This is a comprehensive listing that highlights significant achievements and milestones based upon Billboard magazine 's singles charts, most notably the Billboard Hot This list spans the period from the issue dated January 1, to present. The Billboard Hot began with the issue dated August 4, , and is currently the standard popular music chart in the United States. These charts, which ranged from 20 to slots, were phased out at different times between and Though technically not part of the Hot chart history, select data from these charts are included for computational purposes, and to avoid unenlightening or misleading characterizations. In , for the 50th anniversary of the Hot , Billboard magazine compiled a ranking of the best-performing songs on the chart over the 50 years, along with the best-performing artists.

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Subscriber Account active since. In the history of modern music rankings, only a handful of songs have ever debuted at No. The Hot is widely considered the definitive all-genre singles chart in the US. Although it was officially launched in , Billboard began using modern airplay and sales data in — allowing for more time-sensitive calculations and accurate rankings. Moreover, Billboard began incorporating digital sales data in and YouTube data in
1. "You Are Not Alone" by Michael Jackson
We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Both held onto the No. Lil Nas X began his record-breaking run on the Billboard chart in early April, following months of mounting popularity surrounding the track. At only 20 years old, the Atlanta, Georgia, native made headlines for releasing a song that uniquely blended country tropes and trap-styled beats. But four separate remixes, like one released just last week featuring the artist RM from the Korean boy band BTS , helped keep the interest going. So, too, did a music video that had a guest appearance from Chris Rock, and an EP with a handful of other great singles-to-be. While he considers himself to be a rapper, not a country artist, he continues to rock the spurs and cowboy hats in honor of his danceable ballad of the lonely cowboy.
The Billboard Hot is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales physical and digital , radio play , and online streaming in the United States. The weekly tracking period for sales was initially Monday to Sunday when Nielsen started tracking sales in , but was changed to Friday to Thursday in July This tracking period also applies to compiling online streaming data.