Weezer lands on Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time in nearly 10 years with “Africa” cover


If you listen to KFOG enough, you have undoubtedly heard the new Weezer cover of Toto’s “Africa.” What you may not know is that their rendition of the classic 1982 song is now officially the band’s biggest hit in nearly 10 years.

Weezer’s version entered the Billboard Hot 100 charts this week at No. 89, making it the first time the band cracked the Hot 100 since 2009 “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To”, which peaked at No. 81. Of course the band has had top ten hits in recent years on the Alternative charts, but a band that has been around over 25 years landing a spot on the Hot 100 is pretty impressive, especially since they did it with a song that is 10 years older than the band itself.

And to think, none of this would have been possible without the persistence of a 14-year-old fan named Mary who runs the Twitter fan account @WeezerAfrica. Mary told Noisey last year that she jokingly petitioned the band via Twitter to cover “Africa” after thinking that their latest album Pacific Daydream was inspired by the song. She also admits in the interview that she had not heard of “Africa” until her friends mentioned it after hearing it in an episode of Stranger Things. Now, she has to be the G.O.A.T. young Weezer fan. I wonder how the band feels now that the suggestion has propelled them to their first hit since Obama’s first year in office

A brief side note – the Weezer KFOG Private Concert happened right around the time the “Africa” cover was recorded, and they notably almost exclusively played covers during their soundcheck.

None were “Africa,” but they did cover several Oasis songs. Maybe that’s next on the setlist?

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