on the ARIA nominations listed Tame Impala as one of the leading nominees.16

The bigger point is about how hits are made. "Dracula" did not open as a radio smash. It started as an album track with a cult following, became a crossover hit through a well-chosen guest and a viral trend, and only then reached the top of radio. For an artist long seen as a critics' favorite with limited mainstream reach, the Radio Songs No. 1 shows that Tame Impala's music now works on mainstream US radio, not just in streaming playlists. Whether that lasts depends on "Loser" and whatever Parker releases next. As of this fall, Tame Impala is a pop-radio act.