Songs with most weeks at number one

 

* 16 weeks

 

Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men — "One Sweet Day" (1995 - 1996)

 

* 14 weeks

 

Whitney Houston — "I Will Always Love You" (1992)

Boyz II Men — "I'll Make Love to You" (1994)

Los del Río — "Macarena" (Bayside Boys mix) (1996)

Elton John — "Candle in the Wind 1997" / "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" (1997)

Mariah Carey — "We Belong Together" (2005)

 

* 13 weeks

 

Boyz II Men — "End of the Road" (1992)

Brandy and Monica — "The Boy Is Mine" (1998)

 

* 12 weeks

 

Santana featuring Rob Thomas — "Smooth" (1999)

Eminem — "Lose Yourself" (2002)

Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris — "Yeah!" (2004)

 

* 11 weeks

 

Elvis Presley — "Hound Dog" / "Don't Be Cruel" (1956) ("Best Sellers in Stores" and "Most Played in Jukeboxes" charts)

All-4-One — "I Swear" (1994)

Toni Braxton — "Un-Break My Heart" (1996)

Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112 — "I'll Be Missing You" (1997)

Destiny's Child — "Independent Women Part 1" (2000)

 

* 10 weeks

 

McGuire Sisters — "Sincerely" (1955) ("Most Played by Jockeys" chart)

Pérez Prado — "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" (1955) ("Best Sellers in Stores" chart)

Debby Boone — "You Light Up My Life" (1977)

Olivia Newton-John — "Physical" (1981)

Santana featuring The Product G&B — "Maria Maria" (2000)

Ashanti — "Foolish" (2002)

Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland — "Dilemma" (2002)

Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx — "Gold Digger" (2005)

 

 

[edit] Number-one debuts

 

* Michael Jackson — "You Are Not Alone" (September 2, 1995)

* Mariah Carey — "Fantasy" (September 30, 1995)

* Whitney Houston — "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" (November 25, 1995)

* Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men — "One Sweet Day" (December 2, 1995)

* Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112 — "I'll Be Missing You" (June 14, 1997)

* Mariah Carey — "Honey" (September 13, 1997)

* Elton John — "Candle in the Wind 1997" / "Something About The Way You Look Tonight" (October 11, 1997)

* Céline Dion — "My Heart Will Go On" (February 28, 1998)

* Aerosmith — "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" (September 5, 1998)

* Lauryn Hill — "Doo Wop (That Thing)" (November 14, 1998)

* R. Kelly and Céline Dion — "I'm Your Angel" (December 5, 1998)

* Clay Aiken — "This is the Night" (June 28, 2003)

* Fantasia — "I Believe" (July 10, 2004)

* Carrie Underwood — "Inside Your Heaven" (July 2, 2005)

* Taylor Hicks — "Do I Make You Proud" (July 1, 2006)

 

 

[edit] Most number-one songs from an album

 

* 5 — Michael Jackson — Bad (1987-1988)

* 4 — Bee Gees — Saturday Night Fever (1977-1978)

* 4 — George Michael — Faith (1987-1988)

* 4 — Whitney Houston — Whitney (1987-1988)

* 4 — Paula Abdul — Forever Your Girl (1989-1990)

* 4 — Janet Jackson — Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989-1991)

* 4 — Mariah Carey — Mariah Carey (1990-1991)

* 4 — Usher — Confessions (2004)

 

[edit] Songs that have hit number one by two different artists

 

* "Go Away Little Girl" — Steve Lawrence (1963) and Donny Osmond (1971)

* "The Loco-Motion" — Little Eva (1962) and Grand Funk (1974)

* "Please Mr. Postman" — The Marvelettes (1961) and The Carpenters (1975)

* "Venus" — Shocking Blue (1970) and Bananarama (1986)

* "Lean on Me" — Bill Withers (1972) and Club Nouveau (1987)

* "You Keep Me Hangin' On" — The Supremes (1966) and Kim Wilde (1987)

* "When a Man Loves a Woman" — Percy Sledge (1966) and Michael Bolton (1991)

* "I'll Be There" — The Jackson 5 (1970) and Mariah Carey (1992)

* "Lady Marmalade" — LaBelle (1975) and Christina Aguilera / Lil Kim / Mya / P!nk (2001)

 

 

 

[edit] Artists with the most number-one hits

 

* The Beatles (20)

* Elvis Presley (17) (tie) (Pre-Hot 100 charts and Hot 100)

* Mariah Carey (17) (tie)

* Michael Jackson (13)

* The Supremes (12) (tie)

