More than 30 years after her musical debut, and two decades after her death, Aaliyah posthumously earns her first No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart. “Gone,” which features Tank, crowns the list dated Sept. 27 as the most-played song on panel-contributing adult R&B radio stations in the Sept. 12-18 tracking week.
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“Gone,” released and promoted on Blackground Records, rises from No. 2 with a 23% surge in weekly plays, according to Luminate.
The song becomes Aaliyah’s first Adult R&B Airplay leader among 14 appearances. Her previous best came via her cover of The Isley Brothers’ “At Your Best (You Are Love),” which reached No. 4 in November 1994. That song marked her second visit, after debut hit “Back and Forth,” which hit No. 6 that June. She logged nine of her chart entries during her lifetime, prior to her death in a plane crash in August 2001 at age 22.
For Tank, his featured slot on “Gone” gives him a milestone 10th Adult R&B Airplay champ. He ties Charlie Wilson and Usher for the most leaders among male artists and is the sixth artist overall to break the double-digit mark since the radio ranking began in September 1993. Alicia Keys ranks first overall, with 14 No. 1s, with Toni Braxton (11) and Mary J. Blige (10) also in the club.
As Tank climbs the leaderboard, let’s review the singer-songwriter’s No. 1 collection on Adult R&B Airplay:
- “Please Don’t Go,” No. 1 for 10 weeks, beginning May 19, 2007
- “Next Breath,” one, June 16, 2012
- “When We,” 11, Nov. 18, 2017
- “Dirty,” three, April 20, 2019
- “Can’t Let It Show,” two, July 3, 2021
- “I Deserve,” one, March 19, 2022
- “Slow,” feat. J Valentine; two, Nov. 5, 2022
- “See Through Love,” feat. Chris Brown; one, May 20, 2023
- “Before We Get Started,” feat. Fabolous; two, June 1, 2024
- “Gone,” Aaliyah feat. Tank; one (to date), Sept. 27, 2025
Elsewhere, “Gone” advances 15-13 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, which ranks songs by combined audience totals from adult R&B and mainstream R&B/hip-hop radio stations. There, it improved 24% to 5.8 million in reach.
The song could be included in an expected Aaliyah album.
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