Pick a Day

Music History Events: Charts

October 4, 1941 "Piano Concerto in B Flat" by the Freddy Martin Orchestra goes to #1 in America.

January 4, 1936 Billboard magazine publishes their first "Hit Parade," which ranks songs based on sales and airplay. The first #1: "Stop! Look! Listen!" by Joe Venuti & his Orchestra.

February 14, 1931 Ted Lewis' "Just A Gigolo" hits #1 in America.

August 13, 2022 Beyoncé's album Renaissance goes to #1 in America, making her the first female solo artist to have her first seven albums top the chart.

November 27, 2021 Taylor Swift's extended version of "All Too Well," with a running time of 10:13, hits #1 on the Hot 100, becoming the longest song ever to top the chart. Don McLean held the record since 1972, when "American Pie," running 8:36, went to the top.

March 27, 2021 Morgan Wallen's Dangerous: The Double Album, which debuted at #1 in America, logs its 10th week at the top, the most weeks for a debut chart-topper since Whitney Houston's self-titled album in 1987. In its fourth week at #1, Wallen was caught on camera using the N-word (addressed to his white friend) after a night of drinking, but instead of tanking the album when his music was pulled from radio stations, the controversy helped extend its run as fans bought and streamed it in support.

December 12, 2020 El Ultimo Tour del Mundo by Bad Bunny becomes the first entirely Spanish-language album to top the Billboard 200 albums chart.

December 5, 2020 BTS hit #1 in America with "Life Goes On." Most of the lyric is Korean, making it the first chart-topper since "Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco with lyrics predominantly in a language other than Spanish or English.

November 28, 2020 AC/DC show they still have plenty of spark as their album Power Up surges to #1 in America.

November 13, 2020 Kylie Minogue's album Disco goes to #1 in the UK, making her the only woman to top the chart in five consecutive decades.

September 5, 2020 Metallica become the first act with #1 songs on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Songs chart in four different decades when their live version of "All Within My Hands," recorded with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, takes the top spot.

August 22, 2020 "WAP" by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion hits #1 in America, becoming the most sexually explicit song ever to top the tally. It's bumped off two weeks later by a wholesome slice of K-pop: "Dynamite" by BTS.

August 10, 2020 Split Enz hit #1 in their native New Zealand with the 40th anniversary reissue of their album True Colours, knocking off Folklore by Taylor Swift, who was born nine years after the album was first released.

August 8, 2020 Taylor Swift becomes the first artist to debut at #1 on both the Hot 100 and US albums chart when Folklore and its lead single, "Cardigan," both go to the top. Folklore is her seventh consecutive #1 album.

July 18, 2020 Five months after his murder, the rapper Pop Smoke goes to #1 in the US with his debut album, Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon. 50 Cent, a mentor to Pop Smoke, helped complete the album.

June 26, 2020 At 79, Bob Dylan becomes the oldest artist to top the UK albums chart with an album of original songs when Rough And Rowdy Ways hits the top spot.

April 11, 2020 Bob Dylan, 78, lands his first #1 on a Billboard chart when "Murder Most Foul" tops the Rock Digital Song Sales tally.

January 4, 2020 Mariah Carey becomes the first artist to top the Hot 100 in four different decades when "All I Want For Christmas Is You" stays at #1 for a third week.

December 21, 2019 Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" goes to #1 in America for the first time, 25 years after it was first released in 1994.

September 7, 2019 Thanks to an appearance in the Netflix show Someone Great where Gina Rodriguez gets tipsy and sings it to get over a breakup, "Truth Hurts" by Lizzo goes to #1 in America nearly two years after it was first released.

August 24, 2019 Billie Eilish ends a 19-week run at #1 for "Old Town Road" when "Bad Guy" claims the top spot on the Hot 100.

August 17, 2019 Tool's "Fear Inoculum" enters the Hot 100 at #93, becoming the longest song ever to hit that chart. Running 10:22, it outlasts David Bowie's "Blackstar," which clocks in at 9:57. "Fear Inoculum" drops off the chart the following week.

September 22, 2018 Paul McCartney's album Egypt Station hits #1 in America, his first chart-topper on that tally since Tug of War in 1982.

July 14, 2018 Drake breaks his own record for most entries on the Hot 100 at once when he places 27 songs on the tally following the release of his album Scorpion.

January 27, 2018 A little over a year after leaving Fifth Harmony, Camila Cabello goes to #1 in America with "Havana," a celebration of the city where she was born.

October 7, 2017 Cardi B hits #1 in the US with "Bodak Yellow," becoming the first solo female rapper without a guest artist to reach the top since Lauryn Hill's "Doo Wop (That Thing)" in 1998.

April 24, 2017 Ed Sheeran's "Shape Of You" tops Australia's singles chart (ARIA) for the 14th week, breaking the record set by Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" in 1995.

April 15, 2017 Jethro Tull hit #1 on the Classical Albums chart with Jethro Tull: The String Quartets.

December 3, 2016 Thanks to a spike in sales following his death, Leonard Cohen's original version of "Hallelujah" enters the Hot 100 at #59, giving Cohen his first entry on the chart.

April 6, 2016 Hello Billboard, my old friend. Simon & Garfunkel's 1966 chart-topper "The Sound of Silence" peaks at #6 on the Hot Rock Songs chart thanks to its appearance in a meme involving Ben Affleck and his botched blockbuster Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice.More