“Which Foo Fighters song spent 18 weeks at number one on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart?” “The Pretender” did. Released in 2007 as the lead single from Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, it became one of Foo Fighters’ defining anthems.
The song was written primarily by Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett. Its forceful verses and explosive chorus helped it connect strongly with modern-rock radio, where it topped Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart for 18 weeks. That was the longest run by any song on the chart during the 2000s.
A common mix-up is “Best of You,” another major Foo Fighters radio hit. It also reached number one on the same chart, but spent seven weeks there. “All My Life” and “DOA” were also Foo Fighters chart-toppers, yet neither matched “The Pretender”’s 18-week run.
Billboard renamed Modern Rock Tracks “Alternative Songs” in 2009, so the question uses the chart’s earlier name. The song’s chart performance helped make it one of the band’s most recognizable post-1990s successes.