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> highly productive artists who, at some point, keep making records but can't make hit records anymore

Then there is Cher, who has had 52 charting singles (Billboard Hot 100) so far, from 1965 to 2023.

The Rolling Stones have charted singles from 1963 (UK) to 2023, so their hits also span 7 decades.

On the songwriting and production side, there is Max Martin, who has written or co-written 27 #1 hits (Billboard Hot 100) so far. The first one was for Britney Spears in 1998, and the most recent two (!) were for Ariana Grande in 2024.




To me the most impressive statistic is the second-most number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, behind Paul McCartney (32).

Really puts it into perspective if you’re already familiar with McCartney’s work.


surprised Max Martin only has 27, looking through his list there's a lot of songs I assumed must have been #1s that weren't


Probably more if you look across multiple charts and countries. 80 top 10 hits on the (US) Billboard Hot 100 from 1997 to 2024 is still impressive.


Ah yeah but that's always the case. Was mostly just surprised my response to 27 number ones was "really, only 27?!"

Looks like the hot 100 is more confusing than I thought; I see I Want It That Way by the Backstreet Boys only peaked at 6 because it somehow only came out after its peak in popularity, whatever that means (maybe it was only a music video for a few weeks or something or not physically available or something?)


US #1 or not, the song is an enduring classic. It has remained in the top 200 on at least one Spotify chart since 2015, and probably as long as Spotify has existed.




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