Alex Honnold’s Record-Breaking Taipei 101 Climb Had a Soundtrack Featuring Tool, Linkin Park, Chevelle & More

Free Solo star Alex Honnold captured global attention last month with his daring January 26th climb of Taipei 101 in Taiwan, a 101-story skyscraper scaled entirely without ropes. While the feat made headlines for its sheer audacity, the climb also drew interest in the music world after Honnold revealed he curated a personal playlist for the ascent—one dominated by Tool and other alternative and metal favorites.

Honnold told Variety that his playlist wasn’t just about motivation. The track lengths helped him keep a steady pace as he climbed. He explained:

“It was mostly Tool. It’s a random playlist that I made, that I shared with production. I made it months ago while I was driving. I’ve been training to it a bunch. Basically, rock music that I’ve liked my whole life. Part of the appeal of music is that actually it helps me with pacing.
Each bamboo box had been taking me about five to six and a half minutes. I just know how long the songs are. So it gives you a sense of if you’re going fast or slow. But in this case, it all kept cutting out anyway, and I couldn’t really hear and I was kind of like, ‘Whatever. I’m just doing my thing.’”

The playlist, titled T101, has since circulated online, and it’s packed with Tool tracks. It opens with “Forty Six & 2” from their multi-platinum album Ænima and includes a pair of songs from Fear Inoculum (“Invincible” & “Pneuma”), alongside four selections from Lateralus (“The Grudge”, “Lateralus”, “Schism”, “Parabola”).

NOTHING MORE also claimed six spots on Honnold’s playlist, while two tracks from Linkin Park (“The Emptiness Machine”, “Papercut”) and The Used (“Men Are All The Same”, “Hands And Faces”) rounded out some of the heavier picks.

Rounding out the mix were singular tracks from Chevelle (“Rabbit Hole – Cowards, Pt. 1”), Senses Fail (“Choke On This”) and an early cut from The Offspring (“Session”), creating a playlist that reflected both Honnold’s taste and the intensity of his record-breaking climb.

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