The 10 worst songs to have spent 10 or more weeks at number one
The Billboard Hot 100 was created in 1958, with Ricky Nelson’s ‘Poor Little Fool’ becoming the first ever number one. By 1977, Debby Boone had become the first person to chart at number one on the American chart for ten weeks with her hit ‘You Light Up My Life.’
Since then, over 1,000 songs have hit the coveted top spot, yet only 4% of all number-one hits have ruled for ten or more weeks. Lil Nas X’s ‘Old Town Road’ is the longest-reigning number one in chart history, spending 19 weeks on top.
The Billboard Hot 100 is widely considered to be the definitive chart system, incorporating all genres of music, from rap to country. However, Billboard also has charts dedicated to specific genres, such as ‘Hot Latin Songs’ and even ‘Hot Christian Songs.’
In Billboard’s long history, the chart hasn’t always been representative of the best of what music has to offer. So, for this list, we’ve compiled the worst songs to have hit number one for more than ten weeks, from Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’ to The Chainsmoker’s ‘Closer’.
The 10 worst songs to have spent 10 weeks at Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100:
‘Butter’ – BTS
South Korean boyband BTS are one of the biggest pop acts to date, having sold over 30 million albums since they burst on the scene in 2013. Over the past decade, the group have won hundreds of international awards and have been nominated for two Grammys.
One of these nominations was for the song ‘Butter’, released in 2021. The sugary pop song hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for ten weeks non-consecutively. Complete with an annoying chorus and surface-level lyrics, ‘Butter’ has also reached one billion streams on Spotify this week.
‘Happy’ – Pharrell Williams
In 2013, Pharrell Williams featured on three of the year’s biggest tracks – ‘Blurred Lines’ by Robin Thicke, ‘Get Lucky’ by Daft Punk and ‘Happy’ from the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack. The latter remains the most annoying, charting for ten straight weeks at number one.
Featuring nonsensical lyrics such as “clap along if you feel like a room without a roof,” it’s a fine enough song for a children’s film. However, there was no need for such a repetitive song to receive so much general radio play.
‘Closer’ – The Chainsmokers (feat. Halsey)
EDM pop duo The Chainsmokers broke into the mainstream with their shockingly bad song ‘#SELFIE’ in 2014. However, they topped the chart for 12 weeks with the song ‘Closer’ featuring indie musician Halsey.
Many factors make this a terrible song – from Halsey’s grating voice that many have dubbed as sounding like “singing in cursive” to the half-hearted ‘beat-drop’. Featuring cheesy Blink-182 references and cliche lyrics such as “I was doing just fine before I met you”, ‘Closer’ is undoubtedly a terrible pop song.
‘Old Town Road’ – Lil Nas X (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus)
People went crazy for Lil Nas X’s debut song, ‘Old Town Road’, a blend of country and rap that not even a Nine Inch Nails sample (’34 Ghosts IV’) could save. Much of the song’s success can be traced back to its popularity on TikTok, where users made dance videos to the track.
Upon its release in 2019, ‘Old Town Road’ stayed at number one for 19 weeks, making it the longest song to do so. The track was also the fastest ever to become certified diamond.
‘Shape of You’ – Ed Sheeran
When British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran released ÷ in 2017, it became the year’s biggest-selling album worldwide. Ten of the tracks charted on the Top 10 of the U.K. Singles Chart, and Sheeran recieved a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album.
Lead single ‘Shape Of You’ was the worst of all the tracks, featuring Sheeran’s cringey attempt to sing somewhat ‘sexy’ lyrics. As he sings, “let’s not talk too much/ Grab on my waist and put that body on me” and “I’m in love with the shape of you/ We push and pull like a magnet do”, you can’t help but squirm out of sheer embarrassment. The track stayed at number one for 12 weeks.
‘The Box’ – Roddy Ricch
Released in 2019, ‘The Box’ by American rapper Roddy Ricch spent 11 weeks at number one in the U.S. and topped the charts in New Zealand and Canada. The track was nominated for three Grammys, including ‘Song of the Year’, yet we just can’t understand why.
The song features an irritating “eee er” sound performed by Ricch that repeats in the background for the entirety of the song. According to audio engineer Chris Dennis, the whole song only took 15 minutes to record – you can certainly tell; to quote the song, Ricch really does “get lazy.”
‘God’s Plan’ – Drake
You don’t have to be a Drake fan to recognise the rapper’s influence. Since 2010, the Canadian musician has been one of hip-hop’s biggest names and has plenty of solid tracks under his belt. Unfortunately, ‘God’s Plan’ is not one of them.
The main issue with the song is its lyrics, particularly the lines “She say, “Do you love me?” I tell her, “Only partly/ I only love my bed and my momma, I’m sorry”, delivered by Drake with a distinctively irritating quality. ‘God’s Plan’ remained on the top of the charts for 11 weeks.
‘Despacito’ – Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee (feat. Justin Bieber)
Three months after the release of Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s song ‘Despacito’, Justin Beiber asked if he could record another version of the track with himself on vocals. Whilst the original blends Latin pop with reggaeton, Beiber strips the song of any remaining merit with his obnoxiously-sung English-language vocals.
The song was a hit and topped the U.S. charts for 16 weeks, while it reigned in the U.K. for 11 weeks, making it one of only nine other foreign-language tracks to receive a number-one spot in U.K chart history.
‘Blurred Lines’ – Robin Thicke (feat. T.I. and Pharrell
Although musically, this might be the most bearable song on the list, ‘Blurred Lines’ is awful due to its predatory and misogynistic lyrics. Upon the song’s release, Pharrell didn’t understand why people were calling the lyrics “rapey”, but he later realised that “there are men who use the same language when taking advantage of a woman.”
The men’s repetition of the lines “I know you want it” is unsettling, yet that didn’t stop the song from reaching number one in multiple countries, staying at the Billboard Hot 100’s top spot for 12 weeks straight.
‘As It Was’ – Harry Styles
One Direction heartthrob Harry Styles is arguably at the height of his stardom right now, having recently acted in two films, Don’t Worry Darling and My Policeman, as well as touring all across the globe with his third solo album Harry’s House. To tease the album, Styles released ‘As It Was’, an annoying high-tempo earworm that, lyrically, leaves a lot to be desired.
The song is undoubtedly appealing to fans of catchy pop hits, but it fails to leave any distinctive impression other than lingering with a highly repetitive chorus. Styles made history as the longest-reigning British musician to chart at number one – he nonconsecutively hit the top for 15 weeks.
