50 Fun Facts About Number-One Songs

Which Lil Nas X hit, Billboard's top single of 2019, spent a then-record 19 weeks at number one?

Old Town Road was recorded in a day over a beat Lil Nas X bought online for $30, and Billboard pulled it from the country chart before it conquered the Hot 100.

Elton John's rewritten Candle in the Wind, Billboard's top single of 1997, was a tribute to whom?

Princess Diana had died in a car crash two weeks before the single came out; the 1973 original had been written about Marilyn Monroe.

Which country star wrote I Will Always Love You, Billboard's top single of 1993 for Whitney Houston?

Dolly Parton wrote it in 1973 as a farewell to her mentor Porter Wagoner, and Houston's cover later spent a then-record 14 weeks at number one.

Which dance-craze single by the Spanish duo Los del Río was Billboard's top Hot 100 song of 1996?

Macarena only took off in America after Miami producers the Bayside Boys added English lyrics, and that remix then held number one for 14 weeks.

Which Police song about obsessive surveillance, often mistaken for a love ballad, was Billboard's top single of 1983?

Every Breath You Take was the Police's only Hot 100 number one, and its writer Sting has called the song sinister and ugly rather than gentle.

Pharrell Williams's Happy, Billboard's number-one single of 2014, was written for which animated film?

Despicable Me 2 came out in 2013, but Happy peaked a year later and became the best-selling song of 2014 in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Which artist became the first act to fill the Billboard Hot 100's entire top ten in a single week, in 2022?

Taylor Swift managed it with songs from her album Midnights, led by Anti-Hero at number one.

Which single, built on the bass line of Under Pressure, was the first hip-hop song to top the Billboard Hot 100?

Ice Ice Baby gave Vanilla Ice the milestone in 1990, and Queen and David Bowie only received songwriting credit and royalties after it had become a hit.

Which fictional cartoon band had Billboard's number-one single of 1969 with Sugar, Sugar?

The Archies were characters from Archie Comics, so studio musicians made the record, with Ron Dante singing lead.

Which Hollywood actress is named in the title of Kim Carnes's 1981 single, Billboard's biggest hit of that year?

Bette Davis was 73 when Bette Davis Eyes topped the chart, and she wrote to Kim Carnes to thank her for making her a part of modern times.

Which Beatles single, the group's first American chart-topper, was Billboard's number-one song of 1964?

I Want to Hold Your Hand entered the Hot 100 at number 45 in January 1964 and set off the British Invasion of American pop.

Which Beatles single, more than seven minutes long, was Billboard's top Hot 100 song of 1968?

Hey Jude began as Hey Jules, which Paul McCartney wrote to comfort John Lennon's young son Julian while his parents were separating.

Which duo's Bridge over Troubled Water, Billboard's top single of 1970, won the Grammy for Record of the Year?

Simon & Garfunkel had already split by the time of that Grammy win; Paul Simon wrote the song on guitar, then moved it to piano for a gospel feel.

Which Blondie song, the theme from the film American Gigolo, was Billboard's number-one single of 1980?

Call Me was composed by Giorgio Moroder, who first asked Stevie Nicks to sing it before Debbie Harry wrote the words.

Which Olivia Newton-John single spent ten weeks at number one and was Billboard's top song of 1982?

Physical held the top spot from November 1981 into January 1982, the longest run of the 1980s, even though some radio stations banned it as too suggestive.

Which Prince single, famous for having no bass line, was Billboard's top Hot 100 song of 1984?

When Doves Cry was Prince's first Hot 100 chart-topper; he took the bass part out after deciding the song sounded too conventional with it.

Which saxophone-led George Michael ballad, co-written with Andrew Ridgeley, was Billboard's number-one song of 1985?

Careless Whisper came to George Michael at 17, on a bus to his job as a DJ at a restaurant.

Which all-female band had Billboard's top single of 1987 with Walk Like an Egyptian?

The Bangles were handed a song its writer dreamed up on a ferry, watching passengers flail for balance like figures in Egyptian tomb paintings.

Which Canadian rocker's ballad from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was Billboard's number-one single of 1991?

Bryan Adams also spent 16 straight weeks at number one in Britain with (Everything I Do) I Do It for You, a record unbroken run on the UK chart.

Which Philadelphia vocal group's End of the Road was Billboard's number-one Hot 100 single of 1992?

Boyz II Men recorded it for the Eddie Murphy film Boomerang, and its 13 weeks at number one set a record that Whitney Houston broke within months.

Which country produced Ace of Base, whose The Sign was Billboard's number-one single of 1994?

Sweden's Ace of Base formed in Gothenburg, and The Sign made them the first group from the country to top the American singles and album charts at the same time.

Coolio's Gangsta's Paradise, Billboard's top single of 1995, reworks Pastime Paradise by which Motown star?

Stevie Wonder released Pastime Paradise on his 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life, and Coolio's version led the soundtrack of the film Dangerous Minds.

Which singer's Believe, an early showcase for Auto-Tune, was Billboard's number-one single of 1999?

Cher was 52 when Believe reached the top, and its robotic vocal sound was imitated so widely that it became known as the Cher effect.

Which 50 Cent single from the album Get Rich or Die Tryin' was Billboard's number-one song of 2003?

In da Club held the top of the Hot 100 for nine straight weeks and gave 50 Cent the first chart-topper of his career.

Usher's Yeah!, Billboard's top single of 2004, features Lil Jon and which other rapper?

