Deftones Might Land Their First No. 1 Charting Album In 2025

Deftones have climbed to new heights in recent years, and they’ve quickly become one of the metal genre’s most relevant bands. Between the renaissance in both nu metal and shoegaze music, Deftones have been at the epicenter of multiple resurgences. The band is currently seeing the highest monthly streaming numbers of their career, on top of performing to sold-out arenas on their biggest headline shows to date.

A lot of this recent success is a direct result of Gen Z’s infatuation with the band and early 2000s nostalgia. Deftones’ music is omnipresent on TikTok and social media platforms, and the reverence for them is palpable within the metal and alternative music communities.

Deftones’ New Music Is Already Climbing The Charts

With the band announcing their 10th studio album Private Music, slated to release on August 22, there are already promising signs that this could become Deftones’ first No.1 charting album. Not only are the band’s streaming numbers at an all-time high with 15.8 million monthly listeners on Spotify, but the first single for Private Music is already climbing the charts.

The new single “my mind is a mountain” climbed to No. 1 on the Hot Hard Rock Songs and Hard Rock Streaming Songs charts, marking an all time high for Deftones on both charts. Earlier this year, the like-minded alt-metal outfit Sleep Token managed to achieve the same feat with the singles off their latest No. 1 charting LP, Even In Arcadia.

Sleep Token’s Success Shows A Clear Path For Deftones

The unprecedented success seen by metal’s latest sensational act Sleep Token is in many ways indicative of the success Deftones could see with their upcoming LP. Sonically, Deftones and Sleep Token both fit within the alternative metal sub-genre that’s become so popular among Gen Z. Unlike Sleep Token, who only just released their fourth studio album, Deftones have been around for over three decades, and much of their recent resurgence is also tied to their nu metal background.

However, Sleep Token’s unbridled success is connected to Deftones’ resurgence in that they both share a fanbase within Gen Z. This audience has played a massive part in making Deftones and Sleep Token so relevant on social media and especially on TikTok. While it’s not the primary reason for either band’s recent success, it’s hard to imagine Sleep Token raking in their first No. 1 charting album if it weren’t for their Gen Z fans. Provided Deftones are more popular and have a more multi-generational fanbase than Sleep Token, there’s nothing stopping Deftones from landing their first No. 1 charting album as well.

Deftones’ Album Charting History

Throughout their career Deftones have had several records climb to the top of the Billboard Top 200, but they’ve never had an album reach No. 1. In fact, the band has had four albums debut within the top 5 and several reach the top 10 – 2020’s Ohms debuted at No. 5, 2016’s Gore charted at No. 2, their self-titled 2003 LP landed at No. 2, and their critically acclaimed LP White Pony reached No. 3.

With the charting success of the first single for their upcoming record, there are strong indicators that Private Music could finally earn Deftones their first No. 1 charting LP. However, their charting history is rather inconsistent, especially between their last three albums – 2011’s Koi No Yokan debuted at No. 11, which was followed by 2016’s Gore at No. 2, and then 2020’s Ohms at No. 5.

Despite the inconsistent charting positions, none of the previous LPs were released during the resurgence that Deftones is experiencing, which currently has Deftones at a career-high 15.8 million monthly listeners. For reference, Sleep Token doesn’t even have half the monthly listener count of Deftones, and they still managed to get a No. 1 charting LP with 127,000 equivalent album units in the first week.

Bottom Line

The stars are aligned and more importantly the fans are in line and awaiting Deftones’ 10th LP. There really isn’t quite another band from the late 90s’ to early 2000s’ metal scene that has had a resurgence quite as monolithic as Deftones, making them a prime candidate for a No. 1 charting record this year. Based on the streaming numbers alone, Deftones have the best chance they’ve ever had at finally reaching this feat.