Rock & Metal Bands with the Most Number One Singles

Have you ever checked out the UK Rock and Metal Singles Chart? It’s where you can go to see what’s popular, but without having to trawl through endless boy bands and social media-ready pop singers. It’s where real rock music, played by musicians, tends to live. You get a pretty different story about what makes the top of the chart once you specialise a little!

Today’s blog aims to highlight the rock and metal bands who’ve had the most number one singles on this chart. This relates to the UK Chart only, so you might not see Five Finger Death Punch showing up on this list. For fun and drama, I’ll work upwards towards the band with the most number ones, so look for them at the end.

This blog will contain no Take That, McFly or Spice Girls, ok?

Iron Maiden are a great British Institution. A National Treasure. They encapsulate everything that is so thrillingly over-the-top about heavy metal, and they have had the staying power to last for half a century! Yes, this year marks 50 years of Iron Maiden. They’re currently on tour to celebrate (it’s called the Run For Your Lives Tour, and fans will immediately get the reference), so I hope you catch one of their shows! 

If not, here’s a song to stick on and mosh to in reverence to these reigning masters of British metal, who have had 8 number ones in the UK Rock and Metal Singles Chart.

Wow, two of the world’s biggest metal bands appearing already? What can the rest of the list hold? Metallica also have 8 number one hits on the rock chart, but spent more weeks at the top than Maiden, so rank a place higher. Indisputably huge, Metallica are about as gigantically influential as any band can reasonably be. They have the best riffs, the best sound and excellent vocals, so it’s not a huge surprise that they dominate the worlds of hard rock and metal. Who wouldn’t want James Hetfield’s rhythm guitar sound?

Metallica are another vast touring behemoth, and they are bringing their 72 Seasons world tour to the UK next Summer. Undoubtedly, we will see you there!

It’s our first pop-punk band of the list, and whilst things do seem to have cooled off somewhat around Fall Out Boy in recent years, there’s no denying their enduring popularity. In the mid-noughties, they were basically untouchable, and are still drawing in the listeners today with 8 number ones, matching ‘Tallica and Maiden but clocking up more hours on the list!

Green Day, the world’s biggest punk band, definitely upped their considerable game after 2004’s American Idiot album. Since then, they’ve been an arena and stadium proposition with radio play and album sale stats to match. And that’s before we consider streams!

With 9 number ones on the UK Rock and Metal Singles Chart, Green Day are anything but American Idiots.

Canada’s most inexplicably popular hard rockers Nickelback arrive in a predictably high position. For fans, they are a steady and reliable source of accessible hard rock, with big choruses that ear-worm their way into your day, and riffs that sizzle without becoming particularly edgy. Your uncle will put these guys on at a barbecue and nobody will particularly mind. Eleven number ones for Nickelback!

Your uncle probably won’t be putting these guys on at the barbecue, though. Bring Me The Horizon are altogether more intense and uncompromising, so their astronomical success was actually slightly surprising to begin with! They’ve been huge for some time now, and they know when to hit hard and when to allow melody to win.

Bring Me The Horizon as a good example of how a passionate and loyal fanbase can make a huge difference to a band’s success. For these reasons, these Brit metallers have scored 12 number ones.

Emo iconoclasts My Chemical Romance definitely understand the concept of ‘going big’, both musically and in terms of their overall aesthetic. Larger than life, they are like old school rock stars from back in the days when theatre was an expected part of proceedings.

This above-and-beyond attitude to their craft has won them a rabid fanbase, and they are able to play at enormous venues across the world as a result. MCR have 12 number ones on the UK Rock and Metal Chart too, but have spent slightly more weeks there than Bring Me The Horizon.

Pop-metal legends Bon Jovi are a perennially huge act. From the mid-80s onwards, Jon Bon and his pals have chalked up roughly seven trillion record sales, making them easily the biggest hair metal band on earth.

In 2025, they still have their hair and the hits still get played on the radio. Bon Jovi’s focus on anthemic melodies may be what gave them the edge over their spandex-clad competitors back in the day, and they have scored 12 number one singles on the UK Rock and Metal Chart too.

Linkin Park may sound nothing like Bon Jovi, but the notion of blending hard rock with pop sensibilities and undeniable vocal hooks are definitely things the two bands have in common. Linkin Park also incorporated a strong hip hop influence, which wasn’t a terrible idea since that is perhaps the dominating musical genre of the last 25 years. They even had two front-people, which in itself is an unusual move.

It all worked, since they remain one of the world’s most massive rock/metal bands. Even the tragic death of singer Chester Bennington hasn’t stopped the endless love for Linkin Park, who have 14 top spot songs on the chart.

Since hearing Christopher Walken say this band’s name, I can’t unhear it. The Foo-FIGHTERS are hardly a surprise to be so far up the list today. Everybody has a bit of time for them, don’t they? Whether its early hits like Everlong or more recent fare from the band’s 11-album discography, there’s pretty much something there for every rock fan. They just have that common touch that makes their music cross genre barriers and find a huge international audience. 15 number ones on this chart, which is 32 weeks at the top.

The top band on the UK Rock and Metal Singles Chart is Muse, Matt Bellamy’s sci-fi stadium rockers. It’s a well-deserved win for a band who continually push boundaries whilst keeping an eye on accessibility to ensure a massive audience. Muse sometimes sound a lot like Queen (no bad thing!) but truly, are there any bands who sound like Muse?

The combination of synths with hard rock guitar, a strong classical influence on the songwriting and Bellamy’s inimitable vocals & guitar all adds up to a very unique proposition indeed. It’s one that the public loves, because they’ve held the top stop 15 times, with a total of 40 weeks at number one.

From Maiden to Muse, you’ve now seen in pretty accurate terms, just who are really the most popular rock bands in the UK for singles. Were you surprised by any of those entries? Did you expect to see some other bands in there? 

Whether they are all to your personal taste or not, you must admit that it’s great to see such ferocious and individual bands all being celebrated with success. Nobody gets anywhere in this industry without a ton of hard work and resilience, so it’s a hearty congratulations to all from me. Any list that contains both Bring Me The Horizon and Bon Jovi shows some open-minded good taste, I reckon! Let there be rock!