Full Circle: ‘Starless’ Brings A Perfect Circle Back at No. 1 on Mainstream Rock Airplay Chart

A Perfect Circle hits No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart for the first time in nearly 23 years, topping the survey dated Oct. 3 with “Starless.”

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The song is the Maynard James Keenan-fronted band’s second ruler, following the two-week reign of “Weak and Powerless” in 2003.

The group reached Mainstream Rock Airplay eight times in between “Weak and Powerless” and “Starless,” their best during that span a No. 3 peak for “The Outsider” in 2004.

The band’s 22-year, 11-month break between No. 1s is Mainstream Rock Airplay’s second-longest in its 45-year history, following the 26 years that Pearl Jam went between the No. 1 runs of “Given to Fly” in 1998 and “Dark Matter” in 2024.

Keenan has additionally visited the top of the chart as the singer of Tool, with “The Pot” in 2006.

Concurrently, “Starless” lifts 12-10 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart via 2.9 million audience impressions in the week ending Sept. 24, according to Luminate. It’s the band’s first top 10 on the survey, which began in 2009, having exceeded its previous best, “By and Down” (No. 26 in 2014).

“Starless” also ranks at No. 12 on the multimetric Hot Hard Rock Songs chart. Along with its radio airplay, the song earned 229,000 chart-eligible streams in the tracking week.

The song is currently a standalone single. A Perfect Circle’s most recent album, 2018’s Eat the Elephant, debuted at No. 1 on the Top Rock & Alternative Albums chart and has earned 292,000 equivalent album units to date.