The late-nineties to mid-noughties were golden years for the scene, and a period of time which coincided with the airing MTV's Total Request Live, a show that counted down the most requested music videos of the day.

Charting on TRL was a considerable platform from which several scene bands went on to achieve even greater things, and across the decade that the show aired, a total of 14 scene bands ( a lot of Good Charlotte) managed to hit the No. 1 spot. In chronological order, these are the 33 songs from those bands that hit the coveted height of becoming a TRL Number One...

 

  • blink-182 - "Adam's Song"

    Date of first TRL No. 1: April 12, 2001

    "Adam's Song" has the honor of being the first scene track to top the TRL countdown. Nu-metal bands such as Korn and Limp Bizkit had previously hit the No. 1 spot, but blink-182's appearance was the first time an act from the world of pop-punk and emo had made such an achievement.

  • Sum 41 - "Fat Lip"

    July 16, 2001

    "Fat Lip" first hit the No.1 spot on July 16, and regularly featured atop the TRL chart for the next four weeks, eventually displaced by NSYNC's "Pop."

  • Good Charlotte - "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous"

    Oct. 10, 2002

    Pop-punk legends Good Charlotte were telling scene kids to Eat the Rich way back in '02.

  • Good Charlotte - "The Anthem"

    Jan. 21, 2003

    This was Good Charlotte's big TRL hit. Whereas "Lifestyles..." was No. 1 for just a day, "The Anthem" topped the TRL charts on and off for four months — the kind of feat that, back then, was usually accomplished by pop stars only.

  • Sum 41 - "The Hell Song"

    March 24, 2003

    "The Hell Song" topped the TRL chart for a solitary day in March 2003.

  • Simple Plan - "Addicted"

    April 9, 2003

    Like "The Hell Song" before it, "Addicted" was a TRL No. 1 for just one day.

  • Good Charlotte - "Girls & Boys"

    June 2, 2003

    Another multiple-week TRL success for Good Charlotte here, albeit not at the level of "The Anthem."

  • Simple Plan - "Perfect"

    Oct. 9, 2003
  • Good Charlotte - "Hold On"

    Nov. 17, 2003

    Yeah... Good Charlotte were killing it in 2003. Props for achieving commercial success with a song and video about the important subject of suicide, too.

  • blink-182 - "Feeling This"

    Dec. 4, 2003

    The best blink-182 song ever? A debate for another time, but what isn't up for debate is that "Feeling This" fucking rules.

  • New Found Glory - "All Downhill From Here"

    June 3, 2004

    After "Feeling This" fell from top spot at the start of the year, it took six months for the scene to once more reign supreme at the summit of the TRL chart, courtesy of New Found Glory.

  • Good Charlotte - "Predictable"

    Sept. 20, 2004

    Pretty predictable that GC would feature on this list yet again...

  • Simple Plan - "Welcome to My Life"

    Nov. 3, 2004

    Another Simple Plan smash!

  • Good Charlotte - "I Just Wanna Live"

    Dec. 1, 2004

    Give someone else a chance, lads!

  • Simple Plan - "Shut Up!"

    Feb. 1, 2005

    Like Good Charlotte, Simple Plan absolutely dominated TRL. This was another total bop from the Montreal pop-punks.

  • Simple Plan - "Untitled"

    May 3, 2005

    Piano ballad excellence right here. All the feels.

  • Fall Out Boy - "Sugar, We're Goin Down"

    June 23, 2005

    Get used to seeing lots more of Fall Out Boy on this list from here on out. Good Charlotte (and Simple Plan) were largely responsible for the scene's grasp on TRL in the early years, but they passed the mantle on to Patrick Stump and co. after the release of From Under the Cork Tree.

  • My Chemical Romance - "Helena"

    July 13, 2005

    "Helena" dominated the summer of '05 on TRL, introducing teens across America to My Chemical Romance's exhilarating brand of emo-punk. It was, simply, a joy to behold.

  • Green Day - "Wake Me Up When September Ends"

    Aug. 12, 2005

    Finally relinquishing MCR's grasp on No. 1, "Wake Me Up When September Ends" represented punk superstars Green Day's first time atop the TRL chart.

  • My Chemical Romance - "The Ghost of You"

    Sept. 9, 2005

    A video budget in excess of $1,000,000 was rewarded with "The Ghost of You" topping the TRL chart throughout September 2005.

  • Fall Out Boy - "Dance, Dance"

    Oct.17, 2005

    Great video. Great song. Great band.

  • The All-American Rejects - "Move Along"

    Feb. 7, 2006

    Emo-pop at its finest, the emotional heft of "Move Along" is undeniable. This song sat atop TRL's chart for five days straight in February '06.

  • Fall Out Boy - "A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More 'Touch Me'"

    May 5, 2006

    This video is basically emo 'Where's Waldo?' See how many scene musicians you can spot...

  • AFI - "Love Like Winter"

    Sept. 29, 2006

    The first and only AFI song to top the TRL chart.

  • Fall Out Boy - "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race"

    Jan. 8, 2007

    "This Ain't a Scene" dominated TRL at the start of 2007, regularly atop the chart until mid-February.

  • My Chemical Romance - "Famous Last Words"

    Jan. 24, 2007

    The second single from The Black Parade duked it out with "This Ain't a Scene" for top spot at the start of '07.

  • Fall Out Boy - "Thnks Fr Th Mmrs"

    April 17, 2007

    Plenty of monkey business going on here...

  • My Chemical Romance - "Teenagers"

    July 9, 2007

    "Teenagers" was TRL No. 1 for two days before those pesky scamps in Fall Out Boy climbed to the summit once more.

  • Fall Out Boy - "The Take Over, The Break's Over"

    July 11, 2007

    By this point, Fall Out Boy were a sheer rock phenomenon.

  • Boys Like Girls - "The Great Escape"

    July 31, 2007

    "The Great Escape" was Boys Like Girls' sole song to top the TRL chart. This band could've been so much more...

  • Gym Class Heroes - "Clothes Off"

    Aug. 2, 2007
  • Paramore - "Misery Business"

    Oct. 1, 2007

    The song that truly started it all for Paramore, "Misery Business" spent the first week of October 2007 at the top of the TRL chart.

  • Tokio Hotel - "Ready Set Go"

    May 5, 2008

    Bizarrely, this was the last scene song to top the TRL chart, bringing to an end a decade of emo and pop-punk hits gracing TV screens daily across America.

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