Who had the most number 1s?

A user asked who had the most number 1 entries in the charts. This is, naturally, a bit more complex than it first appears. First, and most obviously, we could be talking about number 1 songs, or albums, or both. But even if we decide we're going to focus on songs we could be asking "Which song was number 1 in most charts?", or "Which artist had most songs that were number 1 somewhere?" or "Which artist had most number 1 entries for songs". This means that we have 8 different charts:

	Songs	Albums	Songs + Albums
Number 1 in most charts?	song chart	album chart
Number 1 somewhere?	most songs	most albums	most items
Total number 1 entries?	most song entries	most album entries	most item entries

For the purposes of these lists being awarded a Grammy, Oscar or similar prize counts as a number 1 (being nominated of course doesn't). Of course the larger number of recent charts will tend to mean that recent music is over represented.

Artists with the most number 1 albums and songs

Here are the artists with the highest count of albums and songs that reached number 1 in at least one chart.

#	Artist	Song #1s	Album #1s	Total #1s
1	The Beatles	66	37	103
2	Elvis Presley	53	22	75
3	The Rolling Stones	35	29	64
4	Madonna	37	15	52
5	Bing Crosby	51	0	51
6	BZ	32	18	50
7	U2	32	13	45
8	Elton John	29	15	44
9	Kiyoko Matsuda	21	17	38
10	Abba	23	14	37
10	Michael Jackson	29	8	37
12	Frank Sinatra	23	12	35
12	Rod Stewart	19	16	35
14	Cliff Richard	24	10	34
14	Depeche Mode	26	8	34
14	Hamazaki Walking	23	11	34
17	Akina Nakamori	20	13	33
18	Paul Whiteman	32	0	32
19	Queen	19	12	31
20	Guy Lombardo	30	0	30
20	Mr Children	22	8	30
22	Bon Jovi	17	12	29
22	Mariah Carey	20	9	29
24	Bee Gees	19	9	28
24	Celine Dion	11	17	28
26	Prince	15	12	27
27	David Bowie	16	10	26
28	Bob Dylan	8	17	25
28	Bruce Springsteen	13	12	25
28	Glay	17	8	25
28	Glenn Miller	25	0	25
32	Al Jolson	24	0	24
32	Westlife	16	8	24
34	Eros Ramazzotti	15	8	23
34	Kinki Kids	15	8	23
34	Phil Collins	15	8	23
37	A-Ha	14	8	22
37	Janet Jackson	19	3	22
37	Perry Como	20	2	22
37	Whitney Houston	16	6	22
41	Boney M	16	5	21
41	George Michael	14	7	21
41	Stevie Wonder	16	5	21
44	Britney Spears	13	7	20
44	Bryan Adams	12	8	20
44	Chage & Aska	8	12	20
44	Duke Ellington	17	3	20
44	Robbie Williams	10	10	20
44	Roxette	14	6	20
50	Creedence Clearwater Revival	13	6	19
50	Nat King Cole	16	3	19
50	Roy Orbison	15	4	19
50	Zard	11	8	19
54	Led Zeppelin	6	12	18
54	Oasis	11	7	18
54	The Beach Boys	13	5	18
57	Barbra Streisand	5	12	17
57	Duran Duran	14	3	17
57	Icebox Capital Mediating/helping	7	10	17
57	Kylie Minogue	11	6	17
57	Long Fuchi Hardness	6	11	17
57	Matutouya Reason Truth	3	14	17
57	REM	8	9	17
57	Simon & Garfunkel	7	10	17
57	Snap	17	0	17
57	Wings	12	5	17
67	Boyzone	12	4	16
67	Dire Straits	8	8	16
67	Henry Burr	16	0	16
67	Louis Armstrong	15	1	16
67	Modern Talking	9	7	16
67	Republica	16	0	16
67	Take That	10	6	16
67	Carpenters	10	6	16
75	Alejandro Sanz	15	0	15
75	Billy Murray	15	0	15
75	Cher	9	6	15
75	Fleetwood Mac	8	7	15
75	Hey	15	0	15
75	INXS	10	5	15
75	Johnny Hallyday	15	0	15
75	Lady Pank	15	0	15
75	Light Genji	10	5	15
75	Metallica	8	7	15
75	Peter Maffay	2	13	15
75	Pink Floyd	5	10	15
75	Sizuka Kudou	11	4	15
75	Slade	10	5	15
75	Sting	9	6	15
75	The Pet Shop Boys	14	1	15
75	The Shadows	8	7	15

Artists with the most number 1 total entries

This is a list of the artists that have had most number 1 chart entries for albums and songs round the world. In this list an album that is number 1 in two different countries counts as 2 entries.

#	Artist	Song #1s	Album #1s	Total #1s
1	The Beatles	302	118	420
2	Madonna	155	76	231
3	The Rolling Stones	101	70	171
4	Elvis Presley	136	32	168
4	Michael Jackson	111	57	168
6	U2	80	76	156
7	Abba	105	43	148
8	Elton John	85	46	131
9	Bee Gees	80	31	111
10	Celine Dion	44	62	106
11	Whitney Houston	64	38	102
12	Bon Jovi	44	52	96
13	Phil Collins	54	37	91
14	Queen	57	31	88
15	Bruce Springsteen	30	57	87
16	Boney M	70	15	85
17	Mariah Carey	57	27	84
18	Bing Crosby	83	0	83
19	Rod Stewart	48	32	80
20	Bryan Adams	49	29	78
21	Britney Spears	53	22	75
21	Eminem	43	32	75
21	George Michael	53	22	75
24	Pink Floyd	20	48	68
25	Roxette	47	18	65
26	Prince	35	28	63
27	Cliff Richard	51	11	62
28	REM	15	46	61
28	Stevie Wonder	51	10	61
30	Frank Sinatra	43	15	58
31	The Backstreet Boys	30	27	57
32	Depeche Mode	34	22	56
32	Robbie Williams	18	38	56
34	David Bowie	38	16	54
34	Wings	40	14	54
36	Metallica	12	41	53
37	Barbra Streisand	30	21	51
37	The Pet Shop Boys	46	5	51
39	BZ	32	18	50
40	Perry Como	46	2	48
41	Glenn Miller	47	0	47
41	John Lennon	29	18	47
41	Simon & Garfunkel	26	21	47
44	A-Ha	35	11	46
45	Cher	35	10	45
45	Janet Jackson	37	8	45
45	Spice Girls	32	13	45
48	Kylie Minogue	35	9	44
48	Led Zeppelin	16	28	44
50	Creedence Clearwater Revival	31	12	43
50	Dire Straits	13	30	43
52	Red Hot Chili Peppers	13	28	41
53	Westlife	30	10	40
54	Bob Dylan	13	26	39
54	Oasis	21	18	39
54	The Police	24	15	39
57	Kiyoko Matsuda	21	17	38
57	Lionel Richie	27	11	38
57	Nat King Cole	35	3	38
57	Roy Orbison	31	7	38
57	Take That	27	11	38
62	Blondie	35	2	37
62	Duran Duran	34	3	37
62	Falco	29	8	37
62	Carpenters	30	7	37
62	The Monkees	29	8	37
62	Wham!	30	7	37
68	Eagles	20	16	36
68	George Harrison	29	7	36
68	Modern Talking	23	13	36
68	The Beach Boys	30	6	36
68	The Black Eyed Peas	29	7	36
73	Ace of Base	27	8	35
73	Al Jolson	35	0	35
73	Alanis Morissette	10	25	35
73	Paul Whiteman	35	0	35
73	Santana	15	20	35
73	Tom Jones	29	6	35
79	Coldplay	10	24	34
79	Donna Summer	31	3	34
79	Eros Ramazzotti	17	17	34
79	Guy Lombardo	34	0	34
79	Hamazaki Walking	23	11	34
84	Aerosmith	26	7	33
84	Akina Nakamori	20	13	33
86	Billy Joel	18	14	32
86	Sinead O'Connor	22	10	32
86	The Sweet	32	0	32
89	Culture Club	27	4	31
89	Jennifer Lopez	23	8	31
89	Mr Children	23	8	31
89	Olivia Newton-John	28	3	31
89	Simply Red	13	18	31
89	Snap	31	0	31
89	The Supremes	28	3	31
89	Usher	21	10	31
97	Diana Ross	27	3	30
97	Louis Armstrong	28	2	30
97	Shakira	22	8	30
100	Fleetwood Mac	13	16	29
101	Aqua	23	5	28
101	Avril Lavigne	12	16	28
101	Eric Clapton	16	12	28
101	Jimmy Dorsey	28	0	28
101	Meat Loaf	16	12	28
101	Rick Astley	24	4	28
101	Ricky Martin	21	7	28
101	The Eurythmics	15	13	28
109	Anastacia	12	15	27
109	Beyonce	20	7	27
109	Christina Aguilera	19	8	27
109	Manfred Mann	23	4	27
109	Nena	21	6	27
109	Smokie	20	7	27
109	Sting	12	15	27
109	UB40	24	3	27
117	Chicago	17	9	26
117	Genesis	10	16	26
117	Gilbert O'Sullivan	23	3	26
117	John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John	26	0	26
117	Norah Jones	4	22	26
117	Paul McCartney	10	16	26
117	Petula Clark	26	0	26
117	Rednex	25	1	26
117	Tina Turner	12	14	26
126	Boyzone	19	6	25
126	Glay	17	8	25
126	Guns n' Roses	14	11	25
126	John Denver	20	5	25
126	Nirvana	8	17	25
126	Slade	17	8	25

