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U.S. Pop Record Chart Facts

The Most #1 Hits    The Most Top 10 Hits     The Most Top 40 Hits

The Most Weeks Spent At #1     The Youngest Hitmakers     The Oldest Hitmakers




The Artists With the Most U.S. Number One Singles

Number Name Total
1 The Beatles 20
2 Elvis Presley 18
3 Mariah Carey 15
4 Michael Jackson 13
5 The Supremes 12
6 Madonna 12
7 Whitney Houston 11
8 Stevie Wonder 10
9 Janet Jackson 10
10 George Michael 10
11 Elton John 9
12 Paul McCartney 9
13 Bee Gees 9
14 Rolling Stones 8
15 Phil Collins 7
16 Pat Boone 6
17 Hall and Oates 6
18 Diana Ross 6
19 Paula Abdul 6
20 Eagles 5
21 Four Seasons 5
22 Prince 5
23 KC & the Sunshine Band 5
24 Olivia Newton-John 5
25 Barbra Streisand 5
26 Lionel Richie 5
27 Bon Jovi 5
28 Boyz II Men 5
29 Puff Daddy 5


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The Artists With the Most U.S. Top Ten Singles

Number Name Total
1 Elvis Presley 38
2 Madonna 35
3 The Beatles 34
4 Janet Jackson 29
5 Stevie Wonder 28
6 Michael Jackson 28
7 Elton John 27
8 Mariah Carey 23
9 Rolling Stones 23
10 Whitney Houston 23
11 Paul McCartney 22
12 George Michael 21
13 The Supremes 20
14 Chicago 20
15 Prince 19
16 Ricky Nelson 19
17 Pat Boone 18
18 Marvin Gaye 18
19 Bee Gees 17
20 Aretha Franklin 17
21 Connie Francis 16
22 Rod Stewart 16
23 Hall and Oates 16
24 Temptations 16
25 Four Seasons 15
26 Beach Boys 15
27 Olivia Newton-John 15
28 The Everly Brothers 15
29 Phil Collins 13
30 Puff Daddy 13
31 Neil Diamond 12
32 The Carpenters 12
33 Perry Como 11
34 Cher 11
35 Barbra Striesand 11
36 Barry Manilow 11
37 Ray Charles 11
38 Eagles 10
39 Three Dog Night 10
40 Roy Orbison 9
41 Linda Ronstadt 9


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The Artists With the Most U.S. Top 40 Singles

Number Name Total
1 Elvis Presley 114
2 Elton John 59
3 The Beatles 52
4 Madonna 49
5 Stevie Wonder 46
6 Aretha Franklin 45
7 James Brown 44
8 Rolling Stones 41
9 Marvin Gaye 41
10 Pat Boone 38
11 Temptations 38
12 Michael Jackson 38
13 Neil Diamond 38
14 Paul McCartney 37
15 Fats Domino 37
16 Janet Jackson 37
17 Rick Nelson 36
18 Beach Boys 36
19 Connie Francis 35
20 Bee Gees 35
21 Chicago 35
22 Rod Stewart 34
23 Billy Joel 33
24 Paul Anka 33
25 Ray Charles 33
26 Supremes 33
27 Whitney Houston 32
28 Prince 32
29 Four Seasons 31
30 Bobby Vinton 31
31 Perry Como 31
32 Mariah Carey 31
33 Dionne Warwick 31
34 Miracles 29
35 Nat King Cole 29
36 Sam Cooke 29
37 Hall and Oates 29
38 Olivia Newton-John 29
39 Brenda Lee 29
40 Kenny Rogers 28
41 Frank Sinatra 28
42 Everly Brothers 27
43 Diana Ross 27
44 Andy Williams 27
45 Gladys Knight 27
46 Puff Daddy 27
47 R. Kelly 26
48 Barry Manilow 25
49 Jackie Wilson 24
50 Chubby Checker 23


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The Artists Who Spent The Most Weeks At #1

Number Name Total
1 Elvis Presley 80
2 Mariah Carey 61
3 The Beatles 59
4 Boyz II Men 50
5 Michael Jackson 37
6 Elton John 34
7 Janet Jackson 33
8 Madonna 32
9 Whitney Houston 31
10 Paul McCartney 30
11 Bee Gees 27
12 Stevie Wonder 25
13 Puff Daddy 24
14 George Michael 23
15 The Supremes 22
16 Santana 22
17 Pat Boone 21
18 Debby Boone 21
19 Lionel Richie 21
20 Rod Stewart 20
21 Diana Ross 20
22 Jennifer Lopez 20
23 Four Seasons 18
24 Olivia Newton-John 18
25 Celine Dion 18
26 TLC 18
27 Goo Goo Dolls 18


