Pick a Day

Music History Events: Charts

July 16, 2022 Two songs from the '80s land in the US Top 40: "Master Of Puppets" by Metallica (#40) and "Running Up That Hill" by Kate Bush (#4). Both songs were revived by season 4 of Stranger Things, where they're used in battle against the evil Vecna.

April 13, 2019 Billie Eilish hits #1 in America with her debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, making the 17-year-old singer the first artist born in the '00s to top the chart.

June 2, 2018 BTS become the first K-pop band to top the US albums chart when Love Yourself: Tear debuts at #1.

August 5, 2017 Sam Hunt's "Body Like a Back Road" lands at #1 on the Country chart for the 25th week, breaking the record previously held by Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise."

May 27, 2017 "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber tops the Hot 100, becoming the first #1 on the chart sung mostly in Spanish since "Macarena" in 1996.

March 4, 2017 The Katy Perry song "Chained to the Rhythm" hits #4 on the Hot 100, making guest vocalist Skip Marley the first of the Marleys to land a Top 10 on that tally.More

May 21, 2016 Following the release of his album Views, Drake places a record 20 songs on the Hot 100, besting Justin Bieber's mark of 17 on December 5, 2015.

May 14, 2016 Following the release of Beyoncé's Lemonade, all 12 tracks on the album debut on the Hot 100, breaking Taylor Swift's 2010 record for most songs on the chart at the same time by a female artist.More

May 7, 2016 Following his unexpected death, Prince takes the top two spots on the Billboard albums chart with The Very Best of Prince at #1 and Purple Rain at #2. With his music unavailable on most streaming services and download distributors, physical albums are in many cases the best way to get his music.

January 30, 2016 David Bowie's Blackstar album hits #1 in America, 20 days after his death. It's Bowie's first #1 album in the States.

January 10, 2016 Justin Bieber claims the top three spots on the UK singles chart, making him the first artist to do so. The songs: #1: "Love Yourself" #2: "Sorry" #3: "What Do You Mean?"

April 4, 2015 Kendrick Lamar's landmark album To Pimp A Butterfly flies to #1 in America.More

November 29, 2014 Taylor Swift replaces herself at #1 on the Hot 100 when "Blank Space" knocks "Shake It Off" from the top spot, making Swift the first female artist to do so.

September 20, 2014 Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass" hits #1 for the first of eight weeks, replacing "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift (a Size 2!).

August 2, 2014 Weird Al Yankovic's Mandatory Fun goes to #1, giving the parody master his first chart-topping album.More

May 31, 2014 Michael Jackson becomes the first artist with Top 10 hits in five consecutive decades on the Hot 100 as "Love Never Felt So Good" reaches at #9.

November 20, 2013 "Livin' On A Prayer" by Bon Jovi returns to the Hot 100 at #25 thanks to a viral video of a Boston Celtics fan dancing to the song. Billboard tweaked their methodology earlier in the year so streaming views of songs were factored into the chart tally.More

October 12, 2013 Lorde, 16, becomes the youngest solo artist to write and record a Hot 100 #1 hit when "Royals" claims the top spot.

February 4, 2012 Adele becomes the first female British artist to have three #1 songs from the same album top the Billboard Hot 100 chart when "Set Fire to the Rain" hits the top spot, following "Rolling In The Deep" and "Someone Like You" from the album 21.

July 16, 2011 "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO hits #1 after first appearing on the Hot 100 on February 12 at #78. Thanks to a captivating video, the song starts the "shufflin'" dance craze and spends a staggering 68 weeks on the chart (six at #1), which is longer than any other chart-topper.More

February 16, 2011 Lady GaGa's "Born This Way" makes history, becoming the Billboard Hot 100 chart's 1000th number one. "It is a tremendous honor," GaGa tells Billboard. "To be the 1000th number one on Billboard. I would be silly not to say this is the greatest honor of my career."

December 11, 2010 The Billboard Social 50 chart debuts, ranking artists by popularity on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Vevo, Myspace, and iLike. Rihanna comes in at #1, followed by Justin Bieber and Eminem.

November 13, 2010 Taylor Swift sets a record by becoming the first female artist to place 11 songs on the Hot 100 at the same time.More

June 19, 2010 "California Gurls" hits #1, the first of five Hot 100 chart-toppers from Katy Perry's Teenage Dream album - a feat equaled only by Michael Jackson's Bad.More

January 2, 2010 Kesha's first single, "TiK ToK," hits #1 on the Hot 100, where it stays for nine weeks, making it the longest-running chart-topper of 2010.

August 25, 2009 Skillet's Awake album debuts at #2 on the US albums chart, tying with Underoath's Define The Great Line and Casting Crowns' The Altar and the Door for the highest-charting Christian rock album. The album also features their first Hot 100 entry: "Awake and Alive."More

July 11, 2009 "Boom Boom Pow," after spending 12 weeks at #1, is replaced by another Black Eyed Peas song, "I Gotta Feelin'."

July 1, 2009 Thanks to a surge in sales following his death on June 25, Michael Jackson holds the top nine positions on Billboard's Top Pop Catalog Albums chart.

May 19, 2009 The first episode of the TV series Glee airs, featuring a Glee Club performance of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" that brings the song back to the charts. The Glee version lands at #4 - five spots higher than Journey's original.

February 28, 2009 Flo Rida's "Right Round" hits #1 on the Hot 100 for the first of six weeks. An unknown singer named Kesha Sebert provides the hook. She soon becomes a star under the moniker Ke$ha, with the $ in her name included for ironic purposes as she claims money isn't very important to her (which explains why she isn't too upset about getting paid very little for her contribution to this song).