Songs that were number 1 in the most charts

This is a list of the songs that reached number 1 in the highest number of charts.

#	Artist	Song Title	Year	Count
1	Celine Dion	My Heart Will Go On	1998	22
2	Bryan Adams	(Everything I Do) I Do it For You	1991	21
2	Sinead O'Connor	Nothing Compares 2 U	1990	21
2	Stevie Wonder	I Just Called to Say I Love You	1984	21
2	The Beatles	Hey Jude	1968	21
6	USA For Africa	We Are the World	1985	20
7	Whitney Houston	I Will Always Love You	1992	19
8	Britney Spears	Baby One More Time	1999	17
8	Elton John	Candle in the Wind '97	1997	17
8	P Diddy & Faith Evans	I'll Be Missing You	1997	17
11	Band Aid	Do They Know It's Christmas?	1984	16
11	Irene Cara	Flashdance... What a Feeling	1983	16
11	John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John	You're the One That I Want	1978	16
11	Pink Floyd	Another Brick in the Wall (part 2)	1980	16
11	Terry Jacks	Seasons in the Sun	1974	16
16	Aqua	Barbie Girl	1997	15
16	Boney M	Rivers of Babylon	1978	15
16	Cher	Believe	1998	15
16	Coolio	Gangsta's Paradise	1995	15
16	Hanson	Mmmbop	1997	15
16	Kylie Minogue	Can't Get You Out of My Head	2001	15
16	Lou Bega	Mambo No 5 (A Little Bit of ...)	1999	15
16	No Doubt	Don't Speak	1997	15
24	A-Ha	Take On Me	1985	14
24	Abba	Dancing Queen	1976	14
24	Barbra Streisand	A Woman in Love	1980	14
24	Eiffel 65	Blue (Da Ba Dee)	1999	14
24	Eminem	Lose Yourself	2002	14
24	George Harrison	My Sweet Lord	1971	14
24	Madonna	Like a Prayer	1989	14
24	Meat Loaf	I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)	1993	14
24	Michael Jackson	Black Or White	1991	14
24	Phil Collins	Another Day in Paradise	1989	14
24	Roxette	Joyride	1991	14
24	Spice Girls	Wannabe	1996	14
24	Starsound	Stars On 45	1981	14
24	The Village People	YMCA	1978	14
38	Carl Douglas	Kung Fu Fighting	1974	13
38	Culture Club	Karma Chameleon	1983	13
38	David Bowie	Let's Dance	1983	13
38	Las Ketchup	The Ketchup Song (Asereje)	2002	13
38	Lipps Inc	Funkytown	1980	13
38	Madonna	Vogue	1990	13
38	Mariah Carey	Without You	1994	13
38	Rednex	Cotton Eye Joe	1994	13
38	Snow	Informer	1993	13
38	The Beatles	All You Need is Love	1967	13
38	The Beatles	Get Back	1969	13
38	The Rolling Stones	(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction	1965	13
38	Usher	Yeah!	2004	13
38	Whitney Houston	I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)	1987	13
52	Aerosmith	I Don't Want to Miss a Thing	1998	12
52	Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart & Sting	All For Love	1994	12
52	Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya & Pink	Lady Marmalade (Voulez-Vous Coucher Aver Moi Ce Soir?)	2001	12
52	Culture Club	Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?	1982	12
52	Eamon	F**k it (I Don't Want You Back)	2004	12
52	Enigma	Sadeness	1990	12
52	F R David	Words	1982	12
52	Falco	Rock Me Amadeus	1986	12
52	Four Non Blondes	What's Up?	1993	12
52	Frank Sinatra	Strangers in the Night	1966	12
52	Kim Carnes	Bette Davis Eyes	1981	12
52	Madonna	Hung Up	2005	12
52	Mr Big	To Be With You	1992	12
52	Mungo Jerry	In the Summertime	1970	12
52	Nancy Sinatra	These Boots Are Made For Walking	1966	12
52	Paul Hardcastle	19	1985	12
52	Procol Harum	A Whiter Shade of Pale	1967	12
52	Rick Astley	Never Gonna Give You Up	1987	12
52	Shakira	Whenever, Wherever	2002	12
52	The Beatles	Yellow Submarine	1966	12
52	The Black Eyed Peas	Where is the Love?	2003	12
52	The Fugees	Killing Me Softly With His Song	1996	12
52	The Monkees	I'm a Believer	1967	12
52	The Scorpions	Wind of Change	1991	12
52	Tony Orlando & Dawn	Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'round the Old Oak Tree	1973	12
52	Zager & Evans	In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)	1969	12
78	Bomfunk MCs	Freestyler	2000	11
78	Bruce Springsteen	Streets of Philadelphia	1994	11
78	Eminem	Without Me	2002	11
78	Europe	The Final Countdown	1986	11
78	Foreigner	I Want to Know What Love Is	1985	11
78	George McCrae	Rock Your Baby	1974	11
78	Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers	Swing the Mood	1989	11
78	Londonbeat	I've Been Thinking About You	1990	11
78	Los Del Rio	Macarena	1996	11
78	O-Zone	Dragostea Din Tei	2004	11
78	The Beatles	Let it Be	1970	11
78	The Beatles	Paperback Writer	1966	11
78	The Black Eyed Peas	Shut Up	2003	11
78	The Rolling Stones	Angie	1973	11
78	UB40	I Can't Help Falling in Love With You	1993	11
78	Wham!	Wake Me Up Before You Go Go	1984	11
78	Wings	Mull of Kintyre	1977	11
95	Abba	Fernando	1976	10
95	Ace of Base	All That She Wants	1993	10
95	Archies	Sugar Sugar	1969	10
95	Baccara	Yes Sir, I Can Boogie	1977	10
95	Bill Haley & His Comets	Rock Around the Clock	1955	10
95	Bing Crosby	White Christmas	1942	10
95	Blondie	Heart of Glass	1979	10
95	Boney M	Ma Baker	1977	10
95	Boyz II Men	End of the Road	1992	10
95	Chicago	If You Leave Me Now	1976	10
95	Cliff Richard	We Don't Talk Anymore	1979	10
95	Culture Beat	Mr Vain	1993	10
95	Emilia	Big Big World	1998	10
95	Haddaway	What is Love?	1993	10
95	James Blunt	You're Beautiful	2005	10
95	Kaoma	Lambada	1989	10
95	Lionel Richie	Hello	1984	10
95	Madonna	Music	2000	10
95	Madonna	Papa Don't Preach	1986	10
95	Michael Jackson	Billie Jean	1983	10
95	Musical Youth	Pass the Dutchie	1982	10
95	Nena	99 Luftballons	1983	10
95	Queen	Bohemian Rhapsody	1976	10
95	Robin Beck	First Time	1988	10
95	Shaggy	Angel	2001	10
95	Shakira & Wyclef Jean	Hips don't lie	2006	10
95	Smokie	Living Next Door to Alice	1977	10
95	Snap	Rhythm is a Dancer	1992	10
95	Survivor	Eye of the Tiger	1982	10
95	t.A.T.u.	All the Things She Said	2003	10
95	Take That	Back For Good	1995	10
95	Tears For Fears	Shout	1985	10
95	The Backstreet Boys	I Want it That Way	1999	10
95	The Beatles	Hello, Goodbye	1967	10
95	The Beatles	Help!	1965	10
95	The Beatles	I Want to Hold Your Hand	1964	10

