As Billboard Magazine celebrates the 40th anniversary of their Mainstream Rock Chart, the publication has compiled a list of the Top Ten Greatest Mainstream Rock Artists Of All Time. 

Billboard's Mainstream Rock Music Chart ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. Shinedown, from Jacksonville, Florida, has earned the #1 spot on the aforementioned list.

Collectively, Shinedown has issued the following statement: "There are no words to describe how this feels… To the fans/family we say thank you. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again... we only have one boss… It’s everyone in the audience... Thank you Billboard for this incredible acknowledgment. Thank you Atlantic Records, promotion and In De Goot Entertainment for always believing in us, and allowing us to not only be an artist, but to be ourselves. We LOVE YOU… And to ALL of terrestrial radio, thank you for being there from the beginning… We are just getting started. Onward and Upwards we RISE together."

Shinedown guitarist Zach Myers elaborated further: "As you know around here we don’t celebrate the accolades of this business to often... it’s kinda like Monopoly money... fun to walk around with... but what’s it worth... Today I’ll celebrate this... then tomorrow. Me and my 3 best friends will try and figure out “what’s next.” Forever grateful for y’all... What a ride man..."

As part of a new interview with Billboard correspondent Bobby Olivier, Shinedown vocalist Brent Smith revealed: “We write songs because it's cheaper than therapy. I've never been afraid to say how I feel. Even if I'm talking about dark subject matter, I'm always trying to empower the listener -- to say that it may be difficult, you may have to struggle, but you can hold on to hope and understand that life is never going to be perfect. It’s not meant to be perfect.” An excerpt follows:

Your band has notched 16 #1 singles! Are you even able to process how Shinedown has commanded this chart more than any artist or band in the last 40 years?

"I honestly take it extremely seriously, as Zach and Eric and Barry do, as well. The thing about terrestrial radio, for this band specifically, is that we knew early on -- right around 2002, 2003 -- how important terrestrial radio was going to be for us. A lot of that has to do with Bill McGathy, our manager of the last 20 years, and also the fact that we have been on Atlantic Records for the last 20 years, and continue the relationship, because Atlantic Records to Shinedown is family."

"As soon as we hit the road with that first album, we just never looked back. We said yes to everything we could possibly say [“yes” to] for rock radio -- especially mainstream radio, which some people call active rock, and alternative radio as well. We tried our best to always be honest, and to give radio everything that they needed, and everything that they wanted."

"In turn, they helped us out so much in the first beginning stages of this band. Now, I look at it 20 years later, and our relationship with rock radio is still very, very strong. Now, granted, you have to understand that the music is what does the talking. The songs are what matter, and the records are what matter." 

"But a huge reason why we have our audience is terrestrial radio, and the mainstream rock chart. They have just been such a huge supporter of ours over the last two decades now. The amount of gratitude I have, I don't even think I can put it into words."

To read the complete interview, click here.

(Photo - Sanjay Parikh)