Ludacris guested on a single that stayed on top for 12 straight weeks, until Usher's own follow-up, Burn, replaced it.

Which Mariah Carey single held number one for fourteen weeks and was Billboard's top Hot 100 song of 2005?

We Belong Together entered the Hot 100 at number 81 before its long climb, and Billboard later named it the most popular song of the 2000s.

Which song, played on American Idol as contestants were eliminated, was Billboard's top Hot 100 single of 2006?

Bad Day made the Canadian singer Daniel Powter a star, and it was the first song to sell two million digital copies in the United States.

Which Beyoncé single, co-written by Ne-Yo, held number one for ten weeks and was Billboard's top song of 2007?

Irreplaceable began life as a country-style song: Ne-Yo wrote it from a man's point of view, with singers like Shania Twain in mind.

Which Black Eyed Peas song replaced the group's own Boom Boom Pow at number one in 2009?

I Gotta Feeling stayed on top for 14 weeks, so with Boom Boom Pow, Billboard's top single of 2009, the group held number one for 26 weeks in a row.

Which singer's debut solo single Tik Tok was Billboard's top Hot 100 song of 2010?

Kesha's Tik Tok spent nine weeks on top as the first Hot 100 chart-topper of the 2010s, and it was the best-selling single worldwide in 2010.

Which Adele single, the lead release from her album 21, was Billboard's number-one song of 2011?

Rolling in the Deep was Adele's first American chart-topper and stayed at the summit of the Hot 100 for seven weeks.

Which Macklemore & Ryan Lewis hit, released on an independent label, was Billboard's top single of 2013?

Thrift Shop came out on Macklemore's own label and was a sleeper hit: it took 16 weeks on the chart to reach number one, then spent six weeks on top.

Which producer's Uptown Funk, featuring Bruno Mars, was Billboard's number-one Hot 100 single of 2015?

Mark Ronson's single stayed on top for fourteen consecutive weeks and won the Grammy for Record of the Year.

Which Ed Sheeran single, written with Rihanna in mind, was Billboard's top Hot 100 song of 2017?

Shape of You reached number one in 34 countries after the head of Sheeran's record label persuaded him to keep the song for himself.

Which Drake single, whose video shows him giving away its near-million-dollar budget, was Billboard's top song of 2018?

God's Plan spent its first 11 weeks on the Hot 100 at number one, and its video opens by stating that the whole $996,631.90 budget had been given away.

Which singer's Blinding Lights, Billboard's top single of 2020, was later named the Hot 100's biggest hit ever?

The Weeknd's single spent 57 weeks in the Hot 100's top ten, the first song to stay there for an entire year.

Which Dua Lipa song was Billboard's top single of 2021 despite peaking at number two on the Hot 100?

Levitating was only the fourth year-end champion that never topped the weekly chart, and the first in twenty years.

Which British band's Heat Waves, Billboard's top single of 2022, took a record-setting 59 weeks to reach number one?

Glass Animals released the song in June 2020, and it crept up the chart for more than a year before its five weeks on top in early 2022.

Which Elvis Presley song, his first million-seller, was Billboard's top single of 1956?

Heartbreak Hotel topped Billboard's pop chart for seven weeks and its country chart for seventeen, earning Presley his first gold record.

Volare, Billboard's number-one single of 1958, was sung in which language?

Italian lyrics were no barrier: Modugno's recording also became the first winner of the Grammys for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

Johnny Horton's The Battle of New Orleans, Billboard's top single of 1959, retells a clash from which war?

The War of 1812 peace treaty had been signed 15 days before the battle, but news of it had not yet reached America.

Which singer's The Way We Were, the theme from her film with Robert Redford, was Billboard's top single of 1974?

Barbra Streisand played Katie Morosky in the 1973 film, and the song went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Which singer's You Are Not Alone became the first song ever to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100?

Michael Jackson broke his own record: his previous single, Scream, had been the first to enter the chart as high as number five.

Which Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee hit topped the Hot 100 for 16 weeks in 2017 after a Justin Bieber remix?

Despacito tied the record of the time for weeks at number one, and Bieber sang in Spanish for the first time, from lyrics written out phonetically.

Which South Korean group first topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 2020 with the English-language single Dynamite?

BTS became the first all-South Korean act to top the chart, and they did it with their first song recorded entirely in English.

Which Chubby Checker dance hit reached number one on the Hot 100 in two separate runs, in 1960 and 1962?

The Twist returned to the top once the dance craze caught on with adults in high society, the first record to hit number one in two separate chart runs.

Whose Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree finally topped the Hot 100 in 2023, 65 years after its release?

Brenda Lee was 13 when she recorded it and 78 when it reached the top, helped by a new music video in which she mimed to her teenage voice.

Which singer's Poor Little Fool was the first chart-topper on Billboard's newly launched Hot 100 in August 1958?

Ricky Nelson led the very first Hot 100 with a song written by Sharon Sheeley, on a chart that replaced Billboard's older Jockeys and Top 100 lists.

Which film theme by the Scottish singer Lulu was Billboard's top Hot 100 single of 1967?

To Sir with Love came from a 1967 film in which Lulu also acted, and it made her the first Scottish woman to top the Hot 100 as a solo artist.

Which band's Wooly Bully was Billboard's top song of 1965 despite never reaching the summit of the weekly chart?

Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs were the first act to manage that on the Hot 100, with a song Sam counts in using both Spanish and English.