Study Reveals Panic! at the Disco Has the 'Saddest' Fans Among Popular Bands
- - Study Reveals Panic! at the Disco Has the 'Saddest' Fans Among Popular Bands
Jacqueline Burt CoteFebruary 15, 2026 at 1:00 AM
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Photo by Randy Holmes on Getty Images
It goes without saying that people listen to different types of music for a variety of reasons, and it all comes down to personal preference: One might prefer to put on a happy tune when they're feeling down in the dumps in an attempt to lift their spirits, while another might play a sorrowful song to match their mood. But have you ever wondered which band or musical artist attracts the saddest fans in the world?
Thanks to the data scientists at Preply, you no longer have to ponder this question...though the statistics might leave you a bit puzzled. The website analyzed over 200,000 posts and comments in the Reddit fan communities of 92 popular music artists and bands to find out which fans are the "saddest" and which are the "happiest."
The language analysis study curated a list of musicians from over the years using a dataset called Emotion, which flagged "emotive words and phrases" from subreddit fan forums to determine the "percentage of emotions discussed," including love, anger, sadness and happiness.
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According to Preply's findings, the top ten artists/bands "most likely to make their fans feel sadness" included a surprisingly varied mix of genres. Even the three acts tied for 10th place had pretty much nothing in common: Late Swedish DJ and musician Avicii, renowned guitarist John Mayer, and emo rockers My Chemical Romance. In 8th and 9th place were two more picks listeners don't generally think of as depressing: Lil Nas X and SZA. The next three on the list were just as, if not more, unexpected: Madonna took the #7 slot, followed by Halsey at #6, and Britney Spears(?!) at #5.
Tied for third place were two bands that seemed more at home on a "saddest fans" list: Metallica and Nirvana; coming in at second place was another band that certainly bums plenty of people out: Linkin Park.
So which act had the most dejected listeners of all? According to this particular study, Panic! at the Disco, whose 2005 debut album, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, went double platinum (that's a whole lot of sad people, apparently). As for why, the study summed it up this way: “While the music itself sounds upbeat and fun, the lyrics discuss sad moments everyone can relate to, such as a chapter in life coming to an end.”
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Of course, the same could be said for countless other bands with "sad" lyrics, but the numbers don't lie (even if they might not tell the whole story). Take this one with a grain of salt...or a box of tissues.
Related: This 1974 Cult-Classic Ranked 'Saddest Rock Song Ever Written'
This story was originally published by Parade on Feb 15, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
