Ranking - Artist - Nationality - Age when first appeared - latest age / ** deceased but would have been... - total number of years

 

1 ~ Elton John [Reginald Dwight] ~ England ~ 24 ~ 77 ~ 45

2 ~ Cliff Richard [Harry Webb] ~ England ~ 19 ~ 83 ~ 44

3 ~ Rolling Stones ~ England ~ ~ ~ 43

~ Rod Stewart ~ England ~ 26 ~ 76 ~ 43

5 ~ Beatles ~ England ~ ~ ~ 42

6 ~ Elvis Presley ~ USA ~ 23 ~ 88** ~ 41

~ Bob Dylan [Robert Zimmerman] ~ USA ~ 23 ~ 82 ~ 41

8 ~ Queen ~ England / Zanzibar ~ ~ ~ 37

9 ~ Paul McCartney ~ England ~ 21 ~ 79 ~ 35

10 ~ Eric Clapton / (BB King) ~ England ~ 20 ~ 71 ~ 32

11 ~ Pink Floyd ~ England ~ ~ ~ 31

~ David Bowie [David Jones] ~ England ~ 25 ~ 76** ~ 31

~ Status Quo ~ England ~ ~ ~ 31

14 ~ Who ~ England ~ ~ ~ 29

~ Fleetwood Mac ~ England / USA ~ ~ ~ 29

16 ~ Michael Jackson ~ USA ~ 15 ~ 66** ~ 28

~ Bruce Springsteen ~ USA ~ 29 ~ 73 ~ 28

~ Madonna (Ciccone) ~ USA ~ 27 ~ 64 ~ 28

19 ~ Frank Sinatra [Francis Sinatra] ~ USA ~ 43 ~ 93** ~ 27

20 ~ Neil Young / (Promise of Real; Crazy Horse) ~ Canada ~ 25 ~ 76 ~ 26

~ Van Morrison / (Chieftains; Joey DeFrancesco) [George Morrison] ~ N. Ireland ~ 26 ~ 78 ~ 26

~ Abba ~ Sweden ~ ~ ~ 26

~ Iron Maiden ~ England ~ ~ ~ 26

~ Daniel O'Donnell ~ Eire ~ 31 ~ 61 ~ 26

Edited January 26, 20241 yr by Tuttavilla

And the same list for the Top Twenty Singles Artists 1952-2024 inclusive

 

1 ~ Cliff Richard / (Hank Marvin; London Philharmonic Orchestra; Phil Everly; Young Ones; Van Morrison) [Harry Webb] ~ England ~ 18 ~ 68 ~ 41

2 ~ Elton John / (RuPaul; Alessandro Safina) [Reginald Dwight] ~ England ~ 24 ~ 77 ~ 33

= ~ Mariah Carey ~ USA ~ 21 ~ 55 ~ 33

4 ~ Elvis Presley / (JXL) ~ USA ~ 21 ~ 72** ~ 30

5 ~ Madonna (Ciccone) ~ USA ~ 26 ~ 51 ~ 24

6 ~ Status Quo ~ England ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 23

= ~ Michael Jackson / (Siedah Garrett) ~ USA ~ 12 ~ 65** ~ 23

= ~ Pogues ~ England / Ireland ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 23

9 ~ David Bowie / (Mick Jagger) [David Jones] ~ England ~ 22 ~ 69** ~ 22

= ~ Paul McCartney / (Frog Chorus) ~ England ~ 20 ~ 80 ~ 22

11 ~ Rolling Stones ~ England ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 21

= ~ Rod Stewart ~ England ~ 26 ~ 53 ~ 21

13 ~ Kylie Minogue / (Keith Washington; Nick Cave) ~ Australia ~ 20 ~ 55 ~ 20

14 ~ Queen / (Vanguard) ~ England / Zanzibar ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 19

= ~ Shakin' Stevens [Michael Barratt] ~ Wales ~ 32 ~ 76 ~ 19

= ~ Iron Maiden ~ England ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 19

= ~ U2; Passengers / (BB King; Musique; LMC) ~ England / Ireland ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 19

= ~ Pet Shop Boys; Absolutely Fabulous ~ England ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 19

19 ~ UB 40 / (Chrissie Hynde; Afrika Bambaataa) ~ England ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 17

= ~ Depeche Mode ~ England ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 17

= ~ P!nk [Alecia Moore] ~ USA ~ 21 ~ 44 ~ 17

 

Fascinating list!

