A 34-year career in rock music is nothing to sneeze at, especially when a band is still putting out new material and finding ways to connect with listeners. Reaching the top of a Billboard chart after all that time? That’s a really sweet milestone.
For one group that helped define alternative rock in the ’90s, the latest success isn’t a trip down memory lane or a victory lap built around an old hit. It’s coming from a brand-new collaboration, proving there’s still plenty of life left in a band that’s been around for more than three decades.
Alternative Rock Favorite Scores Another No. 1
Weezer’s “We Might as Well Be Strangers,” featuring indie rock band Wednesday, has climbed to No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart dated Saturday, Oct. 31. The track moved up from No. 2, giving Weezer its ninth chart-topper on the ranking and Wednesday its first.
That’s a notable achievement for both groups, but there’s something especially cool about seeing a ’90s band continue to reach the top with new music in 2026. The group formed in Los Angeles in 1992, meaning this latest chart victory arrives 34 years after the group first came together. Not every band gets that kind of longevity, and even fewer are still scoring No. 1 hits along the way.
The song features Wednesday’s Karly Hartzman on vocals and Xandy Chelmis on pedal steel guitar. Hartzman trades verses with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo, bringing another voice and perspective to a track about the distance that can grow between two people as a relationship falls apart.
A New Collaboration For A Longtime Rock Band
“We Might as Well Be Strangers” was released June 3 as the second single from Weezer’s 20th studio album, Weezer (also known as The Gold Album), which arrived Aug. 21.
The collaboration gives the song a different flavor while keeping Weezer’s familiar alternative-rock foundation in place. It’s also a reminder that a band’s history doesn’t have to become its entire identity. The band has lots of classics in its catalog, but it’s still making music, working with newer artists and finding an audience for what comes next.
With nine Alternative Airplay No. 1s now under its belt, Weezer has earned a place among just seven acts in the chart’s history to reach that mark. Thirty-four years in, the band clearly hasn’t run out of reasons to celebrate.