* Madonna (12) (tie)

* Whitney Houston (11)

 

[edit] Artists with the most cumulative weeks at number one

 

* Elvis Presley (79 weeks) ("Best Sellers in Stores" chart and Hot 100)

* Mariah Carey (77 weeks)

* The Beatles (59 weeks)

* Boyz II Men (50 weeks)

* Usher (40 weeks)

* Michael Jackson (37 weeks)

 

[edit] Artists with the most consecutive number-one hits

 

* 7 — Whitney Houston (1985-1988)

* 6 — The Beatles (1964-1966)

* 6 — Bee Gees (1977-1979)

* 5 — Elvis Presley (1959-1961)

* 5 — The Supremes (1964-1965)

* 5 — Michael Jackson (1987-1988)

* 5 — Mariah Carey (1990-1991 and 1995-1998)

 

[edit] Artists with the most number-two hits

 

* 6 — Elvis Presley

* 6 — Madonna

* 5 — The Carpenters

* 5 — Creedence Clearwater Revival

* 4 — Janet Jackson

* 4 — Elton John

* 4 — Mariah Carey

 

[edit] Artists who have simultaneously occupied the top two positions

 

* Elvis Presley: October 20, 1956 through November 3, 1956

 

1. "Hound Dog" / "Don't Be Cruel"

2. "Love Me Tender" ("Best Sellers in Stores" and "Most Played by Jockeys" charts)

 

* The Beatles: From February 22, 1964 until April 25, 1964 the Beatles held the top two positions, with various singles. On some weeks their domination extended past the top two. On April 4, 1964, the Beatles occupied the entire top five.

 

1. "Can't Buy Me Love"

2. "Twist and Shout"

3. "She Loves You"

4. "I Want to Hold Your Hand"

5. "Please Please Me"

 

* The Bee Gees: March 18, 1978 through April 15, 1978

 

1. "Night Fever"

2. "Stayin' Alive"

 

* Ashanti: April 20, 2002 through May 18, 2002

 

1. "Foolish"

2. "What's Luv?" (Fat Joe featuring Ashanti)

 

* Nelly: August 10, 2002 through August 31, 2002

 

1. "Hot in Herre"

2. "Dilemma" (songs switched positions on August 17, 2002)

 

* OutKast: December 20, 2003 through February 7, 2004

 

1. "Hey Ya!"

2. "The Way You Move"

 

* 50 Cent: April 16, 2005

 

1. "Candy Shop" (50 Cent featuring Olivia)

2. "Hate It or Love It" (The Game featuring 50 Cent)

 

* Mariah Carey: September 10, 2005

 

1. "We Belong Together"

2. "Shake It Off"

 

* Akon: December 2, 2006

 

1. "I Wanna Love You" (Akon featuring Snoop Dogg)

2. "Smack That" (Akon featuring Eminem)

 

 

 

[edit] Songwriters with the most number-one hits

 

* Paul McCartney (32)

* John Lennon (26)

* Barry Gibb (16) (tie)

* Mariah Carey (16) (tie)

* Brian Holland (15)

 

[edit] Additional Hot 100 achievements

 

* The first number-one song on the Hot 100 was "Poor Little Fool" by Ricky Nelson (August 4, 1958).

 

* In the same week of April 1964 that The Beatles held the top five chart positions, they also had another nine singles scattered on the chart, bringing their total to fourteen singles on the Hot 100, a record unlikely to be surpassed at any time in the conceivable future.

 

* The number-one song on the first week Billboard incorporated sales and airplay data from Nielsen SoundScan and Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems was "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" by P.M. Dawn (November 30, 1991).

 

* The first "airplay-only" song to reach number one (no points from a commercial single release) was "Try Again" by Aaliyah (June 17, 2000).

 

* "The Twist" by Chubby Checker is the only song to hit number one twice in two separate chart runs (one week in 1960 and two weeks in 1962).

 

* James Brown holds the record for most Hot 100 entries (ninety-nine) without a number-one song.

 

* Creedence Clearwater Revival holds the record for the most number-two hits (five) without ever hitting number one.

 

* "Control Myself" by LL Cool J featuring Jennifer Lopez holds the record for the highest re-entry into the Hot 100, when it re-appeared at number four on April 29 2006 after dropping off the chart four weeks prior.

 

* The oldest artist to hit number one on the Hot 100 is Louis Armstrong in 1964 with "Hello, Dolly!" at the age of 62. The oldest woman to top the Hot 100 is Cher with "Believe" in 1999 at the age of 53.

