The Billboard Hot 100 chart measures the top songs in the US, using a mix of statistics including sales, radio airplay, and even YouTube streaming.  For more than 60 years, it has been the chart Americans look to see what songs are the most popular.  Throughout its long history, many records have been made.  Here are 10 of the most impressive.

 

#10. Most Chart Entries

The “artist” that holds this record may come as somewhat of a shock, but the cast of the hit show Glee holds the record for the most entries on the Billboard Hot 100, with a staggering 205 of their covers charting.  However, the large majority of these songs only charted for a week or two, and failed to even reach the top 50.  Only two of their songs have reached the top 10, with the highest being the very first song from the show – a cover of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin”, which reached number 4.

 

#9. Longest Gap Between Number-Ones

Cher released her first single in 1965, but she would have to wait 5 years for her first number-one hit, “Gypsys, Tramps, and Thieves.”  That wait was nothing compared to her wait for her fourth number one.  After “Dark Lady” hit the top in 1974, it would be nearly 25 years before her comeback song “Believe” did the same in 1996.  “If I Could Turn Back Time” came the closest to ending her wait in 1989, when it reached #3.

 

#8. Biggest Jump in One Week

Kelly Clarkson released “My Life Would Suck Without You” in January of 2009, with the song debuting a disappointing 97th.  However, in its second week, the song shot up to 1st place.  Even Billboard itself was dumbfounded by the song’s leap, asking, “Where was Kelly Clarkson’s fans the first week?”  The song also reached number one in the United Kingdom, the only song from an American Idol contestant to ever reach the top in the UK.

 

#7. Most Consecutive Years with a Number-One Single

Starting in 1990, Mariah Carey had a number-one single for 11 years straight, with 2001 being the year that put an end to her record.  “Vision of Love”, her first single, began her reign.  Carey’s first 4 singles would all hit number one, and 8 of her first 12 singles.  Even after her run had ended, she still had 3 number-one hits after 2001.  All of these incredible records help make Carey one of the most successful female singers in music history.

 

#6. Artist With Most Consecutive Weeks at Number One

   Up until 2009, hip hop band The Black Eyed Peas were one of the biggest bands in the US, but they had never had a Billboard number one hit.  That changed, in a big way, when “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling” reached the top back-to-back.  Overall, The Black Eyed Peas spent a whopping 26 weeks (half a year) at number one, from April 18th all the way to October 10th, before Jay Sean’s “Down” finally ended their reign.

 

#5. Most Weeks on Chart

Jason Mraz had some success early in his career, particularly with the radio hit “The Remedy (I Won’t Worry)”.  But in 2008, he released his breakthrough hit, the immensely popular “I’m Your’s.”  The song began as a pop hit, but gradually grew in popularity to cross over into mainstream.  It stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 for 76 weeks in total, 7 more than the previous record, set a decade earlier.  Despite this success, the highest it ever reached on the Hot 100 was 6th.  “I’m Yours” is still the eight most-downloaded digital song in US history.

 

#4. Most Consecutive Number-One Singles

From 1985 to 1987, Whitney Houston had an amazing run of 7 of her singles consecutively reaching number 1 on the Hot 100.  “Love Will Save the Day” was the single that broke the record, as it peaked at number 9.  Overall, Whitney Houston had 11 number-one singles, placing her 8th on the all-time list, ahead of Janet Jackson and Stevie Wonder.

 

#3. Most Cumulative Weeks At Number One

  This record is shared between two artists who have spent 79 weeks at the top spot – Elvis Presley and Mariah Carey.  Mariah Carey had 18 number-ones, and Elvis Presley had 19.  “Hound Dog/Don’t Be Cruel” was Presley’s longest running number one, with 11 weeks, while Mariah Carey’s total is boosted by her song with Boyz II Men, “One Sweet Day” which stayed at number one for a record 16 weeks.

 

#2. Song with Most Weeks at Number One

Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day” is officially the top song in Billboard’s history.  Named, the top song of the entire decade, “One Sweet Day” spent 16 weeks at number one.  It was written about losing a loved one, and meeting them again in heaven, where you realize you’d taken them for granted.  The song was heavily inspired by the AIDS epidemic that was gripping the globe at the time.  Critics praised the song for its selfless message, and for 17 years, no song has been able to top it, with 4 songs staying at the top for 14 weeks.

#1. Most Number One-Singles

This record belongs to a band thought by many to be the greatest of all time.  In 1962, their second single, “Love Me Do” reached number one in the US.  Over the next 8 years, the impressive list of number one hits by The Beatles would climb to 20.  “The Ballad of John and Yoko” was their last number one, although two singles charted in the 90’s.  Between 1966 and 1967, eight of The Beatles’ nine singles reached the top of the charts.