USA: #1 Pop Songs, 1890-2023

USA’s #1 Pop Songs: 1890-2022

These are the #1 pop songs in the history of the United States pop charts from 1890 to present. Songs could have hit #1 on any of the following charts: Billboard Charts: Billboard Best Sellers chart (1940-1958) (BS) Billboard Juke Box Hits (1940-1957) (JB) Billboard Disc Jockey Hits (1944-1958) (DJ) Billboard Hot 100 chart (1958-present) (BB) Billboard Airplay (1984-present) (BA) Billboard Digital, 2005-present (DG) Billboard Streaming, 2013-present (ST) Non-Billboard Charts: Joel Whitburn Pop Memories (1890-1954) (PM) Edward Foote Gardner Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century (1900-1949) (GA) Your Hit Parade (1935-1959) (HP) Cashbox (1950-1996) (CB) The Gavin Report (1958-2000) (GR) Hit Records (Music Vendor/Record World) (1954-1982) (HR) Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) (SM) Radio & Records/Mediabase (1973-present) (RR) Links go to specific lists of the biggest songs of all time for that chart. See other chart-based lists here.

Because this list includes more than 3000 songs, it has been broken up into pages by decades:

Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “United States: Biggest #1 Songs” Dave’s Music Database: “Top 100 Songs for Each Decade” Bruce C. Elrod (editor) (1994). Your Hit Parade & American Top 10 Hits: A Week-by-Week Guide to the Nation’s Favorite Music, 1935-1994. Popular Culture, Ink.: Ann Arbor, MI. Edward Foote Gardner (2000). Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century, 1900-1949. Paragon House: St. Paul, MN. Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) Stereogum.com: “The Number Ones” (column by Tom Breihan) Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Menomonee Falls, WI; Record Research, Inc. Pages 642-657. Joel Whitburn (2016). Billboard Top Pop Singles 1955-2015 Record Research: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 1161-1170. Joel Whitburn (2014). Cash Box Pop Hits 1952-1996 Record Research: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 514-522. Joel Whitburn (2022). The Gavin Report 1958-2000. Record Research: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 341-48. Joel Whitburn (2012). Hit Records 1954-1982. Record Research: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 406-411. Joel Whitburn (2019). Radio & Records Top Pop Hits 1973-2009 Record Research: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 187-191. Wikipedia: “List of Billboard Number-One Singles” (1940s – present) Wikipedia: “List of Billboard Hot 100 Airplay/Radio Songs Number-One Singles” (1984 – present) Wikipedia: “List of Radio & Records/Mediabase Number-One Singles” (1973 – present) First posted 2/24/2021; last updated 8/9/2023.