Nirvana ‘Nevermind’ Song Keeps Re-entering Charts Following ‘Batman’ Plug

First Kate Bush’s 1985 song “Running Up That Hill” and Metallica’s 1986 thrasher “Master of Puppets” reappeared on the charts for the first time in more than 35 years after being featured on the Netflix series Stranger Things. Now, Nirvana is also seeing its own Nevermind renaissance. The band’s Nevermind track “Something in the Way” has continued to pick up streams and re-enter the charts after the song was featured in The Batman film released earlier this year.

The song currently sits at No. 33 on the Mediabase Active Rock chart and No. 48 on the Alternative chart, which is reflective of radio station airplay in the U.S. and Canada. In March, “Something in the Way” also entered the Billboard 100 at No. 46 and has peaked again at No. 2 on the U.S. Digital Rock Songs Sales chart in addition to No. 5 on the U.S. Alternative Digital Songs Sales chart.

In 2020, a darker version of the song played over the trailer for The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz, first pushed the song back into the Billboard sales charts and has seen an explosion in its streaming numbers, according to MRC Data, since the release of the film. In the first four days following the release of The Batman, the song also pulled in 3.1 million on-demand U.S. streams. 

“Something in the Way” is now the fifth song off Nevermind to hit the Billboard Hot 100. It follows “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Come as You Are,” “Lithium,” and “In Bloom,” and it is also the first to chart again in 20 years since “You Know You’re Right,” which was recorded before Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain’s death and later released on a greatest hits album.

Upon its release in 1992, Nevermind remained at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for two weeks, and marked the band’s first No. 1 album with three hits—”Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Come As You Are,” and “Lithium.”

Photo Credit: Paul Bergen