Ozzy Osbourne rules Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart for a fourth time, as “Patient Number 9,” featuring Jeff Beck, jumps to the top of the July 30-dated tally.
The song hits No. 1 in its fifth week on the list, tying for the quickest trip to the summit this year, matching the flight of Shinedown‘s “Planet Zero” in March.
Osbourne first led Mainstream Rock Airplay, which began in 1981, with “I Don’t Wanna Stop” in 2007. He ruled again with “Let Me Hear You Scream” in 2010 and “Under the Graveyard” in 2019.
In between “Graveyard” and “Patient,” Osbourne appeared on the chart with “Straight to Hell,” a No. 16 hit in February 2020, and “Ordinary Man,” featuring Elton John, a No. 7 entry that May.
As the credited featured guitarist on “Patient,” Beck garners his first Mainstream Rock Airplay No. 1. His logged his previous best when “People Get Ready,” with Rod Stewart, reached No. 5 in 1985.
“People” marked Beck’s first appearance on the chart. With 37 years, one month and two weeks between his first week on Mainstream Rock Airplay and his first No. 1, he obliterates the record for the longest wait between a first appearance and first ruler. The prior best belonged to Queen member Brian May, who went 26 years, three months and one week between the bow of his solo song “Driven by You” (No. 9 peak, 1993) and his leading run, as featured alongside Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Brantley Gilbert, on Five Finger Death Punch‘s “Blue on Black” (five weeks in 2019).
(The third longest such wait? Osbourne himself went 26 years, two months and two weeks between the run of “Crazy Train” in 1981 and “I Don’t Wanna Stop” in 2007.)
Longest Spans Between First Appearances and First No. 1s, Mainstream Rock Airplay
37 years, one month, two weeks, Jeff Beck (1985-2022)
26 years, three months, one week, Brian May (1993-2019)
26 years, two months, two weeks, Ozzy Osbourne (1981-2007)
22 years, eight months, one week, Chris Cornell (1998-2020)
19 years, 10 months, one week, David Draiman (2002-22)
Similarly, Beck recently broke the records for the longest breaks between Mainstream Rock Airplay top 10s and overall Mainstream Rock Airplay appearances, also thanks to his featured turn on “Patient.”
Concurrently, “Patient” rises 8-6 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 3.5 million audience impressions, a boost of 13%, according to Luminate. It’s Beck’s first appearance on the list, which began in 2009, and ties Osbourne’s highest rank, first achieved with “Scream” in 2010.
“Patient” also bullets at No. 8, after reaching No. 1 earlier in July, on the multi-metric Hot Hard Rock Songs chart. In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 617,000 official U.S. streams and sold 600 downloads in the July 15-21 tracking week.
Osbourne’s 13th studio album, Patient Number 9, is due Sept. 9. The second taste of the set, “Degradation Rules” (featuring Osbourne’s former Black Sabbath bandmate Tony Iommi), arrived July 22 and is likely to hit next week’s Billboard charts, dated Aug. 6.