Artists with the most number 1 songs

Here are the artists with the highest count of songs that reached number 1 in at least one chart.

#	Artist	Count
1	The Beatles	66
2	Elvis Presley	53
3	Bing Crosby	51
4	Madonna	37
5	The Rolling Stones	35
6	BZ	32
6	Paul Whiteman	32
6	U2	32
9	Guy Lombardo	30
10	Elton John	29
10	Michael Jackson	29
12	Depeche Mode	26
13	Glenn Miller	25
14	Al Jolson	24
14	Cliff Richard	24
16	Abba	23
16	Frank Sinatra	23
16	Hamazaki Walking	23
19	Mr Children	22
20	Kiyoko Matsuda	21
21	Akina Nakamori	20
21	Mariah Carey	20
21	Perry Como	20
24	Bee Gees	19
24	Janet Jackson	19
24	Queen	19
24	Rod Stewart	19
28	Bon Jovi	17
28	Duke Ellington	17
28	Glay	17
28	Snap	17
32	Boney M	16
32	David Bowie	16
32	Henry Burr	16
32	Nat King Cole	16
32	Republica	16
32	Stevie Wonder	16
32	Westlife	16
32	Whitney Houston	16
40	Alejandro Sanz	15
40	Billy Murray	15
40	Eros Ramazzotti	15
40	Hey	15
40	Johnny Hallyday	15
40	Kinki Kids	15
40	Lady Pank	15
40	Louis Armstrong	15
40	Phil Collins	15
40	Prince	15
40	Roy Orbison	15

Artists with the most number 1 song entries

This is a list of the artists that have had most number 1 chart entries for songs round the world. In this list a song that is number 1 in two different countries counts as 2 entries.

#	Artist	Count
1	The Beatles	302
2	Madonna	155
3	Elvis Presley	136
4	Michael Jackson	111
5	Abba	105
6	The Rolling Stones	101
7	Elton John	85
8	Bing Crosby	83
9	Bee Gees	80
9	U2	80
11	Boney M	70
12	Whitney Houston	64
13	Mariah Carey	57
13	Queen	57
15	Phil Collins	54
16	Britney Spears	53
16	George Michael	53
18	Cliff Richard	51
18	Stevie Wonder	51
20	Bryan Adams	49
21	Rod Stewart	48
22	Glenn Miller	47
22	Roxette	47
24	Perry Como	46
24	The Pet Shop Boys	46
26	Bon Jovi	44
26	Celine Dion	44
28	Eminem	43
28	Frank Sinatra	43
30	Wings	40
31	David Bowie	38
32	Janet Jackson	37
33	A-Ha	35
33	Al Jolson	35
33	Blondie	35
33	Cher	35
33	Kylie Minogue	35
33	Nat King Cole	35
33	Paul Whiteman	35
33	Prince	35
41	Depeche Mode	34
41	Duran Duran	34
41	Guy Lombardo	34
44	BZ	32
44	Spice Girls	32
44	The Sweet	32
47	Creedence Clearwater Revival	31
47	Donna Summer	31
47	Roy Orbison	31
47	Snap	31
51	Barbra Streisand	30
51	Bruce Springsteen	30
51	The Backstreet Boys	30
51	The Beach Boys	30
51	Carpenters	30
51	Westlife	30
51	Wham!	30

Albums that were number 1 in the most charts

This is a list of the albums that reached number 1 in the highest number of charts.

#	Artist	Album Title	Year	Count
1	The Beatles	Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	1967	16
1	Michael Jackson	Thriller	1982	16
3	Bee Gees	Saturday Night Fever	1978	15
3	Whitney Houston	The Bodyguard	1993	15
5	Bruce Springsteen	Born In The USA	1984	12
5	Santana	Supernatural	1999	12
5	The Beatles	1	2000	12
8	Michael Jackson	Bad	1987	11
8	Pink Floyd	The Division Bell	1994	11
8	Celine Dion	Let's Talk About Love	1997	11
8	Eminem	The Eminem Show	2002	11
8	U2	How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb	2004	11
13	Alanis Morissette	Jagged Little Pill	1995	10
13	Celine Dion	All The Way... A Decade Of Songs	1999	10
13	Celine Dion	Falling Into You	1996	10
13	Celine Dion & James Horner	Titanic	1998	10
13	Coldplay	X & Y	2005	10
13	Dire Straits	Brothers In Arms	1985	10
13	Madonna	Like A Prayer	1989	10
13	Metallica	Load	1996	10
13	Phil Collins	... But Seriously	1989	10
13	Pink Floyd	The Wall	1979	10
13	Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge Over Troubled Water	1970	10
13	Sinead O'Connor	I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got	1990	10
13	The Prodigy	The Fat Of The Land	1997	10
13	U2	Rattle & Hum	1988	10
13	U2	The Joshua Tree	1987	10
13	Whitney Houston	Whitney	1987	10

Artists with the most number 1 albums

Here are the artists with the highest count of albums that reached number 1 in at least one chart.

