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Alphaville's 40-year-old “Forever Young” tops the TikTok Billboard Top 50

Three decades after its original release on the Billboard Hot 100, Alphaville's “Forever Young” is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 billboard Chart dominating the October 5 TikTok Billboard Top 50 list.

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The TikTok Billboard Top 50 is a weekly ranking of the most popular songs on TikTok in the United States, based on creations, video views and user engagement. The latest chart reflects activity from September 23rd to 29th. Activity on TikTok is not included billboard Charts excluding the TikTok Billboard Top 50.

“Forever Young” achieved its original Hot 100 run over a three-week period in the spring of 1985, peaking at No. 93. After a re-release, it returned to the chart in 1988-89, rising to No. 93. 65 in December 1988. 2024 marks the song's 40th anniversary, as it was released on Alphaville's self-titled debut album in September 1984.

Alphaville has been on the Billboard charts before; “Big in Japan” spent two weeks at the top of Dance Club Songs in 1984.

“Forever Young” ties Jordan Adetunji's “Kehlani” for the longest gap between debuting on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 and its first week at No. 1 since the list's inception in September 2023. It tops the poll for the tenth time since it was listed in the rankings for the first time on August 3rd. It had reached a new high of number 2 on the charts on September 28th.

The song is used in a variety of ways on TikTok. Trends include adaptations of fictional characters (many of whom died young), introspective content about aging and memories of younger days, a choreographed theme in which one creator picks up the other and spins them around while spraying a water bottle in slow motion , and more.

“Forever Young” has also returned in recent weeks billboardis on the alternative digital song sales charts thanks to the resurgence of TikTok; According to Luminate, it appears at number 10 in the latest survey with 1,000 downloads in the week ending September 26th. It also generated 2.1 million official US streams during this period.

“Forever Young”’s TikTok Billboard Top 50 crown comes ahead of Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter’s “By the Sea,” from the soundtrack to the 2007 film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber from Fleet Streetwhich jumps to 32-2 in its second week on the chart.

The trend for 17-year-old songs? Generally, a lip sync is done with the song's opening lyrics, “Ooh, Mr. Todd/ I'm so happy/ I could eat you up, I really could,” while others skip the lip sync and simply kiss someone or something to Bonham-Carter's Kiss Notes from the melody.

Another debut from the Sept. 28 chart, NLE Choppa and 41's “Or What,” debuts in the top three for the first time, jumping from 44 to 3, largely through lip-sync uploads. The song was released on September 6th and received 3.2 million streams in the week ending September 26th, up 73%.

Odetar's “Keep Up” (No. 14) jumps into the top four, rising 14-4 in its second week on the list. It follows on from Odetari's most successful song, reaching fourth place in September 2023 from “I Love You Hoe”, which was released together with 9Lives.

“Keep Up” was released in mid-July and has exploded in recent weeks thanks to a dance trend. At the same time, it reached a new high of No. 6 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart with 5.8 million streams, up 39%, making it the ranking's biggest gainer in that metric.

IV of Spades' “Come Inside of My Heart,” the previous No. 3 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50, rounds out the top five, while Ken Carson's “Overseas” jumps from 23 in its second week, nearly six months after release -6 makes April release.

Carson's TikTok success with “Overseas” is largely due to lip syncs, usually to the lyrics: “This boy repeats everything he hears like a parrot, he ab-ch/ The last bitch I broke up with did.” slashed her wrist.”

“Overseas” recorded 3.2 million streams in the week ending September 26, up 7%.

Two additional songs reached the top 10 of the TikTok Billboard Top 50 for the first time: “Da' Dip” by Freak Nasty and “Deja Vu” by Olivia Rodrigo at numbers 7-9. “Or What” is led by lip syncs and “Da' Dip” is led by a dance trend (notable since the song, which peaked at No. 15 on the Hot 100 in 1997, is inherently named after a dance), while “Deja Vu” wins from the “and suddenly” trend.

The full TikTok Billboard Top 50 can be found here. You can also tune in to SiriusXM's TikTok Radio (Channel 4) every Friday to hear the premiere of the chart's Top 10 Countdown at 3:00 p.m. ET, with replays heard throughout the week.

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