Who had the longest gap between number one singles?
Staying relevant in pop music has been a tricky task for every artist. With the changing landscapes of popular trends come the pitfalls of trying to stay relevant. If done successfully, you could become The Rolling Stones taking disco to their final number one hit, ‘Miss You’. If done poorly, you could become Kiss trying desperately to tap into grunge on 1997’s Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions or Slayer taking a foolish turn into nü-metal on 1998’s Diabolus in Musica.
For the most accomplished artists, trends usually circle back around to them. Cher might not have always been the most respected pop singer in the music business, but her popularity and adaptability were unrivalled. Starting with her harmless folk-pop material with husband Sonny Bono in the late 1960s, Cher remained a constant presence on the charts and in the entertainment industry for the next decade. Number one hits like ‘Half-Breed’ and ‘Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves’ kept her success going even after he and Bono split up.
When her music career began to stall in the face of the synth-heavy 1980s, Cher turned to acting, where her Oscar-winning turn in 1988’s Moonstruck ensured that her fame would be eternal. Her singing career even experienced a comeback around the same time, with Cher landing three top ten singles in 1989: ‘After All’, ‘Just Like Jesse James’, and ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’.
Still, it wasn’t until Cher was largely seen as an elder statesman of pop culture that she truly landed her biggest coup. In 1998, at the age of 52, Cher released ‘Believe’, her fourth number one hit single. With 1974’s ‘Dark Lady’ being her last chart-topper at that point, Cher still holds the record for the longest gap between number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 at 24 years.
Still, that’s nothing compared to the UK’s record holder. Kate Bush came out of the gate swinging with her debut single ‘Wuthering Heights’ in 1978. A chart-topping smash, ‘Wuthering Heights’ would be Bush’s only number one single before she entered semi-retirement following the release of 2011’s 50 Words For Snow. Bush was secured in her role as an industry legend, but then came Stranger Things.
The massively popular Netflix series utilised Bush’s 1985 ‘Running Up That Hill’ as a key plot point during its fourth season. The resulting exposure boosted the decades-old song’s popularity, giving ‘Running Up That Hill’ a new push on the UK Singles Chart. The original release of the single peaked at number three, with a 2012 re-release topping out at number six. In 2022, 44 years after Bush scored her first number one, ‘Running Up That Hill’ topped the UK Singles Chart, giving Bush the distinction of having the longest gap between number one singles.
Check out both ‘Believe’ and ‘Running Up That Hill’ down below.