#	Artist	Count
1	The Beatles	37
2	The Rolling Stones	29
3	Elvis Presley	22
4	BZ	18
4	Celine Dion	17
6	Bob Dylan	17
7	Kiyoko Matsuda	17
7	Rod Stewart	16
7	Madonna	15
10	Elton John	15
11	Abba	14
12	Matutouya Reason Truth	14
12	U2	13
14	Original Cast	13
15	James Last	13
15	Peter Maffay	13
17	Akina Nakamori	13
17	Bruce Springsteen	12
19	Bon Jovi	12
20	Barbra Streisand	12
20	Queen	12
22	Prince	12
22	Led Zeppelin	12
24	Frank Sinatra	12
25	Chage & Aska	12
26	Hamazaki Walking	11
26	Long Fuchi Hardness	11
26	Pink Floyd	10
29	Simon & Garfunkel	10
29	Robbie Williams	10
31	David Bowie	10
31	Herbert Gronemeyer	10
33	Cliff Richard	10
33	The Smurfs	10
35	Bap	10
35	Icebox Capital Mediating/helping	10
35	Magnus Uggla	10
35	Matsuyama Chiharu	10
35	Nakajima You See & Keep	10
35	Ulf Lundell	10

Artists with the most number 1 album entries

This is a list of the artists that have had most number 1 chart entries for albums round the world. In this list an album that is number 1 in two different countries counts as 2 entries.

#	Artist	Count
1	The Beatles	118
2	Madonna	76
2	U2	76
4	The Rolling Stones	70
5	Celine Dion	62
6	Bruce Springsteen	57
6	Michael Jackson	57
8	Bon Jovi	52
9	Pink Floyd	48
10	Elton John	46
10	REM	46
12	Abba	43
13	Metallica	41
14	Robbie Williams	38
14	Whitney Houston	38
16	Phil Collins	37
17	Elvis Presley	32
17	Rod Stewart	32
17	Eminem	32
20	Queen	31
20	Bee Gees	31
22	Dire Straits	30
23	Bryan Adams	29
24	Led Zeppelin	28
24	Prince	28
24	Red Hot Chili Peppers	28
27	Mariah Carey	27
27	The Backstreet Boys	27
29	Bob Dylan	26
30	Alanis Morissette	25
31	Coldplay	24
32	Depeche Mode	22
32	Britney Spears	22
32	George Michael	22
32	Norah Jones	22
36	Barbra Streisand	21
36	Simon & Garfunkel	21
38	Original Cast	20
38	Santana	20
40	Deep Purple	19
41	BZ	18
41	Herbert Gronemeyer	18
41	Oasis	18
41	Roxette	18
41	Simply Red	18
41	John Lennon	18
47	Kiyoko Matsuda	17
47	Eros Ramazzotti	17
47	Nirvana	17
47	Pearl Jam	17
51	David Bowie	16
51	Genesis	16
51	Eagles	16
51	Fleetwood Mac	16
51	Paul McCartney	16
51	Radiohead	16
51	Avril Lavigne	16
58	Frank Sinatra	15
58	The Smurfs	15
58	AC/DC	15
58	Sting	15
58	Boney M	15
58	Paul Simon	15
58	The Police	15
58	Anastacia	15

The process of calculating these results is a bit complex, for that reason the data shown is not recalculated each time the site is regenerated. So the information may not exactly match the current version of the data. These results were calculated from the 1.8.0060 data.

Back to Introduction

Previous Comments

Previous Comments (newest first)

14 Dec 2023

Madonna

Hung Up is the most successfull single worldwide charting number 1 on 41 countries.

Other opinions are available

5 Oct 2023

Bowie

Bowie in the UK has 11 number 1 albums, in addition, Heathen and Reality werenumber 1 in Denmark, when billboard began publishing the list of "Midline LPs" in 1982, which was about the best-selling old albums, Ziggy Stardust was number 1 for 35 weeks, I don't know if they count that,

16 Jul 2023

Like a Prayer

On list of the songs that reached number 1 in the highest number of charts, itranks Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” at 20-something. That song in fact was number one in more than 20 countries around the world.+

But we don't have reliable versions of those charts, so they don't count

19 Apr 2023

Most number one hits

How come George Strait doesn't appear on any of these lists supposedly he had60 number one hits

He didn't

15 Apr 2023

It's Madonna not George Strait

All those talking about George Strait having 60 #1 Country Songs in the US is a straight up lie, no pun intended. Madonna has 50 #1 Dance songs and holds the record for artist with the most #1's on any Billboard chart. Of coursefor these calculations Madonna's 50 #1 Dance songs don't count. However George Strait fans, calm your farm.

7 Nov 2022

Westlife

Yes, Westlife They had countless number 1's in the UK and other European countries, but are no where to be seen on any of these lists?

I believe they had 7 number 1's in a row in the UK alone. Is this an exercise to erase Ireland out of music history?

They had 13 number one songs, this list shows artists with 15 or more. They had 7 number one albums, this list shows artists with 10 or more.

Basically Westlife are below the cut for both lists.

17 Sep 2022

Great compendium of #1 hit artists!

1. Finally, a list that counts songs/hits and not "records" like Billboard does AND the list recognizes there are countries besides the USA. Billboard uses records to suppress numbers of artists like Elvis who had records with double sided hits.

2. The Hot 100 is described as an "all-genre" list, so, songs that make it to the Hot 100 are the best selling. Hence, use of the Hot 100 for data makes perfect sense.

3. George Strait, Twitty, and others did have many #1 country hits. Straitstill might not have the most #1's because Elvis also had #1 country hits, #1 R&B hits, #1 Adult Contemporary hits, etc. To count all of the sub-category lists would be a massive task...maybe something that could be done in the future.

Thank you for your kind words.

Our issue with "Country", "Adult Contemporary" and other specialist charts is a bit deeper. We don't see any way to compare a number 1 "Country" hit with a number 1 "Metal" hit. If "Country" music sells twice as much as "Metal" music then positions in that chart should be "worth" twice as much.

When we compare countries we can use the total market size. We know, for example, that the USA music market (in, lets say, 2003) was worth $11,848M, while the UK's was $3,567M. So the US chart counts 3.32 times the UK one (for 2003). But we only have reliable dollar estimates for countries, not for charts.

So I for one will never get round to counting all the sub-charts.

1 Mar 2022

you should +be shot+

I can't find your name anywhere but I will. I am sick and tired of theleftest lying as usual and leaving out half of america or more in regards to their trash music for our beautiful country and Mr. George Strait who has had the most number one hits of all time.

If Country music represented anywhere near half of the USA's music then George Strait would have had at least a one national number one. The fact he hasn't shows that you are in a minority (even in the USA).

I understand that there are Fascists in the USA that won't accept it when the majority outvotes them. I am thankful that I live in an actual democracy. Please take your stupid threats elsewhere

17 Feb 2021

Beatles

I don't know where you got your information from but you must have an unusualmethod of deciding what's a #1. I doubt that anyone would agree with your accounting. #1 on the charts is the way most people including recording industry people count #1 hits. The Beatles as a group had 20 #1 singles on the charts. Paul McCartney had 9 #1 singles on the charts, John, George and Ringo each had 2 #1 singles on the charts. They had collectively 35 #1 singles. And I would bet they probably had lots of albums on the charts as well. The most fantastic thing is 20 #1 singles in the less than 7 years they were together and had record contracts. Just imagine what would have happened if they had stayed together 10 or 15 or even 20 years. Once they had become famous, all the record companies that didn't sign them started releasing records from their audition tapes.

This site lists the sources of every chart listed here

29 Oct 2020

no country!

George strait had 60... Conway Twitty 55 (or 44 and 40 just counting billboard country music charts)

Country music charts STILL don't count. George Strait has zero number ones. Anything that is not a national chart doesn't count.