 

* The first Contemporary Christian music act to have a number-one hit on the Hot 100 was Amy Grant with "The Next Time I Fall", a duet with Peter Cetera in 1986.

 

* Michael Jackson's Thriller (1982-1984), Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA (1984-1985) and Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989-1991) are the only three albums to produce seven top-ten singles.

 

* Elton John had at least one top forty hit every calendar year from 1970 (beginning with "Your Song") until 1999 (with "Written in the Stars", a duet with LeAnn Rimes). (However, this methodology credits one late 1995 hit that extended into the January 1996 chart, and another single whose chart run covered both 1997 and 1998.)

 

* Two Tommy James & the Shondells covers ("I Think We're Alone Now" by Tiffany and "Mony Mony" by Billy Idol) were consecutive number-one hits in 1987.

 

* Several artists have charted with two recordings of the same song, but only three acts have hit the top ten with two different versions of the same song. Those acts are The Ventures ("Walk, Don't Run"/"Walk, Don't Run '64"), Neil Sedaka ("Breaking Up is Hard to Do"), Elton John ("Candle in the Wind"/"Candle in the Wind 1997"; also "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," the second as a duet with George Michael).

 

* The Beatles and Usher are the only two artists to have the year-end number-one and number-two songs, with the former having "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You" in 1964, and the latter with "Yeah!" and "Burn" in 2004.

 

* Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs, Faith Hill, and Lifehouse are the only three acts to have a Billboard Year-End number-one single that did not top the Billboard Hot 100 at any point during its run. In all three cases, the relevant single peaked at number two: Sam the Sham's "Wooly Bully" (1965), Faith Hill's "Breathe" (2000), and Lifehouse's "Hanging by a Moment" (2001).

 

* The Isley Brothers hold the record for being the only act to have had top forty hits on the Hot 100 in six consecutive decades: the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

 

* Usher holds the record for the most weeks spent at number one in a calendar year. In 2004 he spent twenty-eight weeks at number one with four different singles. This represents 54% of 2004's chart weeks.

 

* The Bee Gees claimed the number one spot for 25 of 32 consecutive weeks beginning the last week of 1977, either as writers, producers, and/or backing vocalists on singles by Yvonne Elliman, their younger brother Andy Gibb, and on three singles credited to themselves.

 

* High School Musical was responsible for a number of chart distinctions. Andrew Seeley had Hot 100 debuts with his first two entries ("Breaking Free" and "Get'cha Head in the Game") in the same week, making him the first artist to begin a chart career with two simultaneous debuts. This achievement was retroactive, as Seeley's name was absent from both singles until their third week on the charts. In addition, Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens matched the Beatles with four Hot 100 entries within two weeks. The Beatles also had six chart debuts within three weeks; Efron and Hudgens unofficially match this total as members of the "High School Musical" cast. In February 2006, High School Musical generated the most simultaneous Hot 100 entries from any album, with nine songs in the Hot 100 simultaneously (five of them in the Top 40). All tracks charted strictly on the basis of digital downloads, as none of the songs received any radio airplay.

 

* When Lisa Loeb hit number one with "Stay (I Missed You)" in 1994, she earned the distinction of being the only artist to top the Hot 100 before being signed to any record label.

 

* "November Rain" by Guns N' Roses (1992) stands as the longest-running song to reach the top twenty of the Billboard Hot 100, at a length of eight minutes, fifty-seven seconds.

 

* The shortest charting record of the rock era was "Little Boxes" by the Womenfolk, which was exactly one minute long. The 1964 single reached number eighty-three.

 

* Mariah Carey is the only artist to have a number one hit in every single year of any decade: the 1990's.

 

* Paul McCartney is the only artist to have separate top-ten singles as a solo act, as half of a duo, as a third of a trio, as a fourth of a quartet, and as a fifth of a quintet. (Graham Nash also charted in these five configurations, but only in the top forty.)

 

* Elvis Presley had the most double-sided hits, in which both the A-side and the B-side were charting singles (52). Presley also had the most consecutive top-ten hits, with thirty.

 

Excellent stats Kalen, to be honest I can see Mariah breaking a lot of those records with the next album, hopefully she'll have a shot at breaking The Beatles record of most #1's. I think she will overtake Elvis and beat his 79 weeks at number 1, if not overtake, then equal at least. ^_^

I agree! I don't think she'll ever beat the most consecutive number 1s, or the most number 1s off an album though :(! I hope there's at least 2 number 1s from the next album, which will mean that she will be near the Beatles!

Thanks for this Kalen. Lots of interesting stats.

No problem ^_^