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The Youngest Artists To Have A U.S. Number One Single Between 1950 and 2000

Number Name Song Age
1 Jimmy Boyd I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus 12 years 11 months
2 Stevie Wonder Fingertips - pt. 2 13 years 1 month
3 Donny Osmond Go Away Little Girl 13 years 7 months
4 Michael Jackson Ben 13 years 11 months
5 Laurie London The Whole World In His Hands 14 years 2 months
6 Little Peggy March I Will Follow Him 15 years 0 months
7 Brenda Lee I'm Sorry 15 years 5 months
8 Paul Anka Diana 16 years 0 months
9 Tiffany I Think We're Alone Now 16 years 10 months
10 Lesley Gore It's My Party 17 years 0 months


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The Oldest Artists To Have A U.S. Number One Single Between 1950 and 2000

Number Name Song Age
1 Louie Armstrong Hello Dolly 63 years 10 months
2 Lawrence Welk Calcutta 57 years 11 months
3 Morris Stoloff Moonglow 57 years 10 months
4 Cher Believe 52 years 9 months
5 Frank Sinatra Somethin' Stupid 51 years 4 months
6 Elton John Candle In The Wind - 1997 50 years 6 months
7 Lorne Green Ringo 49 years 9 months
8 Dean Martin Everybody Loves Somebody 47 years 2 months
9 Bill Medley The Time Of My Life 47 years 2 months
10 Sammy Davis Jr. The Candy Man 46 years 6 months



Odds and Ends
The longest title of a song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 is B.J. Thomas'

"Hey Won't You Play Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song".



The longest title of an album to reach the Billboard Hot 200 LP chart is Fiona Apple's

"When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks Like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight and He'll Win the Whole Thing 'Fore He Enters the Ring There's No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand and Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights and If You Know Where You Stand, Then You Know Where to Land and If You Fall It Won't Matter, Cuz You'll Know That You're Right"

The title is made up of 90 words.



Paula Abdul's "Forever Your Girl" holds the record for the longest time between release date and reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart, taking sixty-four weeks to reach the top. When the LP finally got there in January, 1990, it stayed at #1 for 10 weeks.



Although it is generally acknowledged that the "Rock 'n' Roll era" began in the US when Bill Haley and His Comets reached the top of the Billboard chart in July, 1955 with "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock", many Rock historians believe that the first true Rock and Roll record was a song called "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston and The Delta Cats, which topped the American R&B chart in May, 1951.



Elvis Presley holds the record for the most entries on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with 154.



The first live recording to ever top the Billboard chart was "Fingertips part 2" by Little Stevie Wonder, in August, 1963.



The first comedy album to ever top the Billboard chart was "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart" in 1960.



The first Country album to reach the top of the Hot 200 album chart was "Ring Of Fire" by Johnny Cash in January, 1964.



In November, 1958, The Kingston Trio became the first group to ever have an album reach the top of the US chart. Before them, only solo artists had hit number one.



A 60 track album called "Beatles Anthology I" holds the record for first-day sales, selling 450,000 units on the day of its release, November 19th, 1995.



The term "rock and roll", which was black slang for sexual intercourse, appeared on record for the first time in 1922 on Trixie Smith's "My Baby Rocks Me With One Steady Roll".



The term "rhythm & blues" was coined in 1948 by a young Billboard reporter and future Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler, to replace the negative term "Race Records".



Elvis Presley's 1956 recording of "Love Me" was the first million-seller to make the US charts without being released as a single. It was instead, an EP (extended play) 45 rpm, with three other songs on it: "Rip It Up", "Paralyzed" and "When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again".



The Animals 1964 hit "House Of The Rising Sun" was the first Number 1 to have a playing time of more than four minutes.



The Four Aces 1955 release of "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing" was the first US number one record that was specifically written for a motion picture.



At 65 years old, Bob Dylan became the oldest living musician to ever top the Billboard album chart when "Modern Times" entered at #1 in September, 2006.





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