27 Aug 2020

No Diana Ross,#19 including Her work with THE SURPEMES+

26 May 2020

This list is way incorrect+

The Beatles do not have anywhere near 60 number one hits your on crack.

The data doesn't lie, go count them

14 Apr 2020

All Entries

Where's Kennedy Rodgers? He had 24 number 1 hits.+

A number one hit in the Country Chart still doesn't count.

Kenny Rodgers has zero national number one hits.

9 Sep 2019

Number 1s

Where is Camilo Sesto? He has 51 number one hits.+

We don't have reliable charts for Spain in the 70s. He doesn't have many hits elsewhere

19 Aug 2019

Problem solved + by me. +Willie. !!!! Lol.💩💩💩💩

+ Would it not be a good idea to have a. All purpose list so to speak.. +covering all the catogories ??? +I'm sure it can be done!!!! BTW. +I THOUGHT. THE. US AND NATIONAL WAS THE SAME THING?? +PLEASE ANSWER THAT OR TELL ME THE DIFFERENCE. +THANKS+

It has been done, that is the first list.

The national chart in the USA is the US chart. Other nations have different national charts (there are nations other than the USA you know).

27 May 2019

Bias much

+Where's George Strait and Alabama. You say, different genre but you put theSMURF W/ BEATLES and Madonna. HELL! most bands on the list is different genre. BULLSHIT LIST MADE BY PPL DON'T KNOW WTF THEIR DOING

It's not that they are a different genre, we only look at non-genre charts. To take just one example, "The Smurf Song" was a national number 1 in Holland, Belgium, and Germany, number 2 in the UK and Austria, and number 3 in Switzerland. In contrast George Strait has only ever had hits in one country, and even there has never made the national top 20 songs chart.

We don't include the Polka charts, the Finnish Death metal charts, or the US Country Music charts. We don't include any minority interest charts at all.

If you want to get a listing of top Country Music artists this is not the site for you, here we list the most successful artists across the whole world.

19 May 2019

I am another deranged country fan, and George Straight had 56 number 1 hits.+If you are going to do a list of number one songs, you should include the country genre. If not then clarify that you are only covering Pop music. Your remarks are immature at most and ignorant at best.

Genre charts still don't count. We won't include the Iclandic Heavy Metal chart or the US Country music chart.

You will also notice that we don't include any genre focused "Pop" charts either.

George Straight had no National number 1 records

17 Mar 2019

#1 songs

Where is George Strait. I know for a fact he's had 60+ number one songs.

George Strait has never had a national number 1 song. Genre charts don't count otherwise we'd be swamped by groups that were number one in the Finnish Death Metal charts.

23 Feb 2018

Music Group Alabama.

Alabama has had 41 #1 hit songs - Why aren't they on this list for? Only -The Beatles , +Elvis Presley , and Bing Crosby has had more #1 hit songs then Alabama according to your list. I feel that Alabama isn't getting the Credit they are owed.

Alabama had NO National number one hits, not a single one. They had 41 number ones in the US Country charts, that is clearly not the same thing. If it was they would have had some National number ones.

If we counted any genre charts we would have to include the New Zealand "Folk Parody Duo" charts, then where would we be?

26 Jun 2017

Do NOT, I say NOT, use this site as a source for any informaiton

The information provided on this site is extremely bias (see passed comments) and is missing a large amount of credible information. It is all based on the opinion of someone that did not do their research on music and is not including artists and music genres because they either do not like them or in their opinion, it is not music. +However, they have at no point provided creditable evidence to prove their point.

1 Apr 2017

Most of the country fans posting here...

... just don't seem that bright

To be fair to country music fans we suspect that most of the posts here about George Strait come from just one person (we also suspect someone whose mental facilities are frequently challenged)

14 Mar 2017

On the George Strait again....+

George Strait sings music doesn't he? That made a certain chart as #1? It's music, dipshit

We don't include the Latvian Polka Chart, the New York Rap Charts, the French Jazz Charts or the US Country Music Charts. We have explained why not already.

Now be a good little boy, take your insults elsewhere

11 Mar 2017

Celine Dion, A new day has come.

A new day has come album should also be on the album list cos I'm sure itcharted in more countries. Please check it out.

10 Jan 2017

More Elvis

How often is this updated? In the last year and a half,Elvis has had 2 numberone albums in the UK,1 number one album on the US Rock Chart,1 number one album on the US Classical Charts.Not bad for someone gone almost 40 years.

25 Dec 2016

Ok to the dumbass who made this set... <rant about George Strait removed>

...Billboard is so dumb it's like album sells are Bullshit to back in the day you bought a whole CD or a tape or something now if you just down load one song from someone album cost 99 cents they get the credit they sold a whole damn am I album which they didn't sold a song

1 Sep 2016

country music

Really the country music is only largely listened to in the US, so it onlyreally counts on one chart. I am from the UK and would like to know how 2 Canadians topped songs that were #1 on the most charts, weird, even beat the Beatles and Elvis which was a surprise. As you go down the charts and those two are on the top of every other chart.

As the text says "reached number 1 in the highest number of charts", the fact is that there were many more charts available for the 1990s than the 1960s. That is why the count of charts is not a good indicator of overall success.

19 Aug 2016

All Hail King George Strait!!!

Sorry all you haters of Country music but in the Republic of Texas, KingGeorge is the current #1 Artist in Billboard charts history and that's the only nation/country that counts! All other genres of music is just noise!

Other opinions are also available

4 Jun 2016

The King

George is content to be the King of country music, Honorary King of the Republic of Texas and filthy freaking rich! Bahahahahaaa

8 May 2016

Last week, country stalwart George Strait set a new milestone: 60 songs certified by Billboard as No. 1 hits...

No they didn't, they certified 60 Number One COUNTRY Hits. Which is something quite different

It doesn't matter how many times you repeat the same old refain a Number One COUNTRY Hit will never qualify as a real number one.

8 May 2016

this is a joke

You've already mentioned your opinion (on many occasions)

21 Apr 2016

Lol! Sorry guys, I got it WHY George Strait did not on the lists. I'm a fanand am not bother to complain, we knew what an artist achieved. It's his/her legacy, period. In Quora, it worst!

16 Nov 2015

charts

LETS FACE IT ELVIS IS THE NO 1 SOLO ARTIST ,THE BEATLES THE TOP BAND NO ONE ELSE COMES NEAR ,

7 Nov 2015

the script+

they had 125 #1 hits

30 Oct 2015

Just shut up.

Why is every one here soo dumb? George Strait may is only big for countrymusic, and country music is only big in some parts of the US. I'd never even heard if him before looking at these comments. We are looking at songs here that have achieved universal success across national charts, not country genre specific charts. No one cares if he had 59 number 1 hits in the US hot country singles.

7 Oct 2015

wrong

Sorry do break it to everbody..George Strait owns the record..Billboard does not recognize country..

He's the king

21 Sep 2015

About George

The reason George isn't extrmely huge pitside the U.S. Is because he does not tpur outside the U.S.

He also filled Cowboy's Stadium to capacity (Largest Arena in the world) The largest crowd for any artist in any genre ever. The only thing that beat it was the Academy Of Country Music Awards held in the same stadium, setting a world record......

Yep, Country Music sure is "Not that big" huh?

