The 27 songs to spend at least 10 weeks atop the Hot 100
The latest chart honor for Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines", featuring T.I. and Pharrell, finds the song becoming just the 27th No. 1 (of 1,027 total) to spend at least 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. (As previously reported, "Lines" continues to rewrite the record for the biggest all-format weekly radio audience, according to Nielsen BDS, and tops six airplay charts concurrently this week.) Upon "Lines" leading the Hot 100 for a 10th week, let's look at all the songs to reach the major milestone and some of their notable chart traits:
16, "One Sweet Day", Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men, Dec. 2, 1995
14, "I Gotta Feeling", the Black Eyed Peas, July 11, 2009
14, "We Belong Together", Mariah Carey, June 4, 2005
14, "Candle in the Wind 1997"/"Something About the Way You Look Tonight", Elton John, Oct. 11, 1997
14, "Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)", Los Del Rio, Aug. 3, 1996
14, "I'll Make Love to You", Boyz II Men, Aug. 27, 1994
14, "I Will Always Love You", Whitney Houston, Nov. 28, 1992
13, "The Boy Is Mine", Brandy & Monica, June 6, 1998
13, "End of the Road", Boyz II Men, Aug. 15, 1992
12, "Boom Boom Pow", the Black Eyed Peas, April 18, 2009
12, "Yeah!", Usher Featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris, Feb. 28, 2004
12, "Lose Yourself", Eminem, Nov. 9, 2002
12, "Smooth", Santana featuring Rob Thomas, Oct. 23, 1999
11, "Independent Women Part I", Destiny's Child, Nov. 18, 2000
11, "I'll Be Missing You", Puff Daddy & Faith Evans featuring 112, June 14, 1997
11, "Un-Break My Heart", Toni Braxton, Dec. 7, 1996
11, "I Swear", All-4-One, May 21, 1994
10, "Blurred Lines", Robin Thicke featuring T.I. + Pharrell, June 22, 2013
10, "We Found Love", Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris, Nov. 12, 2011
10, "Low", Flo Rida featuring T-Pain, Jan. 5, 2008
10, "Irreplaceable", Beyonce, Dec. 16, 2006
10, "Gold Digger", Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx, Sept. 17, 2005
10, "Dilemma", Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland, Aug. 17, 2002
10, "Foolish", Ashanti, April 20, 2002
10, "Maria Maria", Santana featuring the Product G&B, April 8, 2000
10, "Physical", Olivia Newton-John, Nov. 21, 1981
10, "You Light Up My Life," Debby Boone, Oct. 15, 1977
Fun facts about the smashes above. First things first: Unsurprisingly, the longest-leading Hot 100 No. 1s have often been first singles from albums, tracks that labels have decided are the strongest to help launch a new project. I'll Make Love to You" introduced Boyz II Men's "II" and "The Boy Is Mine" served as the lead track for both Monica's like-titled album and Brandy's "Never Say Never"
Then again, "One Sweet Day" (a record 16 weeks at No. 1) was the second single from Mariah Carey's "Daydream" and "I Gotta Feeling" (14) was the second focus track from the Black Eyed Peas' "The E.N.D." Not that Columbia or Interscope Records, repsectively, erred with either choice: first "Daydream" single "Fantasy" dominated for eight weeks and "E.N.D." lead cut "Boom Boom Pow" reigned for 12 frames.
Duets to do it: Just three proper duets are among the No. 1 songs with 10 weeks or more atop the Hot 100: Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day", Brandy & Monica's "The Boy Is Mine" and Puff Daddy & Faith Evans' "I'll Be Missing You" (featuring 112). Clearly, song strength is more important than merely a combination of star power.
By genres: R&B/hip-hop songs have easily dominated the Hot 100's longest-running chart-toppers, with 19 of these 27 No. 1s of the genre. A partial reason: the Hot 100 adopted more scientific Nielsen Music data in 1991, resulting in longer reigns thereafter. The change coincided with R&B's lock on pop music at the time, thanks to such star acts as Boyz II Men, Carey and Houston.
The only song among the select 27 representing rock is Santana's "Smooth", featuring Rob Thomas, which ruled for 12 weeks. The Latin banner is carried solely by Los Del Rio's "Macarena".
By decades: Again, in large part due to the 1991 incorporation of Nielsen data into the Hot 100, just two songs prior to that year spent 10 weeks at No. 1: Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life" (1977) and Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" (1981). Eleven such songs dominated in the '90s, 12 led in the '00s and two have in the '10s: Thicke's "Blurred Lines" and Rihanna's "We Found Love".
It's not where you start: Perhaps surprisingly, the majority of these monster No. 1s all debuted at low ranks on the Hot 100, before eventually climbing to their lengthy chart-topping runs. The lowest debut among all of these hits? Current champ "Blurred Lines". The song bowed at an unassuming No. 94 before rising 89-70-54-12-11-6-1. Adding multi-format airplay along the way has helped sustain the song's sales (4.4 million to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan) and, thus, its Hot 100 command.
Will "Blurred Lines" score an 11th week at No. 1? Check Billboard.com Wednesday (Aug. 21) to see if it can fend off Katy Perry's "Roar", as well as Lady Gaga's "Applause", both of which are forecast to fly into the chart's upper ranks following their first week of sales. (Billboard)
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