Billboard's Greatest Number One Hits Since 1958

[Enigma869]

Some great music on that list. On another note, I know I'm getting old, because from 2001 on, I haven't ever heard of a single one of those songs

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Greatest Number One Hits

The Billboard Hot 100 chart began identifying the top songs in America back in 1958. The list takes airplay and sales into account and is a good measure of what the most popular songs are at a point in time. Songs that make to the very top of this list on any given week can claim the moniker "number one hit".

This playlist is a collection of the best of the best. The greatest hits to ever peak on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Now before you start whining about why a particular song did not make the grade please ask yourself if the song ever made it to the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. If not, it will not be on this playlist.

It's easy to find a list of Billboard's number one hits, but how does one narrow it down from there? Do you select the biggest sellers, the most critically acclaimed, personal favorites? Well, ultimately I decided on some parameters to help me tailor the list into a chronological time capsule that represents the best of what planet earth had to offer in terms of popular music.

The list includes just one song for each year since the Hot 100 chart began in 1958 and I made the decision to not repeat artists. Although some (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones) could easily have multiple songs on this list, I thought giving other talented acts a chance would create a better cross-section of popular music.

One thing I noticed as I moved from decade to decade was that it got much harder to choose a song I could really identify with. To my ears the 60's and 70's and even the 80's were filled to the brim with timeless tracks, while both the quality and quantity of #1 hits took a nosedive in the 90's and 00's. I'm not sure if this is because I'm getting old and am out of touch with what the kids dig today, or if popular music is indeed dead.

What do you think?

Greatest Number One Hits

1958: All I Have To Do Is Dream - The Everly Brothers
1959: Stagger Lee - Lloyd Price
1960: Stay - Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs
1961: Surrender - Elvis Presley
1962: I Can't Stop Loving You - Ray Charles
1963: Fingertips Pt. 2 - Stevie Wonder
1964: House Of The Rising Sun - The Animals
1965: (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones
1966: Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys
1967: Hello, Goodbye - The Beatles
1968: (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay - Otis Redding
1969: Everyday People - Sly & the Family Stone
1970: The Tears Of A Clown - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
1971: Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) - The Temptations
1972: Let's Stay Together - Al Green
1973: Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye
1974: The Joker - Steve Miller Band
1975: Island Girl - Elton John
1976: 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover - Paul Simon
1977: Hotel California - The Eagles
1978: Stayin' Alive - Bee Gees
1979: Heart Of Glass - Blondie
1980: Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2 - Pink Floyd
1981: Starting Over, (Just Like) - John Lennon
1982: Jack And Diane - John Cougar Mellencamp
1983: Beat It - Michael Jackson
1984: When Doves Cry - Prince
1985: Everybody Wants To Rule The World - Tears for Fears
1986: Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel
1987: With Or Without You - U2
1988: Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns N' Roses
1989: Like A Prayer - Madonna
1990: Vision Of Love - Mariah Carey
1991: Set Adrift On Memory Bliss - P.M. Dawn
1992: Baby Got Back - Sir Mix-A-Lot
1993: I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston
1994: Bump N' Grind - R. Kelly
1995: Waterfalls - TLC
1996: California Love - 2Pac
1997: Mo Money Mo Problems - Notorious B.I.G.
1998: Doo Wop (That Thing) - Lauryn Hill
1999: Smooth - Santana
2000: Amazed - Lonestar
2001: All For You - Janet Jackson
2002: Hot In Herre - Nelly
2003: Hey Ya! - Outkast
2004: Yeah! - Usher
2005: Gold Digger - Kanye West
2006: SexyBack - Justin Timberlake
2007: Irreplaceable - Beyonce
2008: Whatever You Like - T.I.


John from Boston

[S2M]

Yep, ever since 1990 music has gone downhill....

[Loneman1]

"Smooth" is just shy of a decade old? Holy crap.

[mikemarrs]

Yep, ever since 1990 music has gone downhill....

same here.the start of the 1990's music started sucking big time and a big part of it to me was rap and alternative rock.some of the shit they passed off as music was painfully bad to the ears.a lot of alternative to me was just noise with whiny singers complaining about everything.that music lost cred real quick because once you have millions and a couple platinum albums what the fuck is there to cry and moan about? then you have rap which most just ripped off or sampled other music because they can't come up with original ideas.between rap and alternative MTV took a giant dump too and by the mid 90's the whole thing seemed very dull indeed.nirvana was the biggest fraud and hype ever.