The largest arena in the world is Rungrado 1st of May Stadium, it seats 40,000 more people. The largest arena in the USA is Michigan Stadium. Kyle Field is the largest arena in Texas (which is not the same thing)

The largest crowd for any artist ever was either Rod Stewart's Rio concert of 1994 or Jean Michel Jarre's Moscow concert of 1997 (both estimated at 3.5 million). The largest crowd for a concert at a sports stadium was probably the 147,241 people who saw Paul McCartney, U2 and Madonna at Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1993.

We suspect that the 104,793 fans at the concert you mention is a record for Texas, but not for the World.

So Yep, Country Music is not that big (outside Texas)

12 Jul 2015

Number 1s+

Hello my name is Terry Moore. Thought up a good question for you guys. Howmany artists have had number 1 hits in multiple different genres? Who were they, and what were the genres that they held number 1s in?

We don't have a good definition of genres.

6 Jul 2015

hmm

According to wiki: A kind of magic was #1 in over 35 countries Radio ga ga was #1 in 19 countries The final Countdown was #1 in 25 countries

We can only list countries where a complete chart is available

30 May 2015

George Strait+

I'm looking back on these comments and I'm seeing you saying stuff like GeorgeStrait Has NO Number 1s dude get your facts right.This Chart and your opinion proves nothing just you being a slob and disregarding The KING GEORGE STRAIT...

Your use of capitals says all anyone needs to know

8 Apr 2015

Missing Artists

Where is George Strait? He has 60 #1 hits... so I guess the US Billboard Hot Country Singles doesn't count as a chart... You guys put no thought on that list

It doesn't matter how many times you make this same point, the "US Hot Country Singles" does not (and never will) count as a national chart (neither does the R&B, Death Metal nor Polka music charts). "Number one Country Song" in the US is not the same as number one song in the country.

15 Mar 2015

missing artist's

What no garth brooks, no george strait wierd?? Books has 19 ok overlooked no big deal But George Strait has 59 songs that reached # 1 and hes not on any of these lists. Im not a big country music fan but dam if you missed these two how many more did you miss? I see your dissclamer but George had 51 of his # 1's before 2000 anyway lost some credibility. P.S the only rapper on the list is eminem, I dont know the facts on it, J-Z, biggie or TUPAC doesnt make anyof these list? Hmmm suspicious or just lazy

51 number 1 hits in the Coutry music charts before 2000 counts as no number 1 hits in the National charts (still). George Strait's highest peak was 23 in 2002 with "She'll Leave You With A Smile", he has not had a top 20 hit, let alone a number 1.

Garth Brooks has at least had one top 10 hit ("Lost In You" reached number 5 in 1999) but has never had a number one.

25 Feb 2015

Newest No.1 Artist

Psy is the first Korean artist to have more than 20 European number ones incountries likw UK, France, Austria, Germany for one week and other countries too with his smashing hit, Gangnam Style. No.2 in the U.S. because he was scandalisedd by nearly performing topless in the American Music Awards so he was replaced by Maroon 5 as the No.1 in the U.S. for 9 weeks but in Canada and several European countries he charted at number 1. He's a very new artist in the Americas and Europe but a veteran artist in South Korea. All of the most number ones in several countries in this webpage should be replaced by Psy as with the most number ones in the world.

We think you have overestimated Psy's achievement. When all the charts are available we'll see how it compares

20 Jan 2015

elvis

If you count The few years Elvis recorded before the military And the couple years after the movie contract was up it doesnt add up to many years at all. He accomplished a lot in a short time his career spanned what about 22 years? A lot of that time he didnt, record im almost sure please, correct,me, if, im wrong thank you

30 Nov 2014

Your mother

George Strait has the most # 1 hits...

I bet your mother is ...<insults removed>... Shove it you Limey bastard!

Pull this info or we sue, is that clear?

6 Nov 2014

George Strait

he now has 60 number ones witch is more then anyone. plus he is the only artist to have a number one every year of his music career . you also leave out Garth Brooks who's album was number one only a few months ago.

George Strait has NO number ones, anywhere. In fact he has no top 20 hits, not a single one anywhere

Being number one in a genre chart doesn't count

28 Oct 2014

Queen - a kind of magic?

A kind of magic was number 1 in over 35 countries. Where is that?

The song was NOT number one in the UK, US, Germany, France or any of the other countries we actually have charts for.

The album was number 1 in the UK (and nowhere else) but this is a list of songs not albums.

19 Oct 2014

u missed many artists in country music like don williams, grorge strait etc both got more than 20 hits

Number 1 in the country music charts still doesn't count (and never will, it doesn't matter how many times you tell us they should)

17 Sep 2014

Artist without nber one hits

Cannot believe that Comway Twitty is not mentioned anywhere! He passed away with the most number one hits upon his death in 1993 with 55 even more than Elvis! And his music is as relavent today as it was back then!+

12 Jul 2014

Merle Haggard ++ "43 LEGENDARY HITS"

Let's say Merle Haggard didn't get the most number 1s, but all the Greats and everyone that is able to recognize the best , Termed Merle Haggards 43 +number 1s ! + LEGENDARY HITS , +I would Ike to take this opportunity help persons measure the difference between number 1s , and +LEGENDARY HITS , the differences ! + most number 1s get tired of listening to them after about 2 or 3 years , + a +LEGENDARY HIT +you don't get tired of hearing for 30 years . upon researching into what all MUSIC ROYALTY +them selves , states ! +that nobody can compete with Merle Haggard , his album released 13 or 14 years title ++ +Merle Haggard +FOR THE RECORD +"43" LEGENDARY HITS . says it all , if that's not convincing there's the TRIBUTE TO MERLE HAGGARD video , all the greats interveiwed one after another say that for vocals and who the greatest country singer is , is Merle Haggard .

8 Jul 2014

Where's the facts?

Where's George Strait? ...<rant about why everyone likes Country music and dislikes the Billboard 100 chart removed because of excessive obscenity>

8 May 2014

george strait

What about George straight? Just kidding I get it.

5 May 2014

Avicii - Wake Me Up

This chart may have been wrote a while ago but, according to Wikipedia, the song was number 1 in 22 countries. I'm just curious to if the song can be called the song which charted #1 in most charts

We only include charts where we can get hold of significant data sets. It could be number one in other countries whose data we can't obtain.

17 Apr 2014

Julio Iglesias and Camilo Sesto

Please read about these two singers. You will be surprised what you will find! Julio Iglesias 3 times Guinness World Records, over 300 million sold and 16 number 1. Camilo Sesto with 52 number 1 certainly makes your lists somewhere!

Unfortunately we don't have any good charts for Spain (or Latin America). Do you know where we can get some (covering the 1980s and earlier)?

16 Apr 2014

King George

Something you'll just have to deal with. No matter how you put it, #1 plain and simple, George Strait. All the pop people and hip hoppers are just going to have to swallow it down and realize they pale in comparison to George.

It doesn't matter how many times you repeat this. Country music number 1 will never count

12 Apr 2014

The Beatles with The Beatles (White Album) was nr.1 in over 34 countries?

If you look at the listing for the album it tells you which countries we have data for: UK, US, West Germany, Norway, Australia, France and Italy for example. It is almost certainly true that it was the number one album in more than 34 countries, but we lack data to show that. For example countries such as Poland, Russia and East Germany (that were behind the Iron Curtain at the time), it was illegal to have a copy so reliable charts are somewhat sparse.

