The band with the most number ones in a single calendar year
For most artists, attempting to climb the pop charts and scoring a single number one in their career is an achievement they can only dream about. It’s a success that many musical acts have spent their entire careers dining out on, and who can blame them? Considering the wealth of tracks released daily, rising to the top of the mountain, even if only for one week, is a cause worthy of celebrating.
A select portion of acts have had multiple songs storm the chart, and only 11 have been fortunate enough to have had ten or more tracks hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Every single artist who has achieved this feat are household names that will be remembered long after their demise, and their stamp on popular culture will continue to be visible.
However, while every member of this exclusive club doesn’t need to worry about their legacy, one act owns a chart record that will never be beaten. The Beatles remain the only artist in history with 20 different songs to top the Billboard Hot 100, but even more impressive is the short timespan in which they achieved this level of dominance.
Although The Beatles formed in 1960, it wasn’t until they debuted on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 that America took notice of their output. While they’d been working hard for years at home, their success was somewhat of an overnight sensation in the United States.
1964 was the year of The Beatles, and in all honesty, no other act mattered. During the 52-week period, they were at the peak of the Billboard Hot 100 for 18 weeks. More impressively, their remarkable stay at number one wasn’t down to one hit record or even two — the Fab Four had six different songs reach this milestone.
Their first track to reach the summit was ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’. It was followed by ‘She Loves You’, ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’, ‘Love Me Do’, ‘A Hard Day’s Night’, and fittingly, the final number one of 1964 was The Beatles’ ‘I Feel Fine’.
The only act that has come close to breaking this record set by The Beatles is also The Beatles, who scored five number one singles in 1965. Rihanna and Usher are the only musicians to have come anywhere near the record in the 21st Century, both scoring four number one hits in 2010 and 2004, respectively.
Looking back at the record-breaking year in the photography book 1964: Eyes of the Storm – Photographs and Reflections, Paul McCartney wrote: “It was a period of – what else can you call it? – pandemonium. We four guys from Liverpool couldn’t possibly realise then the implications of what we were doing. By the end of February 1964, after our visit to America and three appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, we finally had to admit that we would not, as we had originally feared, just fizzle out as many groups do. We were in the vanguard of something more momentous, a revolution in the culture.”
He also added: “In looking back on these photos of the good life, I’m not at all surprised that the colour pictures started happening when we got to Miami, because, suddenly, we were in Wonderland.”
Listen to their first number one single below.
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