 

Initially, I assumed that the numbers would be greater for singles, but of course I’m wrong, as artists can have new albums become top 20 hits long after the artist’s peak, but not for singles, and of course many albums these days return to the top 20 for many years.

 

I believe George Michael is on 18 years for singles, so should have made the list.

 

I’ve spotted that Wham! are on (I think) 15 years so, unlike Pogues and Mariah, miss out by 2 years.

 

I know this list does not intend to combine solo and group efforts, but if we did add George’s solo and group work, he should be on 31 years (1984 and 1986 he did the double). I will justify doing this because his solo work morphed out of his group work – in fact, the last two Wham! albums contained George’s solo tracks.

 

That would put George in 4th place overall, and I would imagine Paul McCartney could be ahead, pushing George down to 5th place.

Edited January 27, 20241 yr by GreyAsh

Fascinating list!

 

Initially, I assumed that the numbers would be greater for singles, but of course I’m wrong, as artists can have new albums become top 20 hits long after the artist’s peak, but not for singles, and of course many albums these days return to the top 20 for many years.

 

I believe George Michael is on 18 years for singles, so should have made the list.

 

I’ve spotted that Wham! are on (I think) 15 years so, unlike Pogues and Mariah, miss out by 2 years.

 

I know this list does not intend to combine solo and group efforts, but if we did add George’s solo and group work, he should be on 31 years (1984 and 1986 he did the double). I will justify doing this because his solo work morphed out of his group work – in fact, the last two Wham! albums contained George’s solo tracks.

 

That would put George in 4th place overall, and I would imagine Paul McCartney could be ahead, pushing George down to 5th place.

 

The raw numbers are:

 

Wham! 9 years on the Albums, 16 years on the Singles - Total 25

 

George Michael 16 years on the Albums, 14 years on the Singles - Total 30

 

The Albums both together: 25 years

The Singles both together: 30 years (coincidentally)

 

However:

 

On the Albums, they both charted in 1987, 1997, 1998 and 2017 - George cannot claim double appearances in any one year! - so that total is 21

 

On the Singles, they both charted in 1984 and 1986, so that total in 28

 

Which leaves George having appeared in 49 different calendar years either solo or with Wham!

 

For Paul McCartney and the Beatles:

 

A total of 57 Album years is reduced by 20 when they both appeared, leaving 37

A total of 36 Single years is reduced by 3, leaving 33

Which leaves Paul McCartney with a total of 70 years.

 

Thanks for your interest!

Edited January 27, 20241 yr by Tuttavilla

I should have added that I have not included George Michael's duets or collaborations with other artists.

 

If I do, there are four more years to be added to his singles and overall total, making 53 years.

Fab! That’s really interesting. So overall, Paul McCartney would be ahead of George Michael in the singles listing.

 

But am I right in thinking that you included collaborations (but not groups) for the other artists in your original singles list - or have I misunderstood that? And therefore missing George Michael out was an oversight? Or was there another reason for not including him?

Fab! That’s really interesting. So overall, Paul McCartney would be ahead of George Michael in the singles listing.

 

But am I right in thinking that you included collaborations (but not groups) for the other artists in your original singles list - or have I misunderstood that? And therefore missing George Michael out was an oversight? Or was there another reason for not including him?

 

More of an oversight than anything else, I concentrated only on Wham! and solo George Michael, without considering his other collaborative entries. I might have to look at McCartney's entries with Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson's as well... And then what about Band Aid, Live Aid, Ferry Aid and all the charity singles then?! Give me a decade to sort those out please!!