We don't have the data for 34 country's album charts from the 1960s. We can tell you that "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was number one in 16 charts

27 Mar 2014

George strait

+(George Strait has the most number one singles of any artist in history including Elvis. He has sold nearly 69 million records and with 33 different platinum or multi-platinum albums has the most RIAA platinum certifications in country music and the third in all genres, behind The Beatles and Elvis Presley) Oh because he insist relevant???+

Once again, number one in the Country Music charts is not the same as number one in the national charts. How many national number ones has he had in the US? The answer to that question is 0 (zero) that's fewer than 50cent, or The Bellamy Brothers, or Jim Croce, or Jimmy Soul, or David Soul. How many number ones has he had outside the US? Again the answer is 0 (zero)

Internationally George Strait is not in the 1,000 biggest song artists.

17 Dec 2013

Most Number 1 Songs

I would look to include country music as it takes its roots from the same place as rock and blues and can be argued as the foundation for both. You should be including artists like George Strait and Conway Twitty as both would have been at the top of this list.

We do include Country music, anytime it makes it to the top of the standard charts.

Being the "Number 1 Country Song" is very different from being the "Number 1 Song". If someone were to list the "Number 1 songs by a woman singing in French that mentions Leopards" we wouldn't include that chart either.

Including any genre specific charts would make the results just depend on our personal tastes

30 Nov 2013

#1 hits

I didn't see any country artist. Country was around longer than rock!

Johnny Cash, John Denver, Billy Ray Cyrus, Dolly Parton, Faith Hill, Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson

Of course artists have to have enough hits (across the world) to make the list, so there are few modern country artists

17 Oct 2013

denisse maldonado

6 Sep 2013

this list is totally inaccurate. B'z has over 70 albums at #1 on the OriconJapan chart alone which is the main chart for Japan. They have 46 consecutive #1 singles, which I don't think is matched by anyone in the world. In the list Oricon is not even sited...

...There are tons of Japanese artists missing from this list...

...(B'z) are the only Asian band with handprints in holleywood and no one in the states even knows who they are!

The Oricon number one albums is cited, as we say in the chart listing "The combination of an unofficial source and a not very good translation lowers the quality of the result"

If you tell us where we can get reliable Japanese charts we will include them.

Without good source data we have to rely on what we can get, with all the issues you point out.

22 Jul 2013

This is wrong

Ummm jay z has the most #1 albums for a solo artist and he isn't even on the chart

For a start we don't have much data for album charts after 2008, secondly this is not just about US charts.

In our list Jay Z has 9 number one albums in the US and none (not a single one) anywhere else, this compares with these other solo artists:

Elvis Presley - 25 number one albums. Bob Dylan - 18 number one albums. Bruce Springsteen - 17 number one albums. Seiko Matsuda - 17 number one albums. Elton John - 16 number one albums. Madonna - 16 number one albums. Peter Maffay - 16 number one albums. Rod Stewart - 16 number one albums. Celine Dion - 15 number one albums. Michael Jackson - 14 number one albums.

As it says on this page we only calculate this list occasionally (the counts above are for the 2.2.0022 version of the data. Even adding the latest chart data would only place Jay Z about 30th in the list of artists

27 Jun 2013

RIAA says Elvis sold the most

While I enjoy diversity and the talent the many artists have displayed over the years, I wanted to know which artist sold the most records. It wasn't as close as I thought.

According to the R.I.A.A., the governing body that certifies Gold, Platinum, and Multi-Platinum Record Sales, (Recording Industry Association of America) the Leading all time Artist in Record Sales is ELVIS PRESLEY. Elvis is the leading sales artist for both Solo Artist or Group. Elvis has sold over 2.5 Billion Records Worldwide. ( A Billion is 1 Thousand Million). Elvis has been on the charts more times than any other artist or group. Elvis has the most hits in the Top 100, the Top 40, The Top 10, and has had 32 Number 1 Records. Elvis is the only artist inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, The Country Music Hall of Fame, The Gospel Music Hall of Fame, and The Rythm and Blues Hall of Fame.

John Lennon said: "Before Elvis there was nothing". Bruce Springsteen said: "There are pretenders and contenders... but their is only one King". Elton John said: "There is no one greater as an artist on this earth, Elvis was my inspiration... he is the Man. Period."

Paul McCartney said: "I thought the Beatles had gold records, until I had a private tour of Graceland... the hall of Gold says it all... Elvis has the most Gold, Platinum, and Multi-Platinum sales of all of us.... amazing man... simply amazing".

According to the R.I.A.A., with help from EMI, the Beatles place number 2 on the list of All Time Record Sellers with nearly 1.6 Billion Records sold worldwide. Hey Jude was their Biggest selling record followed by Yesterday.

Michael Jackson made the top 20, placing number 16 on the list of all time Record Sales. His Album Thriller is the Biggest Selling Album of all time with over 50 Million Copies Sold. Michael's personal sales as a Solo Artist, along with the Jackson 5, has sold a total of 185 Million Records worldwide. (His Album BAD sold 22 Million copies).

These certifications, current as of March 1, 2009. Every 3 months the R.I.A.A., with the help of BMI, and ASCAP... update record sales awards.

So, there ya go folks. Those are the true facts. And, I might add, Elvis, the Beatles, and Michael Jackson continue to sell records daily.

So, their record sales will continue to increase. But remember, in Elvis and the Beatles day, you had to sell 1 million copies for a single, and 500 thousand for an album to be certified gold. Now days, you only have to sell 500 thousand singles and 250,000 albums to be certified gold. That's what makes the sales records of Elvis and the Beatles even more impressive.

The Fans and Other Entertainers called Elvis, "The King of Rock and Roll". The term "King of Pop" was self imposed by Michael Jackson. It stuck from there, but Michael called himself that... that's what he wanted to be called.

The Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C., named Elvis Presley, "The Greatest Entertainer of the 20th Century".

Source(s): The Recording Industry Association of America, ASCAP, BMI, Billboard Magazine, RCA Records/BMG Records.

4 May 2013

George Strait??

It's a disgrace that no country music artists are included in this chart! Garth Brooks has sold the 3rd most albums of all artists in the history of music!

Number one in genre specific charts still doesn't count (and never will).

Garth Brooks has the third highest album sales of all artists? That claim would require some evidence

3 May 2013

jay z

dont see hova?

12 Apr 2013

The Beatles did it all in only 8 years

When you look at the the top 20 artists in all of these lists, they are or were recording and releasing music for many years or even decades. +The Beatles top just about every list and did it all (with the exception of "1") +in 8 years. +They recorded from 1962 to 1970 releasing 13 albums that were all chart toppers. There are an additional 32 songs that weren't on any of these albums like +She loves you, I want to hold your hand and Hey Jude. +The style and change year after year with each release were leaps and bounds apart. Their recordings in 1964 don't even sound like the same band compared to 1967. When you look at their accomplishments, it's mind boggling that it was all done in such a short time frame.

10 Dec 2012

To omit country music is a disgrace to all music lovers!

Are you crazy? ... To dismiss country music or any other because you think people outside the USA do not listen is such a disgrace. ...

This site is about music that is popular across the world, we don't emphasise Bollywood songs, the hits of Johnny Halliday or Norwegian Death Metal.

As far as possible we ONLY include charts that don't care about music genre, any other approaches would be biased by our choice of charts. So no HipHop charts, no Latin Music charts and no Country Music charts. The best Country music songs have made it into the Billboard charts (for example Johnny Cash's "A Boy Named Sue" was a hit in the USA (Billboard & CashBox), Australia, UK, Canada, South Africa and Holland)

So George Strait's biggest hit reached number 27

18 Nov 2012

Celine vs Mariah

I can't really understand why Mariah Carey has the most number one hits than any other solo artists when in fact as I can see here, apparently not.