[mikemarrs]

back in 1995 i had friends who would laugh and mock me liking def leppard,journey,motley crue,etc. and say those bands were dead anything alternative was good in their eyes.well here it is 2008 the three bands i just mentioned have all had top ten albums this year and where is nirvana? soundgarden? blind melon? thanks....

alternative was sort of like disco in a way.they thought they killed hard rock both times but it came back stronger both times.

[Just Mindy]

With the exception of "Smooth" I don't know any of the songs after '89.

[Since 78]

Pretty good list, except where the hell is Pearl Jam? And before you all jump on that, Have you ever listened to them? I agree with Nirvana but Pearl Jam has some great music! as well as STP. And as far as alternative theres Staind, Alice in Chains and quite a few others that are very good!

[Enigma869]

Pretty good list, except where the hell is Pearl Jam? And before you all jump on that, Have you ever listened to them? I agree with Nirvana but Pearl Jam has some great music! as well as STP. And as far as alternative theres Staind, Alice in Chains and quite a few others that are very good!

As the list clearly illustrates, it is for number one songs, only. I don't know enough about Pearl Jam to know whether or not they have ever had a single number one hit. I'm sure that Alice In Chains has never had a number one hit, so they wouldn't be showing up on this list!


John from Boston

[MarcelJordan]

Pretty good list, except where the hell is Pearl Jam? And before you all jump on that, Have you ever listened to them? I agree with Nirvana but Pearl Jam has some great music! as well as STP. And as far as alternative theres Staind, Alice in Chains and quite a few others that are very good!

As the list clearly illustrates, it is for number one songs, only. I don't know enough about Pearl Jam to know whether or not they have ever had a single number one hit. I'm sure that Alice In Chains has never had a number one hit, so they wouldn't be showing up on this list!


John from Boston

I noticed for '82 (my fav. year!) Jack and Diane was top for 3 weeks. But there were other rock tunes which lasted longer. Hmmm.

[mikemarrs]

Pretty good list, except where the hell is Pearl Jam? And before you all jump on that, Have you ever listened to them? I agree with Nirvana but Pearl Jam has some great music! as well as STP. And as far as alternative theres Staind, Alice in Chains and quite a few others that are very good!

i like pearl jam,staind,alice in chains,stp,etc. i had stuff by these guys even back then but i just started hating alternative as far as the scene went because all the people i knew who started liking alternative didn't care for metal and vice versa.then all those bands knocked stuff like motley crue,def leppard and other hard rockers off the airwaves and stuff and they were like the new kids on the scene who knocked all the stuff from the 80's out of the rotation and there were a lot of bad feelings toward the alternative scene for a while.

[mikemarrs]

i think dirt by alice in chains is one of the best albums of the 90's,miss layne staley a lot.

[Since 78]

Pretty good list, except where the hell is Pearl Jam? And before you all jump on that, Have you ever listened to them? I agree with Nirvana but Pearl Jam has some great music! as well as STP. And as far as alternative theres Staind, Alice in Chains and quite a few others that are very good!

As the list clearly illustrates, it is for number one songs, only. I don't know enough about Pearl Jam to know whether or not they have ever had a single number one hit. I'm sure that Alice In Chains has never had a number one hit, so they wouldn't be showing up on this list!


John from Boston

My bad!! They've have had three number 1s on modern rock /mainstream rock.Alice in Chains had 1. As far as the other Bands I was giving and example of good music that isn't 70s or 80s.

[Since 78]

i think dirt by alice in chains is one of the best albums of the 90's,miss layne staley a lot.

Some great tunes on that album!

[Ehwmatt]

i think dirt by alice in chains is one of the best albums of the 90's,miss layne staley a lot.

Some great tunes on that album!

Thirded... the Unplugged performance is just chilling. Layne is as skinny as a skeleton... definitely dark days for him. Still sounds great. Dirt is a great album, as is most of the AiC canon.. by far the most talented grunge band for me

[StoneCold]

Yep, ever since 1990 music has gone downhill....

PG gave us an early start on the downhill run.

1986: Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel

I like that album but this song bugs. There's another one on there I don't really like much. You know the one, bigger church, big house etc.

Lot of good songs in the list above though. Good comment about losing touch with the latter. Same here. Hadn't even heard of some of those.

Didn't WYLAW hit #1 in '96? Can't remember.

[Enigma869]

Didn't WYLAW hit #1 in '96? Can't remember.

Journey has never had a number one single, on the pop charts. Their highest charting single was the DREADFUL "Open Arms", that reached number 2. "When You Love a Woman" did in fact reach number one on the Adult Contemporary charts (i.e. the charts for old fucks), but never got into the top 10 on the pop charts. It went as high as number 12, but stopped there.


John from Boston