Songs With the Longest Stays at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100

In August 2019, Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” clocked its 19th week at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts, setting the record for longest stay at No. 1 of any song in the history of the chart.

Logging multiple weeks at No. 1 is a rare feat in an industry with constant competition and turnover. While over 1,000 songs have reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 since it premiered in 1958, the majority of those have stayed at the top of the charts for two weeks or less. Of those songs that manage to reign on top for longer, fewer than 50 have stayed at No. 1 for 10 weeks or more.

To determine the songs with the longest stays at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, 24/7 Tempo reviewed data on chart performance from Billboard magazine. We listed the 43 songs that have spent at least 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The first song to reach the 10-week milestone was Debby Boone’s “You Light Up My Life,” which spent 10 weeks at No. 1 in 1977. On the heels of the aerobics craze of the 80’s, Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical” became the second song to join the 10-week club after topping the charts for 10 weeks in the winter of 1981. (These were the first songs to ever top the Billboard chart.)

It took over 10 years for another song to hit the 10-week streak, with Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road” logging 13 weeks at No. 1 in 1992. The group was able to top the Hot 100 for 10-plus weeks at a time twice more in the ‘90’s with “I’ll Make Love to You” in 1994 and “One Sweet Day” in 1995. 

Only two other artists – Mariah Carey and Drake – have had three songs that spent at least 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100. Santana, the Black Eyed Peas, and Adele each have two. (Missing the jtop chart position doesn’t necessarily mean lack of success. Here’s a list of the biggest hits that were never No. 1.)