Don't Speak - Chart Performance

Chart Performance

Upon release, the song immediately began to receive extensive airplay, and it became the most widely played song on American radio in 1996. Not surprisingly, the song reached number one on Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay, and maintained that position for sixteen non-consecutive weeks, a record at the time. Although the record would be broken in 1998 by the Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" with eighteen weeks at number one, the song remains in second place of songs with the most weeks at number one on the Hot 100 Airplay. For all its airplay though, the song was not allowed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 as no commercial single was released for it in the U.S. (a requirement for charting purposes at the time). Though the song was not eligible to chart on the Hot 100, it is considered that it would have hit number one on that chart if at the time of the single's release, the rules were as they are today, i.e. if songs without a physical release were able to chart.

The song was also a hit on No Doubt's main radio format at the time, Modern Rock Tracks, where it climbed to number two. The song also proved to be a crossover smash, hitting number one on the Adult Top 40 as well as numbers six and nine on the Adult Contemporary and Rhythmic Top 40 charts, respectively. It was ultimately placed at number one on the Hot 100 Airplay year-end chart of 1997.

Internationally, the song was also very successful. In February 1997, it peaked at number one in both the United Kingdom and Ireland for three weeks. Elsewhere in Europe, "Don't Speak" reached the top position in Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland, resulting in a peak position of number one on the European Hot 100 Singles for nine weeks. Australia was another major music market where the song received widespread airplay, debuting at number one and maintaining the peak position for eight weeks.