Can you please tell me who really has more number ones: Celine or Mariah?

Your comment makes no sense, on this page Elvis Presley has 75 number ones, Madonna has 52 and Mariah Carey has 29. Why do you think "Mariah Carey has the most number one hits than any other solo artist"?

Depending on what you mean by "more number ones" the answer could be either one, that is why there are 8 different lists on this page. In these lists Mariah Carey is above Celine Dion three times and below her three times.

5 Sep 2012

Prince

Can someone tell me what Prince's international #1's actually are? from what I understand from this page he has 15 worldwide #1s so what are they?

All Prince's song positions are listed on his song page, for example "Beautiful, Loved & Blessed" - 1994 - (Japan (Tokyo) 1 - Mar 2006 (11 weeks), RYM 58 of 1994) was number one in Japan (and not a hit elsewhere).

However note that the count of number 1s was calculated from version 1.8 of the data (we are now on 2.1) it could be that there is a difference where previously distinct songs have been renamed to make them consistent.

9 Aug 2012

George Strait

Why doesnt any of these number 1 sites every list George Strait. Are they saying Country music doesn't count. He has had to date, 59 number ones. Strait is third only to Elvis Presley and The Beatles with the most gold and platinum albums in the history of music and currently is two away from passing them. He is also the seventh best selling artist in American music history, and has recorded the most number one songs and top five songs in the history of music of any kind. Strait is the only artist in the history of music to have a top ten hit every year for thirty years. Why is it that every site I have been to on the subject never mentions him at all. Country music is the longest running genre of all music genres still around today and to be completely negated as if it does not exist, is a slap in the face.

George Strait is listed on this site (as an album artist). The number of national number ones he has had in the Billboard charts is zero. We ignore all genre specific charts, being number one on the country music chart has almost no impact outside the USA.

We put little emphasis on certification, because it is mainly based on the record company's willingness to pay and hence is not a good indicator of actual success. Our listing shows Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand, Disney and The Rolling Stones as all having more US gold albums than George Strait. The number of George Strait's albums that have awards outside the US is two, one gold and one platinum, both in Canada.

We feel that his lack of a song page and position in the albums chart is a good reflection of the success he has had in the mainstream charts across the world.

6 Jul 2012

Elvis not mediocre

I can not understand someone who consistently is mentioned in lists of top achievements in recordings and sales being described as "mediocre" Elvis did not write his songs, had few concept albums as did Beatles but he had a voice that has been described by voice experts as being both a bass and tenor all in one package. Elvis had well over 2 and 1/2 octaves in full voice and 3 and 1/2 with falsetto included-he sang virtually all styles and genres and did them well. His voice was his instrument according to Bob Dylan. Elvis sold rock to the world and instead of appreciating how hard that was in 1955 he is downplayed and called "mediocre" by young people who have no inking of what the world was in 1955. The culture of the world changed in the 50s and Elvis Presley was a driving force for that change. To call Elvis mediocre is both shortsighted and with little knowledge of greatness and charisma.

As we mentioned in our reply we also disagree with that anonymous comment

23 Apr 2012

In the Albums that were number 1 in the most charts the Beatles "1" album shows Count of 12. The Guiness Book of Records say that this album was number 1 in 35 countries. I also assume it would have charted in other countries where it did not get to number 1 yet it does not appear in the section Album with the largest number of chart entries. Is there a particular reason for these differences?

Regards

We "only" have complete charts available for 29 countries and "only" 19 countries have album charts. Obviously it is easier to find chart information for a single album than tracking complete charts. It seems to us that it is quite possible for it to have been number 1 in 12 of our charts but also in 35 countries.

26 Sep 2011

Celine Dion

Don't you think that Mrs Celine Dion is a bit OVERrated in your site?? Cause from where i see she is above Michael Jackson, Phil Collins and Queen even in some Entries...

In the best list, that is the "All Time Music Act" list we have: Celine Dion 49th, Michael Jackson 19th, Phil Collins 44th, Queen 17th. In the Song Artists lists we have Celine Dion 47th, Michael Jackson 5th, Phil Collins 28th, Queen 13th. In the Album Artists lists we have Celine Dion 14th, Michael Jackson 10th, Phil Collins 29th, Queen 12th.

So in the main lists she's below all the acts you mention except that she is noted as having more overall album success than Phil Collins.

The only main listing where she's above those acts is in the "Success in the 1990s" chart. Which, given the number and success of her albums and songs in that period, looks like a valid measure to us.

On the "Number 1s" page her song "My Heart Will Go On" is listed as being number 1 in more charts than any other song. But that just reflects the fact that we have more charts for 1998 than we do for say 1982 or 1976.

So no, we don't think that her position is inflated.

27 Jul 2010

WHO HAD THE MOST NUMBER ONES?

It must be remembered that alot of Elvis' sales were lost through the years and probably lost forever. Also, Elvis' label failed to get much of Elvis' releases certified by paying the fee to do so. Also, by the time the Beatles and the British Invasion arrived many countries had more accurate sales charts. The Beatles obviously were the ones that benefitted the most from that. The facts are this, you don't see millions visiting John Lennon's or Paul McCartney's home every year.

Your main point is exactly right. The count of number 1s obviously depends on the number of charts that were active at the time (and place). When Elvis was at his peak there were fewer charts, so less chance to be number 1.

However the number of charts was increasing all the way up to the year 1970 so if that were the only factor then one would expect a group from the 1970s, 1980s or 1990s to lead the count. In addition Elvis was releasing music up to 1977, in our listing he was the second biggest act of the 1960s (after The Beatles) so he should have also benefited from the greater number of charts as well.

We have tried a number of approaches to allow acts from different decades to be compared, none of which is completely satisfactory. In terms of song success we feel that it is possible to argue for either Elvis or The Beatles to have been the most successful act of all time (or at a stretch Glenn Miller, Bing Crosby or possibly even Madonna). Whichever reasonable metric is used these acts consistently come out ahead of the rest of the pack (of course vocal fans of various other acts claim that they were "bigger than Elvis/The Beatles" but this is usually based on an astounding ignorance of history combined with a belief that making the same ridiculous claims enough times makes them true).

Finally we suspect that the number of visitors to Graceland (600k/year) as compared with say either 20 Forthlin Road or 251 Menlove Avenue (which are both run by the UK National Trust) probably has more to do with the sizes of the properties and the number of tourists in Liverpool. But even so the "number of visitors" metric doesn't seem like a good one to us, for example Dollywood gets at least four times as many visitors as Graceland, I don't think very many people would conclude that Dolly Parton was a bigger star than Elvis!

7 Jul 2010

Not impressive!

People often forget to see the quality when numbers speak. They have number ones but the content they released is not mentioned.

The content should be mentioned. That is when acts like Michael Jackson and The Beatles will prove extremely superior. Elvis will remain mediocre, as he always was.

This site lists chart hits, as you say even being a major worldwide hit doesn't guarantee that everyone will like a particular song, after all each of us has our own favourite eras and genres.

These lists help suggest songs that a lot of other people feel have quality, or rather felt had quality once upon a time.

Your personal lack of appreciation for Elvis is of course legitimate, its not a view that we share but it would be a boring world if we were all the same.